Tom Klobe's retirement from the University of Hawai'i-Manoa's art gallery in June launched an international search for a replacement. But how do you replace someone who has put the 4,000-square-foot gallery on the international map and garnered five Print CASE Book Awards (the highest national award for advancement and support of education)? How do you replace a man who has left a visible legacy to O'ahu (Honolulu Academy of Arts, Hawai'i State Art Museum, Mission Houses Museum) and Maui (the Maui Arts & Cultural Center)?

The search made a circuitous path back to Hawai'i, resulting in the appointment of local art-scene veteran Lisa Yoshihara.

After receiving her BFA at UH-Manoa, Yoshihara was hired in 1986 as curator of the Art in Public Places program for the Hawai'i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. While there, she earned her MFA, majoring in sculpture.

"What's been interesting," Yoshihara says, "is that while working at the SFCA, I was on the granting side. Now, I am on the receiving side. I come to this job with the knowledge of how important it is to have the Legislature and the SFCA support the arts. Otherwise, we wouldn't have the UH art gallery. It brings the two sides together for me."

Like Yoshihara, Klobe was a UH-Manoa art department alumnus when he took the position 29 years ago. They both left the university and wanted, in their hearts, to come back.

Both volunteered to install shows while studying at UH. And for the past 20 years, Yoshihara has continued to volunteer there, mentoring with Klobe, a man who she believes has "the eye."

Klobe will not be altogether absent. He will return for the installation of shows he set in motion before retirement.

Of Yoshihara, Klobe recently wrote, "I pass the torch on to her with great confidence."

Q. Tom Klobe mentioned that he "passed the torch" to you. Did he select you for this position?

A. No, it was a committee. They did an international search that began last December. In late spring I got a call to come in for an interview. The journey began. I went to four interviews and also had to give a public presentation on my curatorial and museum studies expertise. Here, one-third of the gallery director's job is teaching a class, and the other two-thirds is managing gallery operations, short and long-term planning, exhibition design and development, public relations, catalog publication and fundraising.

Q. Do you enjoy teaching?

A. It's one of the most enjoyable parts about this job. I teach a 15-week seminar in exhibition design and gallery management. I am bringing all the knowledge I gained working as the founding gallery director for the Hawai'i State Art Museum — public access, awareness, education to the public and the whole museum profession into the class.

My goal is to teach (students) to see differently. The subject, exhibition design, actually spatial design, is my passion. I am asking the students to be interior designers, industrial designers, graphic designers, lighting designers and theatrical designers. All five come into play — you use all your senses. As trained artists, most students are used to looking at just the piece they are working on. The entire gallery is their blank canvas now.

The delicate and sensitive part of it is they are also dealing with other people's art as well. As designers, they have to learn how to listen. If you have 20 artists with 20 different works, it's important, as the conductor, to be a careful, sensitive listener. Some students, like myself, find internships and careers in museums.

Q. You are also a metalsmith. How will you find the time to make your jewelry?

A. For the last 15 years, my private passion has been finding the time to sit at my jewelry bench or to take metalsmithing workshops. With a background in sculpture, it feels natural and keeps me balanced. It is a more personal expression. As time is scarce, I work a lot of 14-hour days, and I produce only a small line of work that can be seen at a few intimate craft sales around the holiday months. The gallery is on a whole different level. There's something about working in a gallery space that I just love.

Q. How many shows do you put on a year?

A. Usually six. The MFA and BFA are annual and semi-annual shows. The "International Shoebox Sculptural Exhibition" is a given triennial show. We will also continue the international "Crossings" exhibition. Both of those shows take years to develop. Then, there are three other shows. At any given time, I am coordinating four different shows. It's the work of three people. But this job is rewarding in that it gives me so much creative freedom. I'm not collection-based anymore. It's an honor to work in a premier space that is totally flexible. It transforms each time.

Q. You are following in some pretty big footsteps. What are your future plans for the gallery?

A. Very big footsteps. Tom has brought in so many national, international and local shows of such high caliber. For me, the first challenge is to try to maintain and retain that excellence of programming. The Faculty Art Exhibition is up next. Following that is a show inspired by Aaron Kerner, called "Reconstructing Memories," an exhibit of international artists featuring the work of five local artists. We are already planning shows for the 2007 University Centennial. There will be an MFA show in January, an Impressionism exhibit in March and the BFA show in April. I am also looking at an alumni show for the fall semester.

That means, in the next month, I will start the alumni search. I'm usually looking at projecting three to five years down the road for funding, research, finding the objects and planning the design and installation.

In 2008, Tom will work with us on the Chinese costume exhibit, "Writing With Thread," featuring over 400 historical objects from 16 ethnic groups and 100 subgroups from South West China. It's been in the works for years, and researchers have been going to China every summer. I'll be going next summer to shoot the catalog.

We are also doing our best to coordinate the textile convention in Hawai'i with this exhibit. You know, it's an honor when you are volunteering for a show like this, because you actually handle the objects. With a staff of only three, we survive on a volunteer basis. Calling and reaching out for volunteers is a big part of it, and it will take an army to put the Chinese costume exhibit together. We are planning to keep it up a little longer so that more people can see it.

I would also, at some point, like to do a "Jewelry as Sculpture" exhibit and go national or international with it. It's small, so that makes the shipping affordable. I understand there are pockets of collections all over the campus. Some of them are fabulous. I mean, look at what came out of Hamilton Library — and that's just the tip! The music department has a beautiful ethno-music instrument collection ... the challenge is exciting.

Freelance writer Victoria Gail White covers visual arts for the Advertiser the last Sunday of each month.