Celebrating a Long Time Advertiser: Akamai Art Supply

Akamai Art Supply’s customers come from all walks of life: professional artists, hobbyists, beginners, schoolteachers, children, tattoo artists, lure makers, sign painters, and people who want to change the color of their sofa or dye their jeans. Everyone is welcome at this art supply and education facility. People drive from all over the island to this specialty store, which is literally the only one of its kind in the islands.

Akamai Art Supply offers a full range of art, glass, and craft materials from the most affordable kid’s crafts to the most amazing pigments on the planet and everything in between. They offer many classes including oils, acrylics, watercolor, stained glass, drawing, and more. The store has more than 20,000 items on the shelves, many of them made in the USA, Japan, or Europe.

Shirley Spencer and Johanna Wiseman are long-time residents of Hawai‘i Island—Shirley having moved here 42 years ago, and Johanna, 33. Their foray into the art supply business started with Johanna’s Island Art Supply back in 1996 in Hilo, with business partner Eva Anderson. In 2001 Johanna and Eva opened a second store in Kona, then in 2003 the two stores split into independent entities: Hilo Art and Glass, which Eva continued to run, and Art Supply Hawaii, which Shirley and Johanna operated.

Shirley and Johanna laughingly report they retired from retail in 2006. That lasted about a year and a half, and they were back in the art supply business with Akamai Art Supply. Akamai has been in its current location at the top of Kaloko Light Industrial area (near Costco and Home Depot) since 2013.

Shirley says, “We are the only true art supply store on the island. We are certified art materials specialists, a certification offered by NAMTA, the International Art Materials Association. We love to go to trade shows and discover new art materials for our customers!” That kind of knowledge and experience only comes from true art supply aficionados—which is difficult to find online, and that’s the only alternative for buying these types of professional supplies. Johanna expounds, “Fortunately, we have good product knowledge and a lot of experience in the art supply field. Many of the internet sellers do not know their products and their uses well. If we don’t carry something that a customer wants, we make every effort to get it.”

The two women share that their business is growing—the difficulty is keeping up with trends and modern marketing techniques. Shirley mentions, “Hopefully we are young enough to keep up! We work a lot—six days a week.”

What motivated them to get into the art supply business in the first place? Shirley was an art major in college and went on to exhibit in galleries. She later became a photographer and did a lot of work for the Hawaii Tribune Herald as well as the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. She says, “I am still learning things about new products every day!” She attributes her success to her parents, “They owned their own business and worked hard to make it a success.” Johanna’s background is one of variety—from sailmaking, to NASA technician, to Realtor—all the while crafting, painting, and creating things. Being in this business is a natural progression for both of them.

Come visit Akamai Art Supply, where even non-artists are sure to find something useful!

Akamai Art Supply
Hale Ku‘i Plaza
73-4976 Kamanu St, #108, Kailua Kona
808.334.0292
akamaiart.com