ArtWavEs: Nourishes the Children
Imagine a world where care and understanding go hand-in-hand with dignity, respect, creativity, and longevity. Imagine a world which offers education for the body, brain and the deep soul.
The founders of Feed the Children Kona imagined such things, and ArtWavEs leapt into existence!
ArtWavEs (AWE) original goal was to create 108 Blessing Banners, hand-painted by Hawai‘i Island kids, families and artists of all cultures, ages, and island locations. The purpose was to feed kids well, teach them to move mindfully, sing joyfully, and convert struggle into artistic expression which would encourage their positive aspirations.
As the members prepare for the Third Annual Holiday ‘Ohana Dinner on December 22, to be held in “The Temple of Great Happiness” at the Daifukuji Soto Mission Hall in Honalo, they find that what they have fostered amazes even them. At press time, most of the 108 colorful, silk Habotai Blessing Banners, each four-to-six feet long, had been completed by more than 300 sets of Hawai‘i Island hands.
These flags depict the children’s personal dreams for a positive future: a flying whale, taro leaves, mermaids, birds, butterflies, clean water and air, and happy ‘ohana, their images which nurture and celebrate the gift of life.
The unique collection of prayer flags to be displayed at the Holiday ‘Ohana Dinner and Celebration is the culmination of a series of ArtWavEs Art Gardens in Hāmākua, Puna, Ka‘ū, and Kona over the past 18 months.
The ArtWavEs project reflects the proverb “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” By giving keiki and teens healthy meals, living skills and technical training, Feed the Children Kona is teaching them to “paint their own reality.” This program also emphasizes the principle that receiving the food of life is only half the equation and that giving back by serving the well-being of nature and others is the other half. Such giving completes the full circle of life and engages enormous power for good.
ArtWavEs’ Blessing Banners have a very special purpose. Similar to well-known colorful Tibetan or Nepalese flags, they are in fact uniquely Hawaiian.
The prayer flag tradition has a long history dating back to ancient China, Persia and India. More than just pretty pieces of colored cloth, they are understood to carry the good wishes of the painter. This intention, together with the auspicious symbols displayed on such flags, is thought to produce a spiritual vibration that is carried by the wind across the countryside and sea, uplifting all beings touched by it.
Leading members of Feed the Children Kona teach that just as a drop of water can permeate the ocean, positive intentions dissolved in the wind extend to fill all of space. They stress that there is perhaps no simpler or more potent way to share warm aloha with this troubled world than by painting and sharing Blessing Banners for the benefit of all beings. These banners are potent expressions of the children’s vibrant and quite clear intentions.
Teens at Konawaena High School are learning textile arts and brushwork from teachers like multi-media artist Ellen Crocker, a master of the Japanese rozome method, and Michelle Obregon, digital media and community arts instructor, to add to the ArtWavEs Exhibit.
Already featuring the work of students from Kahakai and Kealakehe Elementary Schools, the environmental display will show an array of styles from all age groups and folk art qualities together with technical precision.
Apart from the Blessing Banners project, Feed the Children Kona has served more than 2,000 meals and has provided dozens of art and learning programs to at-risk individuals and food-insecure families in Hawai‘i.
Feed the Children Kona members, including doctors, educators, artists, health professionals, mothers, grandfathers, sisters, and uncles have come to understand there is a probability that one in five children on Hawai‘i Island goes to bed hungry every night. Some live in the backs of cars or in tents in the jungle. These children face food insecurity as a daily event. The members’ concern is that if the bodies of these kids and their brains don’t receive essential nutrients, they may never reach their full potential.
A guiding principle of Feed the Children Kona’s leadership is that the world evolves in the direction its inhabitants choose. By serving children with balanced food and arts-based whole-brain education, the members help keiki and teens to help themselves. Feed the Children Kona believes that saving even one child through superfoods, living arts, and technical training contributes to a global movement of empathetic sharing and positive arts that are the only real foundations for a healthy future.
How AWEsome is that?
For those who would like to help children “paint their own reality” and make ArtWavEs that nourish the children and future generations, donations may be made here.
