Gary D. Anderson, Executive Director, Hale'iwa Arts Festival

You are important and necessary to the perpetuation of Fine Arts and Cultural programs and activities on the North Shore and throughout the Island of Oahu. We need your voice, your time, your in-kind services, and financial support as best you can share. Together we can establish a critical mass of advocates who believe that culture and the arts can make a difference to both our quality of life and to the social and economic stability of our communities.

By partnering and cooperating within our local special interest groups, and by collectively encouraging support from greater Oahu, Statewide, and National agencies and foundations, we can stress the importance of encouraging and promoting our history of culture and arts related businesses and programs in our unique North Shore community.

Together we can identify and quantify our past successes. Together we can stimulate the furtherance of culture and the arts as a positive economic factor in our community. We can draw both local residents and visitors to our Hale'iwa special design district and adjacent communities. With our varied cultural and artistic attractions, along with sports and scenery as focal points, we can verify that our North Shore community activities are worthy of broad support.

The net result can be the perpetuation and promotion of a unique and distinguishable community identity. We share both modern and historical roots and wish to maintain our local values. But there still remains a largely underdiscovered awareness of our North Shore personality. Culture, arts, sports and tourism, all clean industries, are activities that can stimulate all businesses in the area and not pollute or dilute the values we respect.

And on an individual level, our personal cultural values and our awareness of the arts are also important factors to our well being, to our view of ourselves and the world around us. We rarely take the time, as we ought, to see as we might, hear as we might, and to pause and reflect upon the many beautiful sights, sounds, motions, historical and physical blessings that surround us.

Pause to listen, to see, to enjoy the simple, the obvious, the beautiful and the precious moments that present themselves before you daily. These subtle and personal whisperings are the gentle and meaningful artistic energies of our world speaking to us. And these are often ignored, yet precious moments. I hope you will allow yourself time for reflection, refreshment and enjoyment.

Celebrate the Arts! Rediscover the Artist Within! Appreciate, enjoy and encourage your artistic and cultural individuality. Rejoice in the unique natures within yourself, your friends and your family! And join with us, in whatever manner you can, by becoming advocates for the promotion of all artistic sensitivities that exist within and without.