Honolulu Museum of Art
A unique gathering place where art, history, culture, and education converge, right in the heart of Honolulu. Whether you’re exploring our galleries, catching a film, or reawakening your love of art through a class, HoMA strives to be a vital part of Hawai‘i’s cultural landscape.
Welcome to the Honolulu Museum of Art, otherwise known as HoMA.
This popular local art museum is the largest of its kind in the state of Hawaii and was first founded in 1922 by prominent local resident Anna Rice Cooke. The building was designed by Bertram Goodhue with Hawaiian architectural design elements in mind, allowing the elements to serve as a work of art themselves.
The museum has a mission to 'create relevant and transformative experiences through the study, preservation, presentation, and creation of art', something it does well and has been doing well since opening. The museum has grown from 875 pieces within its permanent collection to over 50,000 pieces spanning over 5,000 years of history, quickly becoming one of the finest museums of art in the United States.
You will see significant holdings in Asian art, American and European painting and decorative arts, 19th and 20th-century art, works on paper, Asian textiles, traditional works from Africa, and much more within the museum. The collection inside 'continues to reflect Mrs. Cooke's vision by being dedicated to the collection, preservation, interpretation, and teaching of visual arts and presentation of exhibits, performances, films, and public programs that serve Hawai'i's diverse community.'
You can find the popular Contemporary Collection within the Spalding House, and you can also spend time exploring the onsite Museum Gift Shop and/or Museum Cafe and Coffee Bar.
