LIHUE — What better way than the sound of taiko heralding the start of “Life in Bold Color” that opens at the Kauai Society of Artists gallery at the Kukui Grove Center at 5 p.m. Friday.
“It’s her birthday,” said Jolly Bodine. “Friday, Carol Ann Davis would have been 83.”
The exhibit that runs through Sept. 2 is retrospective of the art created by Carol Ann Davis, who made the South Shore her home.
“I thought she would outlive us all,” said Wendy Benton. “She had so much energy and was so full of life.”
Davis was an award-winning photographer, painter, and batik artist. She died on March 29.
“She is remembered by many on Kauai for more than 50 years of community activism, as a Woman of the Year, and a tireless volunteer for the Kauai Humane Society,” said Bodine. “Her creative senior portraits are treasured by hundreds of people long past their high school days. A lot of people only know her through one facet, but there was a lot of facets to Carol Ann. I wanted to do this while she was still here, but everything happened so fast.”
Friday night will feature an opening reception from 5 to 8.
“Maybe we’ll all wear something Carol Ann designed,” Benton said, interrupting the hanging to try some of the batik fashion pieces. “She made all these things.”
Patrice Pendarvis was busy cleaning artwork, leaving her canine companions at home for this task.
“I’m repairing dogs today,” Pendarvis said. “Carol Ann did all of these pieces. I met her in 1974 and got to go to her house. These are, you know, the archives — the stuff that’s there and not everybody has seen. There’s a lot of geckos, dust, and dog hair.”
The exhibit will be open from Aug. 24 through Sept. 2 from noon until 6 p.m., including weekends. Friday hours are from noon to 9.
Bodine said the exhibit will open with Carol Ann’s latest pieces in the front and takes people back in time for several decades.
“She was the aunty-mommy for everyone,” Benton said.
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Dennis Fujimoto can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
