The East Hawaiʻi Cultural Center occupies the 1932 Old Police Station on Kalakaua Street in downtown Hilo — a handsome old building that survived the tsunamis — and has operated since 1967 as the main community arts organisation for the east side of the Big Island. The gallery shows rotating exhibitions of local and regional artists, heavily weighted toward Hawaiian themes. The adjacent performance space hosts community theater and concerts.
The center is thoroughly local in its programming, which is part of the appeal — the work you see here reflects what's happening in Hilo rather than what's selling in gallery districts elsewhere. The building itself is worth a look: the old police station architecture with its wooden floors and thick walls is typical of Hawaii's institutional building in the 1930s. Free entry to the gallery.