For the past 10 days, people rushing by the Roger Smith Hotel in busy midtown Manhattan have looked into the glass windows to see ... art from Hawai'i. Until yesterday, the hotel's storefront gallery was the scene of "Wanderings," an exhibition of work by 10 University of Hawai'i graduate art students.

"It feels really good to have a show like that. It makes you feel, like, wow, this is pretty possible to be an artist," says Will Williams III, one of six UH students who was able to make it to the show's opening reception in New York.

The meandering path of connections that led to "Wanderings" began with UH professor of painting Debra Drexler's own New York show last year. Her multimedia installation "Gauguin's Zombie" was on view at the annex of White Box gallery.

Curator Koan Jeff Baysa, a Hawai'i transplant who lives in New York, invited Drexler to a dinner party. It was a memorable evening. She met all kinds of people — a Macedonian poet, Martha Wilson, the performance artist and founding director of seminal 1970s gallery Franklin Furnace, and Matt Semmler, the creative director of the Roger Smith Lab Gallery.

Off New York's beaten art path, the Roger Smith Lab Gallery is known for its quick experimental shows. Semmler is open to giving a chance to exhibitions that "might not happen otherwise," says Drexler. Semmler invited Drexler to submit a proposal for a group show of Hawai'i artists.

After coming up with a map-based concept ("a lot of the issues I've seen graduate students work with involve geography") Drexler had to choose artists.

"I decided rather than choose a group of professional artists, I'd work with my graduate students," she explains. "There would be more cohesiveness and it would be a wonderful opportunity for them to see the art world in New York."

The final 10 were: Alvin Collins, Karen Goins, Puni Kukahiko, Julie Wooddell Laymon, Mark Maresca, Isaac Parker, Ben Pfister, Dieter Runge, Kiley Smith and Williams.

Drexler gave them guidelines: They had to use maps as a jumping-off point, they had to do solo and collaborative work, and the works had to be easily transportable on an airplane.

SERENDIPITY'S HAND

It's the first time Drexler has undertaken a project like this and a big part of it was serendipity.

"UH had a new fund for travel for graduate students," says Drexler. "So they all got most of their tickets covered."

"It was incredible, it's almost every artist's dream to have a show in New York," says Laymon, who just received her master's in fine art and is moving to San Francisco. "What made it special for me is I know people in New York, so it made it seem more like I was really a part of it, as opposed to an outsider coming in."

For Laymon, the trip's highlight was the dinner the gallery holds for each show right in the exhibition space. The UH students got to wine and dine with a curator from the Omi International Arts Center in New York's Hudson River Valley and critics from Sculpture magazine and Art Asia Pacific magazine.

"(The art scene) is about networking and meeting people and exchanging ideas and the gallery really made that happen," says Laymon, who appreciates Drexler's efforts to connect her students to the art world. "One thing leads to another leads to another."

She reconnected with people she had previously met. "They had the opportunity to see my work and suggested places where I could show it," says Laymon.

"I love Hawai'i, it's my home, but in terms of galleries, there's just not a lot," Laymon said. While she sees a strong art community here, "I just don't think it involves as much buying as New York."

Case in point: Williams sold one of his pieces in "Wanderings."

Will Hawai'i ever see a market of people for whom dropping $400 on a painting or photograph by a local artist (instead of a new air conditioner) is a matter of course?

"You have to learn about art to understand it, to want it in your life," says Laymon. "A lot of us don't have that opportunity. It comes down to education."

For the UH students in New York, seeing was as important as showing. Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood is one of the world's art epicenters — six square blocks packed with high-profile galleries such as Gagosian, Gavin Brown's Enterprise and Matthew Marks.

After a Thursday night of Chelsea gallery hopping to six openings, "I was like, OK, that's a lot of galleries," says Williams. "I was surprised by how much work was there."

For Drexler, "it's always a marathon to try to see everything you possibly can, and you never do."

MAPPING IT OUT

"People commented on the richness and depth in the work," says Drexler of her students' pieces. "There's a lot of context and meaning behind the work, a lot of that comes out of the location of Hawai'i and depth of culture."

"The idea of maps was exciting for people," says Laymon. "People still view Hawai'i as a mysterious place."

Some students used maps of Hawai'i, others of the entire United States.

"I think there's some interesting dialogue between the work, but I'm not sure it's that obvious to other people (not from Hawai'i). I don't think people are attuned to the issues of Hawai'i," says Laymon, whose contribution to the show, "Waikiki: The Water Is the Wealth," is about water and land use.

Williams, who moved to Hawai'i a year ago, has seen the Islands influence his conceptual work. "The environment, the globalization and mixing of cultures, Native Hawaiian issues, post-colonialism — some of that comes out in my work."

"We need to continue to put the art out there," says Drexler, "because the art coming out of Hawai'i is every bit as strong as the art coming out of New York. We have some very sophisticated artists in the state. The cultural mix is so interesting — it gives the art a richness you don't find in other places."

But for Laymon, bringing the New York show home is important too. "I think it would be awesome to hang the same show here," she said. "The show needs to be in Hawai'i."

Reach Lesa Griffith at lgriffith@honoluluadvertiser.com.