The Kilohana Art League was formed in 1894 as Honolulu’s first art association. In May 1894, the woodcarver Augusta Graham, the sculptor Allen Hutchinson

Allen Hutchinson

Allen Hutchinson was an English sculptor.Hutchinsono was born in Staffordshire, England. He trained in London under Edouard Lanteri. He traveled to Canada and California in 1886. In 1888, he moved to Hawaii, where he modeled busts of King Kalākaua, Robert Louis Stevenson, and president of the...

, and painters D. Howard Hitchcock and Annie H. Park created a forum where local artists could exhibit together and share ideas. Other members included Alfred Richard Gurrey, Sr.

Alfred Richard Gurrey, Sr.

Alfred Richard Gurrey, Sr. was an English-born landscape painter who moved to the United States at age 20. In 1900, his employer, Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, transferred him from San Francisco to Hawaii. In Hawaii, he worked as an insurance adjuster and was secretary of the Board of Fire...

 and Bessie Wheeler

Bessie Wheeler

Bessie Wheeler was a painter about whom little is known, other than that she was born in 1876. She painted portraits of people encountered on the streets of Honolulu around 1900. She contributed illustrations to Thrum's Hawaiian Annual and was a member of the Kilohana Art League.-References:*...

.

“Kilohana’’ is a compound word derived from two Hawaiian language

Hawaiian language

The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii...

 words: “kilo” meaning to observe carefully or to spy out, and “hana”, meaning work. The Kilohana Art League was disbanded in 1913, and its funds were transferred to the Outdoor Circle.