Master wood craftsman donates pieces to UH law school

One of Ron Kent's wooden 'guardians' in the law school library.

A second Kent 'guardian' enhances a lounge area in the law library.

Two statuesque wooden "guardians" created by ‘Oʻahu master wood craftsman Ron Kent have been gifted to the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The six- to eight-foot-tall pieces are now on display in an area of the law library that students enjoy gathering and where public events are held.

“These majestic works by Ron Kent dramatize a lounge area where students can take a break from studying,” said Associate Professor Victoria Szymczak, director of the law library. “We are so fortunate to receive this extraordinary gift.”

They are among a number of Kent pieces that have been donated to the law school, including several massive bowls that are displayed in the law school’s administration wing, along with two more "guardians" to honor Kent and his wife, Myra.

Dean Avi Soifer said he is grateful for the “generous and gorgeous gift” donated by the Kent family, and spoke highly of Ron’s accomplishments, both as an artist and financier.

“Ron, who retired from his own successful investment company in 1997, became best known for his translucent Norfolk Island pine bowls,” said Soifer. “His works are in the collections of the Bishop Museum, Hawai‘i State Art Museum and Honolulu Museum of Art, as well as at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., and in other leading museums in the U.S. and Europe.”

The works by Kent were donated in his and his wife’s name by their daughter, Elizabeth Kent, a 1985 Richardson graduate who is herself an artist as well as a mediator. She is a lecturer at the law school, teaching mediation techniques, and has also taught classes at the Spark M. Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution at UH Mānoa.

“UH has played an important role in our lives since the late 1960s, when Myra completed her master's degree in education,” said the Kent family in a statement. “As members of the community, we're glad we could contribute some prized art possessions to the school, along with our gratitude for what it has meant to both our family and our community. We are especially supportive of Chief Justice Richardson’s vision for the law school and access to justice.”

For more information, visit: http://go.hawaii.edu/s5f