Letter From The Editor

This might sound strange, except for the fact that I’d bet most of you agree: I generally feel safer walking alone in Chinatown at night than during the day.

I’m not saying that it actually is safer, but when I’m there on Friday or Saturday nights, there are so many people that I’m completely comfortable walking around. During the day, though, it’s a different scene — most times I’ve been there during the day, it’s pretty dead. Obviously, the neighborhood has made significant strides in recent years. (Anybody who used to frequent now-gone venues like Indigo or Club Pauahi in the early 2000s, before the area’s redevelopment really began, can attest to that.) But there’s still a ways to go — namely, some feel, in targeting people of all ages.

That’s what DiscoverArt, a new Chinatown event, seeks to do. DiscoverArt kicked off Feb. 13 and will take place every second Saturday, involving various art galleries, shops and restaurants in the area. I stopped by the inaugural event to see what DiscoverArt is about and how it’s impacting local businesses.

And speaking of discovering art, we’ve got photos of some great artwork — some our readers did themselves and some from the recently wrapped POW! WOW! Hawaii — throughout this issue. Check out our Snapshot picture (and to submit your own work, email me at coconnor@midweek.com), as well as your Instagram submissions (follow us on Instagram, @metroHNL).