After a wonderful lunch at Pico’s, we were lured up the hill to Kenji’s House. It’s a fascinating story actually. This was originally the family homestead, where Kenji Yokohama lived his entire life. Kenji was a free diver and amateur scientist fascinated by underwater geology and shell life. Over a long life of diving he had amassed a large amount of stones, coral and shells, noting precisely where he recovered each piece in both his notebooks and on a slip of paper slipped into a hole or crack of each artifact. By the time he died, all of his remaining relatives had moved off island and expressed little or no interest in reclaiming his personal effects.
When Catherine Morgan noticed that the property had sold and dumpsters were awaiting all of Kenji’s precious finds, she got in touch with the new owner, Angela Wolfenberger . They conspired to leave his small workroom untouched (except for cleaning of course), and converted the upper floor to an art gallery featuring the works of the North Kohala Artists' Cooperative. It’s open daily from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.
The sign calls it a “museum”, but it’s far more personal, a look into an individual’s long, simple but obviously fulfilling life here on the north end of Hawaii. Someone that should be remembered simply because he was able to enjoy an almost Thoreau-like lifestyle. Come to think of it, a “personal” museum might be a good way to differentiate it from most of the standard museums that you’ll encounter.
The artists share the expenses of operating the gallery, which means that you are dealing directly with the artist, without any additional commission. Truth be told, we saw some art we loved, and some art that we politely nodded our heads and noted “how nice” (wink… wink).
My only regret of our time spent at Kenji’s House was that it was too short, I’d like to have wandered about his workroom longer and been able to savor the art far longer, but we had guests to meet at the Kona airport so our visit was all too brief. Next time, it becomes a destination, not just an itinerant stop for us!