A full week into their 2-week painting process, SMALL TOWN * BIG ART artists EHA (Endemic Hawaii Artists) have already engaged in hundreds of onsite conversations about their developing mural at 2049 Wells Street, (where the Omura Building meets Wells Park). The live mural making exhibition marks the fourth official ST*BA installation, following Andy Behrle’s “lost & found” lightwork in September, Emmanuel Jarus’ mural in October and Jackie Goring and Tamara Li’s Día de los Muertos gathering earlier this month.
 
Working on a piece inspired by the pōhaku that line the Wailuku River, EHA’s mural elements po (night, blackness, original darkness) and haku (to make or invent) can already be identified throughout the developing artwork. The team’s featured ‘ōlelo no‘eau is ‘a‘ohe hana nui ke alu ‘ia (no task is too big when done together by all), a fitting proverb that acknowledges all of the work and manaʻo that goes into developing a place-based public art program like SMALL TOWN * BIG ART.
 
As the composition and theme continue to unfold, Hōaka Delos Reyes is one of the figures that can be seen in the artwork. A talented expert in the field of stone-on-stone carving (kālai pōhaku), he is one of the rare people on the planet who can do this type of carving.
 
Friend Kyle Nakanelua says of him: “Hoaka talks to stones. But that’s not the amazing thing. They talk back! He has to call for the stone, ask for volunteers among the stones that exist. Once a stone appears, he negotiates with it. In the process, the stone tells him where it wants to go. Listening to stones … that’s the unseen ability he has.”
 
“We have a saying in Hawaiian: He ola pōhaku, he make pōhaku. Stone gives life, stone takes life.” - Hōaka Delos Reyes
 
Also observable in the artwork is the kukui nut tree – a symbol of enlightenment, protection, guidance and peace, with spiritual powers that are still believed to flow through Hawaiian culture and its ceremonies. Brought to Hawaii by Polynesians migrating to the Hawaiian Islands, the kukui was highly revered by ancient Hawaiians for its many uses, and became an essential part of life, providing raw materials for medicine and healing, dye, canoe-building, and most commonly, for light (both literally and spiritually). The word “kukui” means light or torch; its English name is ‘candlenut.’ In 1959, the kukui tree was made the official tree emblem for the state of Hawai‘i.
 
If you are able to, please stop by our live mural making exhibit at 2049 Wells Street now through Nov 30, 2019 to meet SMALL TOWN * BIG ART artists Amanda, Elmer, Kirk and Noble and tell us what you see!
 
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Amanda Joy Bowers is a visual artist born and raised in Haiku, Maui. She attended Wake Forest University as a Presidential Scholar for Distinguished Achievement in Art, a university Ambassador for the Arts, and a Richter Scholar for International Independent Studies. While attending Wake Forest University she studied old master painting as a certified Louvre copyist in Paris, France. She then conducted independent research on the art of Balinese woodcarving and Javanese batik textiles in Indonesia. She graduated in 2012 with a major in Studio Art and a double minor in Art History and Entrepreneurship. She now is a freelance fine artist and the owner and designer of Skelefin Studios, LLC.
 
Kirk Kurokawa, a local boy of Hawaiian, Japanese, and Chinese descent, was born and raised on Maui. He received a BFA with distinction in Illustration from the California College of Arts and Crafts. In 2001, he returned home to Maui, became a self-taught oil painter and pursued his dream of becoming a fine artist. Kurokawa’s paintings focus predominantly on the “simple, everyday life moments” and have been showcased in various exhibitions throughout the state. Although he often paints native birds, flowers and locals of Hawaii, he is best known for his portraiture. He has been in every installment of the Schaefer Portrait Challenge, and was awarded the Juror’s Choice Award in 2006 and the People’s Choice Award in 2015. He is also the first and only native Hawaiian to paint the official Portrait of the Governor of the State of Hawaii.
 
Born and raised in Hawaii, Elmer Bio has always been deeply connected to art. His Father, well known as the airbrush guy in Maui, convinced him to help out airbrushing live at the county fair one year in 2002 and it’s been an annual duty for him ever since. Aside from taking custom orders for banners and t-shirts in high school, Elmer also received state and national juried art awards. His consistent pace and high demand as a custom airbrush artist has kept him busy for quite some time, and recently mural painting has been added to his professional career as a local business owner. In the past years he has been an essential part in creating 3 public murals that involved 2 public schools in Wailuku and a cornerstone business in Kahului, and he also found time to step back into competition earning himself a finalist in the highly respected tri-annual Schaefer Portrait Challenge.
 
Noble Richardson, born and raised in Wailuku, Maui. He attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and received his BFA. His work was exhibited in the Schaefer Portrait Challenge 2009 receiving the Marion Freeman People’s Choice Award, Schaefer Portrait Challenge 2015 and 2018, Malama Wao Akua 2013 receiving the Art of Conservation Award and 2016, featured in the Maui Arts & Cultural Center Surfing Hawai‘i exhibit and Art Maui 2019. He continues his passion for art, and painting subjects that have a strong culturally rooted story, and creating work on multi-media surfaces. He is also a Wailuku Elementary School art teacher; teaching students from K-5, freelance artist and muralist. 

Visit Facebook and Instagram for photos and progress. 

​Just 10 days ago, ST*BA’s Emmanuel Jarus was leading a class full of Wailuku’s finest artists and learners in the fundamentals of portrait and figure drawing. We ended the 6-hour workshop series with a walk around Wailuku, spent some time in Iao, talked story with Hale Hōʻikeʻike Director Sissy Lake-Farm and later at Waiheʻe Coastal Dunes & Refuge, where the Waiheʻe stream meets the sea.
 
In the days that followed, Jarus observed - sketching and re-sketching who and what he learned along the way. Simultaneously, the ST*BA team worked excitedly to identify the right space, partners and kokua to make the collaborative vision work.
 
Watch. Observe.
Help others + accept help.
That is the family way.
 
‘Ike aku, ‘ike mai
Kokua aku, kokua mai
Pela ka nohona ‘ohana
 
Jarus’ selected ‘ōlelo no‘eau has truly manifested itself in this process, as we celebrate day 1 of painting. His subject, a young man who invited Jarus spearfishing over the weekend while walking through Wailuku Town, helped to complete his inspiration as he learned about the traditional cultural practice. Today’s progress shows a clear outline of the back of the man as he looks out onto a body of water.
 
“I like the approach he took in relation to the back of the subject,” shared Sissy, “kua being the back and how important the kua is to us as people. How we relate the kua to things as a fundamental part of our body’s structure, and how we relate the kua or back to us as a people in relation to genealogy, and the parts of how the generations are formulated.”
 
“In freshwater and salt, water as the heartbeat of life’s existence resonated with Jarus,” shares his manager Ann Marie Power, “extended the opportunity to immerse himself within the river + ocean waters guided by Wailuku residents, amidst cherished Maui pastimes, became his inspiration for the proposed mural.”
 
Please check back in as we follow the progress of this piece and welcome it to our Wailuku community.
 
Mahalo nui to MAPA for donating the wall for this ST*BA installation, and to Carolyn Wong, Karen Watanabe, Dave Ward, Nohe U‘u-Hodgins, Brian Ige and Rob Stoner for helping us maneuver highly coveted parking space at the site.
 
More to come!

Emmanuel Jarus is softly spoken. His words are selected with intention and full transparency, equal parts blunt and good-humored.​

With a creative process that recognizes the strength of diversity and importance of inclusion, his selected SMALL TOWN * BIG ART proposal embraced ‘Ike aku, ‘ike mai. Kōkua aku, kōkua mai. Pēlā ka nohona ‘ohana. ('Watch, observe. Help others and accept help. That is the family way.”)

20 minutes into an introductory conversation with Hale Hō’ikeʻike Director Sissy Lake-Farm describing Wailuku’s Nā Wai ʻEhā as the heart and life existence of our island home, Jarus asks to take her portrait with his 35 mm Nikon. Sissy laughs in her boisterous, beautiful, aloha-infused way and agrees, as she goes on to explain kapu aloha and Mauna Kea’s  relation to Iao Valley. Along with Jarus’ chief collaborator, the stunningly sweet Ann Marie Power, the 3 get lost in an exchange that ends with a definitive “let’s pause here before we get too far ahead.” Jarus and Ann Marie have only just arrived from their Canada home ground, after-all, and we all have plenty of work to do as the conversation continues over the 3-week residency. 

Thanks to the warm hospitality of Christine and honored Maui artist Phil Sabado, we are all convening at Wailuku’s Sabado Studios (directly behind Native Intelligence) to host a talk story and hands-on drawing workshop featuring Jarus. Over the course of 6 hours, Jarus shares his origin story as an artist, presents an hour-long demo creating a portrait of unofficial Wailuku mayor Lesley Cummings, and offers one-on-one instruction with a room full of hungry students from all levels of experience. 

When we’re through, we head to Iao to wander the river and breathe in the lush and sacred place. The day is deemed as progress with the weeks ahead full of promise. From here, it’s stories, sketching and study as the 2nd installation of SMALL TOWN * BIG ART begins to take root. 

Keep in touch on Instagram or Facebook at @smalltownbigart as we keep on keepin’ on.

Photos by Bryan Berkowitz

WHO: Emmanuel Jarus, Mural Artist for SMALL TOWN * BIG ART
WHAT: Intro to Community Art + Fundamentals of Drawing + Artist-Directed Life Drawing
WHERE: Sabado Studios, 1980 Main St #1, Wailuku, HI 96793
WHEN: Monday, 9/30/19 (AM Session = 10 - 12; PM Session = 1 - 3). Registration HERE. 
WHY: To engage the community in creative placemaking with an exemplary artist practitioner 

Please consider a donation to Sabado Studios for hosting. 

WAILUKU WORKSHOP | EMMANUEL JARUS
The workshop endeavors to be a shared learning environment where Jarus shows drawing fundamentals + participants share stories of their Wailuku experience which will inform the mural Jarus creates. The workshop will suit people of all levels of experience.
 
MORNING SESSION (10am - 12pm)
Emmanuel Jarus will introduce himself, speak of his mural experience around the world and the mural process he undertakes. Jarus will go over the Fundamentals of Drawing in a step-by-step process as participants observe Jarus creating a portrait drawing from life.
 
AFTERNOON SESSION (1-3pm)
The workshop teaches participants basic skills necessary to render a figure in three dimensions as well as instruction in surface anatomy and proportion. For the afternoon session, workshop participants draw from life themselves - Jarus observes and assists participants with direction + knowledge share.
 
WALK TO MURAL SITE
The hope through the workshop is that by sharing his life drawing knowledge base, participants both learn, and Jarus learns from them, as stories of their experience of Wailuku and its history are shared. After 3pm, Jarus and workshop participants will walk from the studio to the mural site, and this spirit of shared learning and observing life continues along the way.
 
Materials - all materials needed are available at the class or bring your own. We will have charcoal, pencils, inks, erasers and a few other bits.

REGISTER HERE

Next weekend, SMALL TOWN * BIG ART will welcome Canadian-born Emmanuel Jarus to develop a large-scale mural depicting a Wailuku figure portrait in collaboration with this community. The narrative Jarus depicts in his approach communicates "a story of individual spirit that is relevant to the metabolism of a particular neighborhood." Through hands-on workshops hosted by Sabado Studios, Jarus will channel the sentiment of participants into an affirmation highlighting their personal connections to the town. The approach will allow Wailuku residents’ own story to resonate as they participate within the mural creation. Jarus’ proposed process recognizes the strength of diversity and importance of inclusion and embraces ‘Ike aku, ‘ike mai. Kōkua aku, kōkua mai. Pēlā ka nohona ‘ohana. (Watch, observe. Help others and accept help. That is the family way)
 
Why as an artist are you drawn to Wailuku?
My manager (Ann-Marie Power), who lived on Maui and spends a lot of time there, has been looking for interesting mural opportunities on the island for a few years. Our focus shifted to Wailuku specifically after an inspiring meeting with Aloha Missions Lesley Cummings + Tamika Cables. Last November when Maui News put out the article that Wailuku had been awarded a grant by the NEA, she reached out to Maui County and had the chance to connect with Kelly McHugh to hear more about the ST*BA project. The proposal was then carefully put together. I am excited to visit Hawaii for the first time and feel honoured to have been awarded the opportunity to contribute an art piece in Wailuku as part of the ST*BA project.
 
In the past 3 years, where have you created art?
Kiev, Ukraine; Stockholm Sweden; Montreal, Quebec (CA); Detroit, Michigan (US); London, UK; Boulogne-sur-Mer, FR; Atlanta, GA (US); Saskatoon, SK (CA); Halifax, NS (CA); Penang, Malaysia; Wollongong, Australia; Dunedin, New Zealand; Ao Nang, Thailand; Toronto, ON (CA); Werchter, Belgium; Banff, AB (CA); Regina, SK (CA); Mexico City, DF (MX); Mumbia, India; Valparaiso, Chile; Port of Spain, Trinidad; Winnipeg + Brandon, MB (CA); Nacka, Sweden
 
In your experience, what distinguishing factors make one neighborhood stand out from the next?
I paint in a lot of different types of neighbourhoods. I almost prefer small towns + small residential communities the most because I get to connect with people on a deeper level.
 
How would you describe creative placemaking to someone who does not understand the term?
The best way I can describe creative placemaking, is by looking at a public park that’s been neglected over the years and no one really goes to any more. Taking that park space and making it more attractive and accessible. Placemaking could be improving the equipment or replacing the picnic tables. The creative part could be engaging the community in a process to paint the park facing walls, washrooms, or covered picnic areas with a local art org/school, or, asking the community’s help in planting a pollinator garden with native plants. Those nice new additions to the park that would attract more people to gather there, play and talk story.
 
How do you define success in your work?
This is a very difficult and always changing question, in some pieces I have certain goals, but for me painting is a deeper way of understanding life around me and solidifying my experiences in a visual form.  The success is often in what is learned instead of an objective view of the final result.  There are paintings that I love initially and dislike later on and paintings I dislike initially but find value later on in life.  I find, like life, the process is more important than the final result.
 
How much research did you do in selecting a Hawaiian proverb for your initial proposal? What was that process like?
The research on the proverb involved stories of Hawaiian elders leading youth and inspiring cultural preservation and practices, and, how Hawaiians care for their kupuna. I attribute my knowledge of art to various influences, but mostly to my grandmother. The foundation of my art practice is inspired by her, and the road I've been on since has drawn support from both my immediate and chosen family. I enjoy painting in public space so I can understand its context and express it through my work; a process that is deeply rooted in observing life. In selecting from the Hawaiian proverbs - ‘Ike aku, ‘ike mai. Kōkua aku, kōkua mai. Pēlā ka nohona ‘ohana - Watch, observe. Help others and accept help. That is the family way - seemed in almost perfect alignment.

Written by Axel Beers for Maui Time Weekly

Andy Behrle has a day-old hospital bracelet clipped around his wrist when I meet him for coffee. It’s evidence that the artist has collaborated on not just one, but two major acts of creation over the weekend. Undoubtedly still caught in the whirlwind of an eventful three days, Behrle is bright-eyed and effusive when he speaks.

I sit and notice him gazing toward his phone at a photo of his swaddled baby’s scrunched-up, newborn face. His second son, just over 24 hours old, and his wife are about to be released from the hospital at any time, Behrle says, touching down to the present moment from his rapturous admiration. His gaze is deep, and not unlike that which the public cast on his other, more ephemeral creation days prior when it emerged during Wailuku’s September First Friday on the side of the Iao Theater, just a few buildings over from where we sit.

This recent creation, a work of art called “lost and found,” is a digital reimagination of the stained glass windows that once adorned Saint Anthony’s Church in Wailuku, before the structure was lost to arson in 1977. In an installation that was billed as a “one-night only” event, Behrle’s work was projected onto the side of the Iao Theater for three hours for passersby to observe, transforming Kipuka Square (the area between the police substation and the theater) into a sort of open cathedral and contemplative space. Like moments of contemplation and like water, the projection ebbs and flows – literally – as steady examination reveals the panels of the resurrected stained glass to be moving, living, close-up images of water. Starting in black and white, the Gothic skeleton of the lost window fills with color before returning to the shades of grey and swelling with color once again. There are four different compositions, each with six videos of water “painting” the recreated stained glass.

Behrle took some-75 videos with three different cameras for the project, capturing moments of water in different forms, colors, shades and light, mauka to makai, up and down the Wailuku River. “These little moments, these little fractions of moments in nature, feel universal – the water runs like this, right?” Behrle says. “But every frame and every picture is unique. Always has been and always will be, even if you visit the same river, the same beach, day after day after day – there’s something new there.”

The way these videos come together to form “lost and found” is like our memory and personal stories, he explains. We’re filters of moments and information that come together to form who we are. “That’s how the artwork is born,” Behrle says... (READ MORE)

Please join the SMALL TOWN * BIG ART team (Kelly, Sissy and Erin!) this Friday at Wailuku Town's Kipuka Square at 7:30 PM to celebrate the unveiling of Andy Behrle's "lost & found." 

Many months in the making, Behrle has worked with dozens of community members to research, reimagine and refine a light installation that depicts a stained glass window from St. Anthony's Church before it was lost to a devastating fire in 1977. Through hours of footage collected at different points of and in the Wailuku River, panes of glass have been replaced with visions of water. The piece will be on view for one night only against the side of Iao Theater from 7:30 - 9 PM during the September 6 Wailuku First Friday. 

​MORE. 

Shucks. Tonight’s #wailukufirstfriday has been canceled for safety reasons (thanks Hurricane Erick!) Please stay tuned for our pop-up reveal of @andybehrle‘s new media work of public art, “lost & found” ! Be the first to know by joining our email list by joining HERE.  #raindelay #playersoffthefield #erickshmerick #itsok #weactuallyreallyneedthisrain #wailukuwai

Andy Behrle creates site-specific and site-responsive installations that reflect upon the cultural, geologic, and social histories of places where he has lived and visited. Since 2015, many of these projects have focused on the use of new media technologies and digital video projection to immerse viewers in worlds shaped by colors of light and textures of water. More recently, Behrle has used digital editing software to stitch together multiple video files to re-imagine stained glass windows of historic places and traditional fabric patterns. For all of these projects, he captures video footage of local water sources both naturally occurring and created by humanity to investigate global systems through regional water use issues.
 
Having recently relocated to Maui from Hawaiʻi Island, Behrle has been dreaming of new digital video installations inspired by the lost and remaining stained glass windows of the Islands’ spiritual centers.
 
Enter Wailuku’s St. Anthony’s Church, which has been rebuilt 4 times since 1848 - somewhat fitting for its patron saint, the founder of lost articles.
 
Two months into our search for a discernible image of a stained glass window from the Church before the last rebuild (1980), we released a call-out to the community asking for public submissions that might help the artist with his reimagining. Thanks to the modern magic of social media and Maui Time Weekly, dozens of photos followed, nearly none of which offered a clear outline of the glass shapes, stories or colors. Last week, we were finally able to connect with the St. Anthony’s ʻohana, who spent a great deal of time and effort bringing the Church’s history to light.
 
Stephen Kealoha and Father Roland are deeply kind individuals well rooted in history and believe that the best ways to live a spiritual life are to share their faith with others, work with the poor, and educate and nourish the mind, the body, and the soul. When asked how the Church is rooted in Wailuku history, Father Roland responds, “the sugar plantation and the church go hand in hand. This is why you see all sorts of churches in Wailuku.”
 
Stephen and Father Roland were both surprised by the artists’ interest and excited about the idea of collaborating with SMALL TOWN * BIG ART on this creative placemaking project. As described by Inside Philanthropy, “places are not only geographic locations. They are diverse communities whose unique existence depends on both history and culture. The people that live in these neighborhoods know this better than anyone. It is up to placemakers to hear what they have to say.”
 
A big mahalo to all of the community members that have contributed to this SMALL TOWN * BIG ART  installation, and mahalo to Andy Behrle for being so well equipped to hear what they have to say.
 
We’ll see you at the unveiling on Friday, August 2.