Jurors’ Choice Award winner announced for Schaefer Portrait Challenge 2025

Maui artist Challys Pascual has won the Jurors’ Choice Award for the Schaefer Portrait Challenge 2025 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.

Pascual was awarded a cash prize of $15,000 for her portrait entitled, “Laundry Day.”

This award is sponsored by Carolyn Schaefer, and is one of the most substantial cash awards in the United States for portraiture.

For this edition of the Schaefer Portrait Challenge, jurors Sonnet Coggins, Mina Elison and Wendy Kawabata traveled across the state in the fall of 2024 to review all submitted works in-person through a two-round jurying process, ultimately selecting 40 artworks out of 132 submissions.

A key component of the exhibition requires that all artists conduct a live sitting with their portrait subject, so that they may better capture the essence of that person.

The exhibition encourages a broad range of interpretation and style to this classical art form. Works that integrated technical proficiency with conceptual depth and a compelling written statement received a consensus from the jurors for inclusion into the exhibition.

As a statewide open call, the Schaefer Portrait Challenge is an opportunity for both established and emerging artists to exhibit alongside one another with newly created works in portraiture.

Award-winner Challys Pascual is an artist in the early stages of her career and recently graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in December 2024 with a Bachelor of Arts in art studio. She has since returned to her home island of Maui.

Pascual states, “My maternal grandma, Vicky (whom I affectionately call “Granny”), was a nurse at the Lahaina Kaiser Clinic for 32 years. She played a vital role in my upbringing and my brother’s, teaching us life skills and core values. Nowadays, she takes care of my grandpa and does the chores he can no longer do, despite having severe scoliosis and arthritis. She also bravely survived the Lahaina Wildfire with him by her side in 2023. I strive to be as strong as her, mentally and physically. I wasn’t emotional during the hours I painted ‘Laundry Day,’ but now, I can’t help but tear up seeing my Granny under her own spotlight at the gallery. I am forever grateful to be able to honor her in this way, and to be given such a generous prize supported by Carolyn Schaefer and the founders of the SPC [Schaefer Portrait Challenge].”

Pascual’s portrait, which she rendered in oil paint on canvas, weaves in and out of articulated details and loose strokes to depict Grandmother Vicky Anbe in the midst of drying laundry in the Lahaina sun, a chore that epitomizes her resourcefulness.

Of Pascual’s awarded work, Schaefer International Gallery Director Jonathan Clark commented, “An important quality that the jurors look for is the ability of the artist to convey the vital essence of their portrait subject and for the work to speak to their connection. Pascual transports us into a moment with her grandmother that feels tangible, relatable, and lived. Her portrait brings to light the idea that the simple moments often become the strongest of foundations in our relationships with loved ones and in our memories of community ways of life.”

Schaefer Portrait Challenge 2025 features works in portraiture by 40 artists from across Hawaiʻi, with inclusion determined by a statewide juried competition.

The exhibit continues to be on display in Schaefer International Gallery at Maui Arts & Cultural Center through March 22, Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, and also before select Castle Theater shows.

Visitors to the gallery through March 14 can vote for their favorite piece in the exhibit leading to a winner of the $5,000 Ruth Freedman People’s Choice Award. This award will be announced alongside the $5,000 Gene Freedman Artists’ Choice Award at a reception on Sunday, March 16 at Maui Arts & Cultural Center. These two awards are sponsored by the Eugene and Ruth Freedman Family Foundation.