Spectrum Hawaii; 414; Interview with Alfred Preis

The following program is a production of Katie Chichi in Honolulu Hawaii Public Television. The following program has been funded in part by grants from the Hawaii State foundation on culture and the arts and the people are Chevron in Hawaii. Welcome to spectrum Hawaii. Today. Host Jeremy Lin visits with one of the most distinguished members of Hawaii's arts community. Alfred Price founder of the state foundation on culture in the arts. Austrian born Alfred Price discovered potent incentives to the artistic development of our community. When you see artwork in airports housing projects or public

buildings it's likely that there was an Alfred Price influence behind. Architect Alfred Brice believes that art was intended to replace the natural beauty. We have loss. Here's Jerry Len. The Arizona memorial stands as one of the world's great monuments to its war heroes of World War Two men who went down with their ship during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941. The simplicity and elegance of its structure is much like the man who helped design it. Alfred Price our guest on spectrum Hawaii. Welcome to spectrum Mr. Price you very much. You know you had a very unique beginning here in Hawaii. You fled the Nazis in Austria only to be interned here on Sand Island. That must have been quite an experience for you. Well it was but it was expected. We came two years before we of course you perhaps more than the

people here that the war was imminent. And we knew that we were alien and we were accustomed how the Nazis would have treated us. And so we went and chalked it off. We felt a lot safer here in Hawaii than you know. Yes you know you had some interesting stories that came out of that internment I think one of the interesting ones was the fact that all the German chefs here in Hawaii also were in the camp. So you were getting gourmet cuisine at the same time I suspect. We were getting the most fantastic thing is out of canned pairs and things like this the beginning the food supplies were simple but you're correct. Most of the cooks and the chefs you know hotels were German so they were always they of course were on Theodore asked to become the cooks

I served them. KP sometimes I do it very intimately Yes. Mr. Price what happened after you left the camp you stayed there for months and then you came out and went back to work with it with a well-known architect here can you tell us what happened after that. While we were staying there we were interviewing So they knew what we were doing and so forth. And after about three and a half months less than four months we were called to my released on parole. We had a military form of government at that time here and we had to obey the particular laws. And you went on to become an advisor to Governor BURNS How did that happen. Well but not yet not yet. A lot happened before that yes. Before that I worked for our sponsor as.

Something about what that really did He had a quarry and I had to make measure drawings and records of all the machinery as he had eyes so that you could you place them towards the end of my stay there. I designed houses and discovered that we could get the most fancy materials for houses because they were not needed for barracks. I see so I could could use glass blocks and plate glass and wood and so forth. When you came to the attention and worked with another architect I came here to work for a dollar and Conrad. They actually brought me to home alone. They invited me to come. How did you become an advisor to Governor burns. By being a very nosy man I spent virtually 50 percent of all of my time on public

affairs that interested me more than anything else. Why was the treatment of our natural environment and how it would be treated and how it should be treated. And I learned a lot doing that. I was in the beginning it was a skill that some very successful little nose very successful so I had the privilege to do have a certain ship in my profession and in the related professions. And as I did before I suggested to organize an evening for the next election to which Governor Quinn was running against John Burns and we prepared to set a series of questions on the environment and we

hoped if we could get these two people to commit themselves that it would be of value. Well this all led to the fact that you wrote the bill then that established the foundation of culture and the arts. Eventually and I know I'm skipping over quite a few years here so much a custom I'm 75 years old now. That means think Wallace of the century. I see all these things in the story. Yes. Yes that's correct. But I became the advisor to the governor my position of state planning coordinate and I did that for the theater 1/2 years and my prime concern was to. Advise the governor primarily through the Department of Planning. Social planning questions and all the static planning questions

and I found that the easiest way to find that I did know it then was to write bills and we wrote a great number of bills having to do with the environment. And. I had a document coming from Washington over my desk which indicated that there would become a national organization on the arts. I said and I did not distinguish between architecture and the arts. And my task was to respond to that and I discussed it with the government and discussed it with the planning director and they encouraged me to write a short form bill which I did which ultimately and then went through the legislature and established the state foundation on culture and the arts. Now there was a great deal of controversy surrounding the foundation with regard to the choice of art and the amount of monies spent on it. Can you

tell us something about that. You must understand that when we started there not only that we didn't know what to expect and what we could do. We didn't know what we ought to do because we were due we were the first state to bid to become involved here. So. We also knew and we knew that out of personal experience that the maturation time of any new idea is long had to a suddenly involved people in in arts school was volatile. Also our task really was not to deal with those people who were accustomed to work in the arts but to work with all the people of all cultural origins of all economic and your kids

educational backgrounds. So that was the approach was utterly new and we had to do whatever we decided. There were always some people who didn't like it. Now you had a problem with the Father Damien sculpture for instance. Again that came. Well actually very much at the beginning when the state Foundation was created. The legislature created a commission on Father Damien and they formed their own organization. And under Kenneth King who is a design professor retired now. An excellent approaching program must be paired which resulted in the submittal of all the 60 I mean the 66 design concepts for Father Damien sculpture. Now

as it invariably happens in all the questions in that condition over there you had people who cared for the Arts. And other people had other ideas. Father Damien was supposed to be this sanctified canonized at that time. And the bill is really introduced by a group of devout Catholics. And they had ideas how Father Damien would look. I imagine it will be a pink cheek. Plaster cast or something like that. Well there wasn't. There were some cold Mencia submittals before I had anything to do with it. That was narrowed down to five different invitations five. This was supposed to be invited to submit a larger market. And all of them were model one a small item.

They excluded the people the leadership of the committee really wanted. The question was what to do. Kenneth Kingery was a friend of mine and I that this my job and I was so he came to me and asked for help. But of course now it's very well accepted and people just really well we have we have the good fortune that it was done by an outstanding artist an internationally known this and I believe it is must work. Let's turn now to the Arizona memorial Mr. PRICE. You helped design that structure. What does it mean. By not having you struck first by having permitted Japan to do the first attack we suffered a major defeat. Our battle fleet fleet was practically sunk at that time. The form of theories on the limpness of the courier

shows the defeat of the two ends with sharp muscular edges showed that how we were rising out of the defeat of to me victory. To draw conclusions originally started out with spelling them out that basically what we have you have an empty structure with openings. People can live on the railing. Look at the mountains where the airplanes came in where the water and see the ship the ship beneath to see basically the ship like a sack of focus. It reach 1200 men buried in it and you can see it. Let that work when you come up with whatever thoughts and responses you have. And it is very impressive. Thank you Mr Price. Tell us what your philosophy of art is because I know it's very expansive. What is the artist and

what is their role. The philosophy that we would have to first say for how by because we although we had a marquee here the market was short and was not yet involved in the tradition. So our objective here and have had to be then to find a meaningful activity for all the people not only financially stock Crecy of an elite but for all the people of all income levels of all the educational backgrounds but primary of all ethnic backgrounds. And that had to be developed such a program didn't exist. And that had to be done. We started out with a major conference where we brought people from all the neighbor islands here. And we discussed one art form after the other and how it could

work. Now what about the Pacific Rim. How does that affect us with all the other Asian countries. How why is strategically placed. Well assuming now that we would be successful that we would be able to come up with a meaningful program which was of value to the people. We have to recognize in Cannes that we are the most developed of the island community in the Pacific area. So that people in go or the money on us and so forth would have similar problems. Even Alaska or California has similar problems. They have Indians of Eskimos and so forth. And of course they have the immigrant groups just as we have now. Right and the activities which we develop our value to them as much or vice versa.

Well as you know you were telling me that Hawaii is what is the ferry first state to allocate monies for the art there. There were of course other states which have had programs but they were community they were programs which way essentially developed by the wealthy people. And to a certain extent it on the European manner. Have I e as he one of the US states had a very modern concept. Of its objectives. So therefore the objective was to develop a program of value to all people. Not only do the best educated but all people do make up. Actually for most educational video. To substitute those things

we had to self sacrifice to civilization. We have to pave over beautiful landscapes. We have to cut trees. All of these things have life and we are losing it. Well that makes the role of the artist even more important. But this is exactly the role of the artist. The role of the artist as we see it now is to replace all the natural aspects which nourish mankind with those with man made activities. When people were working in the fields and with animals and they had something living in their hands. And they breed satisfaction with doing it. We don't do that anymore. When we do that we type. We draw or so forth. So we have to bring something in an activity which is just as invent it as all the other activities are. But which will result in the same gratification in the same feeling of achievement of accomplishment

of enjoyment and of joy. Why is art so important to the individual. Well if you take the individual out of nature and putting the video in a cubicle into a cell. The individual will not only become Peo in the skin but which will dry out on the inside. The image anation the feelings all of them will be lost. We do that now to our environment. We are converting our environment from something alive is something which is more or less stated but in order to substitute what we have lost we have to replace it now with such. You want activities which will stimulate human activities and human responses primarily in the emotional field. So you're saying that art in an age of technology is going to be even more important for our survival than in the past to a certain extent.

It was important for our survival in the past. It was an amusement it was to do to dispel the idle time of the idle rich. And they lived in palaces with beautiful gardens. They were hunting and there are all kinds of activities. So to them it was an amusement but to us it is a vital necessity. This is for the survival of our humanity of our human this which will distinguish us from from the human being we ought to be and can be. For Robert who is doing nothing but work. You know Mr. Price your definition of an artist is far different I think than many people think they regard an artist as someone who is painting a canvas. What is your view. Who is the artist in our society.

Artist is a person who is capable to the colloquial term is to turn you on to inspire you. Do do do do instill in you feeling these responses emotional images visions and so forth. Again which would fill our empty inside emptied by our activities. With those things which will make enrich us. Now who are these people they can be writers. Poets anybody who has the complete capability to turn you on is an artist provided the person is doing it well. There's some other aspect that many many people who are involved in the activity of an artist. Right. But they're not good enough young artists you know to be an artist it got to be good. But they don't have to be paid to us or sculpt us

or architects or dance. Yes they can be schoolteachers. They can be principals. They can be people like the you know who came in and told us what to do. Yes and I had to do it right. Do in still life the life which has been is being squeezed out of us by our our civilization. Now why is it important to children. The children touch their spoil. They are corrupt that they have not yet lost. Their innocence. They're all children of genius. All children are gifted. In order to take that gift the ability to life and to live and to create a way for my child. You always have to force it. And that is being done education to a certain extent.

This is why you have established us. What is the one you have you know who are you. And that was the first sect of it is in the nation. Again there were many activities on the private level. Yes they were not state activities and not systematic. They were not integrated with the educational process. We establish an artist in the schools program. Now that's national. It started out as have I a program and we had already joined grants from the Russian government for bats. That's only that different ideas. They want to save the dance companies. So they established a program in which dance companies will go into schools and get paid. And at that time I happen to be a delegate to five by at the National. And I played it and valued to me thought thing. Nationwide and doing compass all the art forms

that has been established it is now an established program for about five or six years it was an experimental program. That means the National Endowment Fund they did but was not committed to it. Now they are committed to it. And you were also telling me the difference between the schools that were designed here in Honolulu and the islands as opposed to some of the schools in the mainland. Well I can't speak really for schools of the male and I can speak of the schools you know I mean and above we are not satisfied and we are not there yet. But the school should be designed and many of schools have been designed this way successfully in which a child will feel that it has been intended to benefit the child not to become a prison for the child. It would your child does not have to be afraid to touch the

wall. In which a child doesn't have to be surrounded by a brownish green. Because suppose it doesn't show that. But in which I don't think it's only function in which the teacher can be more successful. In which things are where they ought to be but primarily in which a child is impressed with the respect the adult world has for the child and the love and the expectation with the price. What do you see for the future of Hawaii in the arts were strategically placed. I think we hear a lot about. The fact that we are really being touted as the place where trade and in the economy. This is these are things that were strategically placed for but no one really talks about. Our role in the arts with with regard to the Pacific Rim countries.

I happened to be the first director of the state foundation. So I was there when we didn't have anything like that before and we created it and grew. And I'm delighted and I'm proud to say that the Stade foundation is not only as good but better now as it has been when I was director. And the legislature is seeing it that way. It is what generous now than they were at the time I was there. The Stade foundation is funded to to help your program here. We wanted to do that we didn't have the money. So I believe that as long as we are not bankrupt as long as we are active and living successful state and as long as we don't make major booboos and as long as we don't permit in reaction you know to sweep our

islands which would. Don't look at the church children and the people with generosity but with and I think we will have an arts program and you know expand it will grow. And we will succeed to develop an audience means people who have learned in school how to enjoy the arts. Yes because again we are talking about our survival and I think that that's really something that that message has to get across if we're going to get more money for the Arts. It's terribly sorry for people to realize that we you know buy a sport and we still have beautiful greenery and the ocean and so forth. But many of us see already the concrete. Right. On the mainland you see almost nothing but concrete and some of the big cities. Well it's been so wonderful talking with you Mr. Price because I

think you said some things that are so important and we have been talking to Alfred Price architect designer land planner and a man who has had a great deal to do with the changing face of one of the major cities in this country. Honolulu Hawaii its future and progress will surely have an impact on major cities elsewhere in the United States. Mr. Price thank you for being such a Grace's guest on spectrum Hawaii. And thank you for watching speck from Hawaii. I'm Jerry lanch. The OS. To an. OS. We are the ear

as. The ear. Bigger spectrum was funded in part by grants from the people of Chevron in Hawaii and the Hawaii State foundation on culture and the arts.