Duke’s Dream Came True: Surfing’s Road to the Olympics

Opening: Thursday, March 21, 2024 from 5-9pm

Duke Kahanamoku Visits Freshwater Beach, 1914-15 OIl on canvas 30x36”

Purchase the painting from the HUntington Beach International surf museum here

This painting illustrates a moment during Duke's visit to Australia in 1914-15 when he pulled 15-year-old Isabell Letham out of the crowd to tandem surf in front of crowds who had never seen someone standing up on a surfboard, let alone two people riding the same board. This was the most significant day in the history of Australian surfing.

The Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum is having a new exhibit titled “Duke’s Dream Came True: Surfing’s Road to the Olympics” opening in March with a gathering opening night on Thursday, March 21st from 5pm-9..

This exhibit reveals the full life of Duke and the history of the sport of Surfing and Duke’s involvement toward organization and the connection of surfing to the international stage and legitimacy as an Olympic level Sport of Kings.

The exhibit history is curated by legendary surfer-1976 World Surfing Champ Peter Townend with multiple artists illustrating chronologically the life of Duke through the years and into the future. In this ground-breaking exhibit- world renowned surf artists with all different styles and techniques are depicting the life of Duke through time connecting their art with the given time period in a visual and historical representation of Duke and his amazing life leading us to Olympic Surfing and to the future