A professor of art with over 30 years of university teaching experience, Jack Reilly (second from left) is eager to begin teaching painting classes at the Maui School of Art in Lahaina.

LAHAINA – A new art school – the Maui School of Art – is about to open in Lahaina Town.

“Inside every person, there is an artist trying to escape,” said artist Jack Reilly, a recent Los Angeles to Maui transplant.

For a number of years, it’s been Reilly’s vision to create an art school on Maui, particularly in Lahaina.

Reilly is no stranger to creating successful art programs. As former founding faculty member of the California State University Channel Islands (Camarillo, CA), he was brought in to join a select group of visionary scholars and launch the 23rd campus of the California State university system.

While serving as Art Department chairman and professor of art from 200114, he developed the university’s Art Department, including its curriculum, studio facilities, computer art labs and galleries.

Jack Reilly developed the Art Department at California State University Channel Islands as a founding faculty member.

Under Reilly’s leadership, the CSUCI Art Department grew from a handful of students into a thriving community of 300 declared art majors.

In 2015, Reilly retired from CSU and moved to Maui.

A professor of art with over 30 years of university teaching experience, he is eager to begin teaching painting classes in the Lahaina studio location at 840 Wainee St., B2A.

Classes will be available for beginners to advanced artists who seek to pursue their own artistic goals and dreams.

The first course offering will begin within a couple of weeks.

Reilly said, “With a little bit of luck and interest from the community, Lahaina will not only be the place to browse local galleries and buy art, it will be a wonderful environment to study art as well.”

Shortly after receiving his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Degree from Florida State University, Reilly headed to Los Angeles in 1978 to build his artistic career.

Today, he’s widely recognized as a trailblazer in the Abstract Illusionism movement, a style where paintings “bend the eye” to achieve three-dimensionality on a two-dimensional surface.

Reilly is a veteran of over 40 solo gallery and museum exhibitions and countless group shows in cities, including Los Angeles, New York and Paris.

Reilly calls Maui home now and intends to make it the base of his continued artistic endeavors.

For information on the Maui School of Art, call (808) 868-0017, visit MauiSchoolofArt.com or e-mail MauiSchoolofArt@gmail.com.