GEORGE ALLAN

Since arriving on Maui over 40 years ago, George Allan has helped to influence the formation and development of the art scene on the island. He was President of the Lahaina Arts Society when it brought cultural exhibits from the Honolulu Academy of Arts to the main gallery at the Lahaina Court House, and also presented art films to the neophyte art community in Lahaina from 1975-1979.

In 1979, he and friends planned and presented the first Art Maui juried exhibit at the Cameron Center in Wailuku. After 35 years, Art Maui is now one of the most prestigious and respected juried art exhibits in the State of Hawai’i, presented yearly in March or April at the Schaefer International Gallery at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in Kahului.

In 1983 George was a featured artist in the Spectrum arts series on PBS in Honolulu and on the mainland. His segment certainly highlighted the town of Lahaina and its growing art popularity and significance.

George was on the Boards of the Kapalua Music Festival and Hui No’eau Visual Arts Center in Makawao for many years. Hui No’eau is now Maui’s premier center for arts education and contemporary art exhibits.

George was accepted into five of the juried “Artists of Hawai’i” exhibits at the Honolulu Academy of Arts and other Honolulu shows of the Contemporary Museum in the 1980‘s and 1990’s.

Juried by Jean Stern, Director of the Irvine Museum, George’s painting, “Lahaina Dock,” was awarded “Best of Show” at the Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational in February, 2010 in Lahaina. He has been invited to participate in this popular event every year since its inception.

His work is in the collections of the State of Hawai’i, the City & County of Honolulu, the County of Maui and national corporate collections. He was awarded the commission to paint 100 paintings for the lobby of the Castle Theater of the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. There are 9 of his paintings in the collection of the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua and two at First Hawaiian Bank, Kahului.

Since its inception in 1993, George has been a featured artist at "Celebration of the Arts', held annually at The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua. This has become Maui's leading art and cultural event. Also, at The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, George is one of the regulars in The Artist-In-Residence Program sponsored by Village Galleries and the hotel.

Artist's Statement...
Lynn Shue's Village Gallery in Whaler's Village was the most respected gallery in Lahaina in 1973 when I first arrived on the brig Carthaginian from Europe, and I was immediately drawn to the excellent art that she represented.

Although I have drawn and painted since I was a kid and later studied and painted throughout Europe for ten years, it was largely due to Lynn's encouragement and introduction to the art and theater community in Lahaina that I put off returning to my home in St. Anton, Austria - as it turned out-permanently.

Lynn also introduced me to the nutty ballerina in the play, "You Can't Take It With You," being produced by the Valley Isle Players, the community theater group in Lahaina at that time.

The rest is history. I married the nutty ballerina, and I've been represented by Lynn Shue for over 35 years in her galleries in Lahaina and Kapalua. The Village Galleries are the oldest galleries in all of Hawai'i, not just Maui, and I'm very proud to be a part of such a prestigious and well respected art organization.