Ken Shutt

Coconuts by Ken Shutt, 1972, watercolor, Waialae Country Club

Ken Shutt (1928-April 2, 2010) was an American sculptor and watercolorist who was born in Long Beach, California.^[1] He graduated from Pasadena City College, the Art Center College of Design and the Chouinard Art Institute. He moved to Hawaii in 1963, and lived there until 1995.^[2] He returned to California in 1995, to be near his foundry, when he was commissioned to create a bronze sculpture for the entrance of Sea Life Park Hawaii.^[3] He died 2010, at age 81, in Atascadero, California.^[4]

His best known paintings are watercolors of Hawaii's flora (see image). His sculptures often combine such diverse materials as resin, wood, terrazzo, bronze, and granite.^[5] The Honolulu Museum of Art and the Hawaii State Art Museum are among the public collections holding work by Ken Shutt. His sculptures in public places include:^[6]

• A granite and bronze sculpture at the Kauai Performing Arts Center, Lihue, Hawaii.
• Untitled 1976 sculpture, Leilehua High School, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Waialua, 1976, Waialua High and Intermediate School, Waialua, Hawaii
• Konohiki, 1980-1981, King Intermediate School, Kaneohe, Hawaii
• Celebrating the Arts, 1999, Kauai Community College, Kauai, Hawaii
• Heritage Growing, 1975, Laupahoehoe High and Elementary School, Laupahoehoe, Hawaii
• Lanai Ohana, 1977, Lanai High and Elementary School, Lanai City, Hawaii
• Kauai Ola, 1981, Kauai High School, Lihue, Hawaii
• Hawaiian Porpoises, 1976, Honolulu Zoo, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Family Structure, 1971, Kauikeaouli Hale (courthouse), Honolulu, Hawaii
• Matrix, 1990, Hilo High School, Hilo, Hawaii
• Four Valleys, 1978, Waianae High School, Waianae, Hawaii
• Konohiki, 1973, Hawaii State Art Museum sculpture garden

References

1. http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2010/Apr/20/ln/hawaii4200332.html
2. Radford, Georgia and Warren Radford, "Sculpture in the Sun, Hawaii's Art for Open Spaces", University of Hawaii Press, 1978, 76-77, 96.
3. Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Sculptor's works grace many isles' public spaces, May 17, 2010
4. Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Sculptor's works grace many isles' public spaces, May 17, 2010
5. Radford, Georgia and Warren Radford, "Sculpture in the Sun, Hawaii's Art for Open Spaces", University of Hawaii Press, 1978, 76-77, 96.
6. Ken Shutt in the Art Inventories Catalog of the Smithsonian American Art Museum