All photos courtesy of Aly Ishikuni-Sasaki
Photo by Brandyn Liu
Art & Culture
Celebrating Local Creatives By Jim Bea Sampaga
With its clear blue skies, white sand beaches and rich culture, Hawaii is known as a paradise for both tourists and locals alike. But what many fail to notice is Hawaii’s growing and bustling local creative scene. For nine years, local urban market Art + Flea has been a creative force in Hawaii that provides local artists with a space in which to share their art and original products with the public. These items span a wide gamut, ranging from original artwork to clothing, skincare products, food, and more. Every month, Art + Flea gathers over 60 independent creatives in one place to bring a unique shopping experience to the public. The brand also has two brick-and-mortar shops, one inside the South Shore Market at Ward Village and the other at the Hawaii State Art Museum. And they don’t just gather in Hawaii—over the years Art + Flea has brought Hawaii creatives to share their work in New York and Japan. Art + Flea Over the Years Before Art + Flea became what it is now, the urban flea market used to be a small Sunday flea market in Fresh
Café, on Queen Street in Kakaako. As the Sunday flea market became popular, founders Aly Ishikuni-Sasaki and her friend Nicole Franco had an idea to start Art + Flea, adding sales of creative works to the existing flea market. In July 2010 the first Art + Flea event was born. It was supposed to be a one-time event, but their expectations were shattered when the event attracted over 200 people. As a result, Art + Flea became a monthly event at which creatives can share their work to the public. In 2013 co-founder Nicole Franco decided to go back to the mainland for personal reasons. Ishikuni-Sasaki saw this as an opportunity to rebrand Art + Flea. “I realized there was potential for growth and expansion. I felt it was worth pursuing,” Ishikuni-Sasaki said. She became the sole owner of Art + Flea. That same year, Art + Flea moved to a bigger venue at a warehouse on Cooke Street in Kakaako. The following year, they moved to yet another warehouse in Ward Village, where the number of vendors increased by up to 70 percent. Within that same year, Art + Flea opened Mori by A+F, the group’s first fixed-location shop. Mori means “forest” 20
in Japanese, explains Ishikuni-Sasaki, and just like a plant growing in a forest, Mori hopes to provide a shop for creatives to grow and expand their brand. Mori can be their testing ground for their products. In 2017, Mori partnered with the Hawaii State Art Museum and opened their second brick-and-mortar store inside the museum itself. HISAM Gallery Shop x Mori by A+F houses art items from local and international artists. They also do monthly events such as workshops, artist talks, and live music. In the spring of 2018, Mori by Art + Flea went to the lively Roppongi district of Tokyo to present an event that showcased over 20 artists, designers, and musicians from Hawaii—the first of what will be a yearly one-week event that will showcase Hawaii’s local talent abroad. Behind Art + Flea Born and raised on Kauai, Japanese American Aly Ishikuni-Sasaki has always had a passion for art flowing through her veins. From creating music to working with high-end brands, Ishikuni-Sasaki has used all her knowledge and experience to expand Art + Flea. As a former J-pop artist, Ishikuni-Sasaki spent nine years in Japan pursuing music professionally. “It’s a very competitive industry,” she said. “I just realized that it wasn’t quite for me.” She went back to Hawaii and moved to Oahu to pursue marketing at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. While studying, she did internship work at magazines to learn about styling, writing, and photography. “With all my new knowledge and work experience, I realized that I wanted to start a global business—a unique platform to support our creatives in Hawaii, where our art and culture scene is so rich and diverse. It’s about forming a bond and connection between the worlds of art, music and fashion. Hawaii is full of incredible talent and they deserve the exposure,” IshikuniSasaki shared. As Art + Flea’s creative director, founder and owner, Ishikuni-Sasaki said that their growth wasn’t based on a longterm plan. “It all happened organically. Small ideas came into fruition because of passion, not because of a drive for success or recognition,” she shared. “In any entrepreneurial journey, there are going to be highs and lows, new challenges and opportunities that we must learn to embrace to fulfill our potential in life. We have to trust in the process.”