Honolulu Academy of Arts and The Contemporary Museum to merge, begin offering two-for-one admission

May 3, 2011

Maureen O'Connell,

Starting today, when you visit either the Honolulu Academy of Arts or The Contemporary Museum on Oahu your admission sticker will get you same-day free admission to the other museum.

The two-for-one admission deal is tied to a plan that will merge the two Honolulu art institutions into a “multi-campus” museum on July 1, said Academy of Arts spokeswoman Lesa Griffith.

Also, individuals with memberships at one museum will now be able to visit the other at no additional cost. Memberships at The Contemporary Museum will be honored through May 2012.

According to a statement released by the Academy of Arts, “The merger reflects a commitment by both institutions to all genres of art from all cultures, and will make contemporary (art) more accessible” to Hawaii residents and visitors to the Islands.

Under the plan, The Contemporary Museum’s collection and assets will be a given to the Honolulu Academy of Arts (pictured, bottom) as a gift. Some of The Contemporary Museum’s collection will be displayed at the larger and more centrally located Academy of Arts, where the artwork is expected to attract a wider range of visitors.

The Contemporary Museum — the state’s only museum dedicated to contemporary art — was founded in 1988. Its collection includes 3,500 art pieces— from the 1940s through the present — and spotlights artists such as Frank Stella and Kara Walker.

Nestled in the hilly Makiki Heights/Tantalus residential area overlooking Honolulu, The Contemporary Museum (pictured, top and middle) is about a 15-minute drive from the Academy of Arts, which is located at Beretania and Ward streets, near downtown Honolulu.

The 84-year-old Honolulu Academy of Arts’ collection, which spans 5,000 years, includes Asian and Western masterpieces. Among the artists represented in the collection Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Katsushike Hokusai and Robert Rauschenberg.

The Academy of Arts and The Contemporary Museum will hang onto their respective names through June 30. After that date, the integrated museum may be given a new name. A “grand reopening” is slated for 2012, according to a release issued by the Academy of Arts.