Founded in 1995, the Donkey Mill Art Center began as a practical response to community need. When Hōlualoa lost the original Kona Art Center, artists and families were left without a place to gather, learn, or create. With just $700 and newly secured nonprofit status, a small group of local artists launched weekend classes in borrowed spaces, rebuilding access to arts education while searching for a permanent home.

In 2001, the organization purchased the vacant Kona Coffee Cooperative building—built in 1954 and later nicknamed the “Donkey Mill” after a donkey silhouette was placed on its roof. Artists and volunteers transformed the former processing facility into studios, classrooms, and a gallery, and the Donkey Mill Art Center opened in 2002.

Today the Donkey Mill operates as both an arts and cultural institution and an economic asset for West Hawai‘i and the State. For 30 years it has paired artistic excellence with sound management, serving artists, youth, learners, and the community while stewarding a historic property with care.

Located in Holualoa, HI near Kailua-Kona, the 2.6-acre campus includes studios for youth education, printmaking, ceramics, metals, fiber arts, native plant gardens, a retail shop, and an exhibition space. We offer hands-on classes, exhibitions, and cultural events on campus and in local schools, guided by values of community, creativity, transformation, and ho‘okipa.