Jake Boggs earned a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Eastern Kentucky University. He is a studio artist as well as the ceramics studio coordinator at the Donkey Mill Art Center in Holualoa, Hawai’i, serving the community through ceramic education and outreach programming. Jake is also a board representative for the Island of Hawai’i at the non-profit organization Hawai’i Craftsman. Working in tandem with this organization, he has introduced numerous workshops in Kona, hosting various visiting artists from around the globe to the greater Hawai’i community.
Shawn S. Spangler (SSS): I'm curious about your time living in Hawai’i, from graduate school on O’ahu to currently living and working on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Are there any specific moments or achievements that stand out in your ten-year artistic journey while calling Hawai’i home?
Jake Boggs (JB): Many of the most fulfilling triumphs of my past ten years working in Hawai’i are related to ways in which I have been able to help facilitate the arts. I’m on the Board of Hawaii Craftsmen, a craft-based non-profit that, among other programs, has held a prominent statewide juried crafts exhibition since the sixties. Through volunteering on the Craftsmen’s board, I have been able to take on an active role in developing opportunities for artists in the community. I also volunteer on the acquisition committee for the State Foundation for Culture and the Arts, a state organization that works to “promote, perpetuate, and preserve culture and the arts in Hawai'i." This position has also given me the opportunity to help artists get their works into the public collection. Working at the Donkey Mill has also been a wonderful opportunity to share my passion for ceramics with the community here in Kona. Through my role at the Mill, I have hosted workshops with many of my clay heroes and been able to record their mana’o (ideas and thoughts) in a video interview series. (Links to these interviews and more can be found on YouTube under @donkeymillartcenter)
