Featured Cover Artist: Randy Dahl
This issue, we feature the work of Randy Dahl, a professional artist who has been living in Hawai‘i for the past 14 years. Originally from Eugene, Oregon, Randy moved to Hawai‘i Island to further his education as an artist. “It…
Mele Murals: University of Hawai‘i Hilo, part 1
Cultural preservation is not merely curating artifacts. It is a dynamic process, which imbues new generations with the ethos of their progenitors, while allowing them to evolve to meet the challenges of a changing world. The arts are an important…
Mele Murals Keauhou, part 2: A Canvas for Change
By Fannie Narte Estria Miyashiro, founder of The Estria Foundation, a nonprofit corporation based in Honolulu, and Mahea Akau, Mele Murals Coordinator, are transforming Hawai‘i’s visual landscape through a public art movement called “Mele Murals.” Mele Murals advances the ideals…
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…
Featured Cover Photographer: Warren Fintz
This issue’s cover photographer is 39-year-old Warren Fintz, who says taking pictures is an honor, not just a profession. “I believe that a picture I take of the land or of an event at a certain time captures that moment…
Featured Cover Photographer: Kornelius Schorle
The definition of panorama is “an unbroken view of the whole region surrounding an observer.” For lifelong photographer, panoramist, and Hawai‘i Island resident Kornelius Schorle, the world is his view and he is forever the observer. “My art is not…
Mele Murals Keauhou, Mele Ko‘i Honua—Creation Chants
By Fannie Narte Mele Murals is about sharing Hawai‘i’s stories—Our Stories—through art and narrative. These colorful murals command attention and have an enormous historical and cultural impact that will move our people forward as a community. The Estria Foundation (TEF)…
Mele Murals: Local Monuments and a Source of Community Pride
“Our work honors the last commands of King David Kalakaua, ‘Look to the keiki, teach them, groom them, show them wonder, and inspire them.’” ~Mele Murals, The Estria Foundation By Fannie Narte These timeless words offer profound guidance to all…
Featured Cover Artist: Bonnie Sol
Bird song and the soft scent of passion flower greet the senses from Bonnie Sol Hahn’s home studio, which overlooks a backyard lush with flowers and fruit. From this perch, Bonnie Sol creates oil paintings that capture Hawai‘i’s natural beauty.…
Honoring the Generations
Lāna‘i mural pays tribute to the past and to the future The mural is astonishingly beautiful. Born as an idea in the mind of middle school math teacher Michelle Fujie, creating Ke Ali‘i Ka ‘Āina—The Land Is Chief seemed an…
Journey Together: The Art and Poetic Expressions of Terry Taube
By Fannie Narte “The Thinker,” by Auguste Rodin, perhaps the best-known sculpture of all time, was initially named “The Poet.” This statue has become a symbol of contemplation or thoughtful meditation for millions. “The Thinker,” “The Poet,” contemplation, thoughtful meditation—these…
Featured Cover Artist: Nelson Mākua
Nelson Mākua has been an artist and designer for more than 35 years in Hawai‘i. It all began with him drawing on napkins at his grandmother’s house at the age of four. Born and raised in Kailua, O‘ahu, he and…
Living, Breathing, Eating Music: Hawaii Performing Arts Festival’s Music Education Program
By Catherine Tarleton These kids have to spread their wings,” says Genette Freeman, Executive Director of Hawaii Performing Arts Festival (HPAF), an annual summer music immersion program that pairs professional teachers with potential stars. HPAF creates opportunities for Hawai‘i’s young…
Lovely Hula Hands of Sammi Fo
Buddy Fo had an impeccable ear for music…and a sharp eye for a beautiful woman. The popular musician and Lifetime Achievement Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award winner from the 1960s was recognized for his tune, rhythm, and complicated harmonies. It was…
Featured Cover Artist: Sarah Week
Sarah was born and raised in Kailua-Kona and lived in San Francisco for about five years while attending the Academy of Art University, where she graduated with a BFA in animation. She recently moved back to Kailua-Kona. Although she has…
Master Hawaiian Quilter Aunty Stella Akana
By Catherine Tarleton Lined with echoing ripples that mark her journey’s years, her face tells the story of smiles and joys and meticulous craftwork. With needle and thread, Aunty Stella Akana (“Granny” to her extended ‘ohana) creates master works in…
Through the Years: Hawai‘i Museum of Contemporary Art
By Le‘a Gleason Lourdan Kimbrell is running late. It’s because he’s at the airport picking up photographs for an upcoming show of Kohala’s archeologically significant areas. Inside the Hawai‘i Museum of Contemporary Art (HMOCA), it’s not just the Director, Lourdan,…
Featured Cover Artist: Mary Lovein
Ordinary becoming extraordinary—this describes Mary Lovein’s art journey to a T. As a young mother, she took up oil painting for a hobby, and found she had a knack for it. Her first painting sold when she was a 21-year-old…
Featured Cover Artist: Kira Kamamalu
“Have you ever had the feeling that you were doing exactly what you were meant to do?” Hilo-born 31-year-old Kira Kamamalu is going into her eighth year as a professional artist. She says that painting is the thing she feels…
Ancient Hawaiian Agricultural Practices at Sacred Sites in North Kohala
By Jan Becket Archaeological surveys in Hawai‘i yield valuable knowledge about the traditional life of a place, and yet it is often knowledge that is inaccessible to the community where the surveys are conducted. Many contracts call for reports to…
The Mana Anointed: Steve Grossman
By Peter Michael McCormick Mana, a supernatural or divine power, Mana, miraculous power; a powerful nation, authority; to give Mana to, to make powerful; to have Mana, power, authority; authorization, privilege; miraculous, divinely powerful, spiritual; possession of Mana, power. From…
Featured Cover Artist: MField
Field (Mike Field) is the epitome of living the dream. The dream of balancing work, family and play to where they all blend together and afford a life with limited aggravation and continued delight. Raised in Hawai‘i, a celebrated waterman,…
If Walls Could Talk: APAC’s Long History at the Aloha Theatre
By Le‘a Gleason Every town has its theater. That place where people go to escape the confines of reality, get lost in a performance, or lose themselves on stage. To become something or someone else—as if to try on masks—has…
Wood Sculptor Jan C. Orbom
By Margaret Kearns Spanning more than four decades, Jan C. Orbom’s art has journeyed though many different mediums—from Hollywood set designer, to poet, wood sculptor, and classical guitar musician. Today, in his home perched high above the spectacular South Kona…
Featured Cover Photographer: Dohn Chapman
A New England native, Dohn Chapman moved to Colorado to hike and explore the Rocky Mountains and ended up in the highest incorporated town in North America—Alma, a small mining town at a more than 10,000-foot elevation. In 1999, his…
Signature of One’s Life: The Story of Ben Mahi Samson
By Gayle ‘Kaleilehua’ Greco A signature is an imprint, a sign of one’s self that signifies who we are. A signature comes in many forms, as common as a signed name to as subtle as a familiar color. What happens,…
Edwin Kayton: Advocate of Island Renaissance
By Margaret Kearns Ka’ū-based artist Edwin Kayton approaches his work in just the same way he lives his life: quietly with humility and respect for humanity, spirituality, culture, and nature. And it’s these very qualities that have endeared him to…
Lighting the Way: Honoka‘a People’s Theatre Ventures into a New Century
By John J. Boyle …Long shot from above right, wide shot closes in on the hand painted marquee… It is 1939, and downtown Mamane street is a walker’s paradise. Soft evening air, light linen shirts and skirts, some kimonos, some…
Deadly Charms: Creating Beautiful Jewelry from Hawai‘i’s “Fish of Death”
By Denise Laitinen Can you name the “fish of death” in Hawai‘i? Think it’s ciguatera, the foodborne illness found in many parrot and trigger fish? You’d be wrong. Think it’s the feared tiger shark? Guess again. Hawai‘i’s “fish of death,”…
Featured Cover Artist: Lisa Bunge
Lisa Bunge grew up in Orange County, CA and came to Hawai‘i in 1984 from Austin, TX. After many years living so far from the ocean, she fell in love with Kailua-Kona when she came to help with her friends…
