The Free Sunday program offers a free entrance on the third Sunday of every month from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., a special operation that opens the academy’s doors two hours earlier than regular Sunday’s hours. The program also presents entertainment, gallery tours, art activities for children, and other special events.

“ The academy is a unique and exceptional resource within our community, and it’s a pleasure to be able to offer this opportunity to children and their families,” said Michael O’Neill, an HPU trustee and chairman and CEO of Bank of Hawai‘i. “We hope that the educational and cultural experiences gained through exposure to the displays and activities will inspire future generations of artists while enriching the lives of residents and visitors alike.”

“ It’s our goal to make the academy welcoming and accessible to everyone,” said Stephen Little, academy director and president.

The academy also will continue its Military programs, which include both free Wednesdays and free first Sundays.

The academy will exhibit the Alsdorf Collection of Japanese Paintings through Mar. 28 in the Japan Gallery. The exhibition presents, for the first time in Hawai‘i, 28 Japanese paintings that range in time from the Heian through the Meiji periods (794-1912), from the Chicago collection of Marilynn Alsdorf.

The art works include early rare Buddhist iconographical sketches and Kannon depictions, of the Buddha as a mercy principle. One of the paintings, by the great 16th century Zen monk, Sesson Shukei, has not been shown since 1974 (in an exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum).

The exhibition also presents Japanese ceramics and lacquer work, to accompany the paintings selected from the Alsdorf Collection.