By Shelley Pellegrino

Jonathan loves reading. Always has. It seems only fitting that he decided to build some Little Free Libraries for his Eagle Scout Project. These libraries will provide a repository for people in the community to take a book and/or share a book.

“I want to do this project because I have always found joy in reading a good book. Ever since I was in elementary school, I have loved to read. With this project, I hope to spread my love for reading with others, especially those who might not have access to books on a regular basis.”

When he started thinking about where to place the libraries, Jonathan thought of the communities and places on Maui that had meaning to him. With the assistance of his mentor Lawrence Kauha'aha'a, he decided to place one in Wailuku Town near Īao Theatre (outside the Market Street Safety Office). Another will be housed outside Wailuku Hongwanji Mission Buddhist Temple, which is the sponsoring organization for his Boy Scout Troop. The third will be placed at Noho'ana Farm in Waikapū.

What started as a building project has evolved into a larger collaboration, with SMALL TOWN * BIG ART and his Little Free Libraries joining in an effort to build community through the arts. "SMALL TOWN * BIG ART is a 2018-2020 creative placemaking pilot project to help position Wailuku, Maui, Hawai‘i as a public arts district that is focused on its distinctive sense of place, history and culture." It is funded by a National Endowment of the Arts grant.

Jonathan and about 30 of his fellow Troop 40 scouts and adult leaders have built three Little Free Libraries over the past few days at Noho’ana Farm. Today he met with Maui-born artist Amanda Joy Bowers, who is part of SMALL TOWN * BIG ART and who has graciously offered to paint the libraries. And at First Friday later this week, his Little Free Library will be part of a larger unveiling of a 250-pound sculpture of a hīna’i (woven basket) created by SMALL TOWN * BIG ART artist Jessica Bodner, with whom he met yesterday.

It is inspiring to me how Jonathan’s project has brought together so many different aspects of our lives. The ‘ōlelo no’eau (Hawaiian proverb) on which the collaboration is based — “A 'ohe hana nui ke alu 'ia” - No task is too big when done together by all — has embodied this community-building experience.

The last component of Jonathan’s Eagle Project is a BOOK DRIVE, which will be held at FIRST FRIDAY on Market Street. Some of the books will be used to kick start the libraries, and the remainder will be donated to the Maui United Way for distribution to its partner agencies. BOOKS FOR ALL AGES ARE WELCOME.

Please stop by Kīpuka Square (near 'Īao Theatre) on January 3, between 6 and 9 p.m. to check out Jonathan’s Little Free Library, see Jessica Bodner’s work of art, donate a book(s), and learn more about SMALL TOWN * BIG ART.

Here are some photos from these past few days of building. Please also consider following SMALL TOWN * BIG ART on FB or Instagram to read more about this collaboration and see what other amazing work has already been done for the Wailuku community.

Looking forward to seeing folks this Friday!

1/1/20 UPDATE: Happy New Year! Request Music on Market Street has offered to serve as a drop-off location for those who would like to donate books, but cannot make it to First Friday. They will be open this Thursday and Friday from 10-6 and welcome any new or gently used books you would like to contribute to Jonathan's book drive. HUGE MAHALO to Request Music, and Joe and Shannon Alueta for their kokua! What an incredible community we have on Maui. SMALL TOWN BIG ART

Developed over the course of the last year, award-winning sculptor Jessica Bodner first saw the SMALL TOWN * BIG ART call to artists in February 2019 while traveling in Ojai, California. The proposal called for quality, style, experience in creating communal or public art, significance to Wailuku and alignment with an ʻōlelo noʻeau that was pre-selected by Sissy Lake-Farm, Director of Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House/ Maui Historical Society. “The very minute I saw the opportunity, I started working on an idea,” says Bodner, who is well known for woven steel forms reminiscent of archeological subject matter, “I have always been inspired by basket making traditions of Hawaii, so I began spending a lot of time at the Historical Society and put together my proposal.”
 
Bodner’s selected ʻōlelo noʻeau 'A 'ohe hana nui ke alu 'ia - No task is too big when done together by all was paired with a plan to hand sculpt a six-to-eight foot work from new and reclaimed steel, woven and welded to create a dramatic oversized version of a hīna’i which would serve “as a reminder and memory of the Native Hawaiians tie to the land and sea and one of the few fishing methods that women and children were allowed to participate in,” according to the artist’s proposal. 
 
SMALL TOWN * BIG ART panelists were “absolutely stunned” by the artist’s work, proposal and experience in creating public artwork, according to Project Manager Kelly McHugh-White. “Having created over 30 public art installations in her 20-year career as a professional artist, Jessica is incredibly sensitive to art’s ability to build and enhance a sense of place; art that goes beyond physical attributes to tell a story through the eye of the beholder and to create a dialogue amongst a community.” 
 
“What is this place? What is this thing? Why is it here?” shares Bodner, “Art in public places gives that sense of place, which is extremely important in sensitive places like Wailuku where war and turmoil once existed. It’s important for people to know the history before they can determine what they want from their community in the future.”
 
While working with the Public Works Wailuku Highways Division crew to help identify and install a base for the 250-pound sculpture, ST*BA Project Administrator Erin Wade was introduced to Life Scout Jonathan Kamehanaokala Merchant. Mentored by Wailuku Clean and Safe ambassador Lawrence Kauha'aha'a, Merchant is currently developing his Eagle Scout Project “Little Free Library,” which are public bookcases stationed in Wailuku to promote neighborhood book exchanges. The team embraced this idea by enlisting SMALL TOWN * BIG ART artist Amanda Joy Bowers, who meticulously painted a hīnaʻi in her collaborative Resemble The 'Alalā mural earlier this year, to hand paint the miniature libraries and setting up time with Bodner and Lake-Farm to talk story about the concept 'a 'ohe hana nui ke alu 'ia - No task is too big when done together by all. Now, Merchant is part of the SMALL TOWN * BIG ART family with his community-building through the arts installation. Together with Bodner’s installation, these projects illustrate the proverb "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” 
 
Merchant’s “Little Free Library” will be stationed at the Safety Office on Market Street in Wailuku, and will hold books for people in the community to take and return, effectively creating a free library that is easy to access. “I want to do this project because I have always found joy in reading a good book,” says Merchant, “Ever since I was in elementary school, I have loved to read. With this project, I hope to spread my love for reading with others, especially those who might not have access to books on a regular basis, hopefully increasing the communities’ love of learning, as well as improve the visual aspect.” When asked to select an ‘ōlelo no‘eau that best aligned with his intention, Merchant - like his January 3 unveiling partner Jessica Bodner - chose: 'A 'ohe hana nui ke alu 'ia - No task is too big when done together by all. 
 
Join us for the free unveiling event in Kīpuka Square on Market Street (just beside Iao Theater) from 6 - 9 PM on Friday, January 3, 2020. Please consider donating a book to Merchant’s “Little Free Library” and joining the conversation at @smalltownbigart. 

In November 2018, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced that Maui County was awarded one of 60 national Our Town grants to support the 2-year planning and implementation of pilot arts programming in Wailuku Town. Entitled SMALL TOWN * BIG ART, the project is led by county redevelopment program planner Erin Wade and arts administrator Kelly McHugh-White, with guidance and support by Sissy Lake-Farm, Director of Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House/ Maui Historical Society.
 
The NEA’s signature creative placemaking grant program, Our Town grants support partnerships of artists, arts organizations, and municipal government that work to revitalize neighborhoods. This practice places arts at the table with land-use, transportation, economic development, education, housing, infrastructure, and public safety strategies to address a community’s challenges. Creative placemaking highlights the distinctiveness of a place, encouraging residents to identify and build upon their local creative assets.
 
In its first year, a call-for-entries was crafted in pursuit of performing and visual public art proposals that promote the unique history, culture and community of Wailuku Town by highlighting the contemporary art community with a unique and diverse platform for artists to execute and display original artwork. Proposal evaluation and selection criteria aimed for quality, style, experience in creating communal or public art, significance to Wailuku and alignment with a pre-selected ʻōlelo noʻeau.
 
During this time, SMALL TOWN * BIG ART was approached by PangeaSeed Foundation to collaborate on SeaWalls: Artists for Oceans, their principal mural program made up of an international consortium of 250 professional artists. This union offered SMALL TOWN * BIG ART the opportunity to design a proof of concept, funding the SeaWalls project and offering thematic development while learning from their very seasoned team of artists and collaborators. This partnership resulted in 10 new “Mauka to Makai” murals throughout Wailuku Town, and an additional 6 on the campus of Baldwin High School.
 
51 SMALL TOWN * BIG ART proposals were submitted through CaFÉ, a public, online call-for-artists management system run by WESTAF (Western States Arts Federation) and a review panel was created with a careful balance of community, historical, art and grant making expertise. 13 projects were selected to move into project development (phase 2) in order to sharpen timelines, budgets, opportunities for community engagement, project renderings and any additional resource management.
 
Now undergoing full implementation, SMALL TOWN * BIG ART has executed public art collaborations with lightwork artist Andy Behrle of Kīhei, Canadian-born muralist Emmanuel Jarus, and Wailuku-based E.H.A (Endemic Hawaii Artists), comprised of Kirk Kurokawa, Elmer Bio, Amanda Bowers and Noble Richardson, with an additional Día de los Muertos event in which the public made offerings – photos, food, flowers, etc. – for a communal shrine created at Kīpuka Square with Jackie Goring and Tamara Li. Countless community members have supported these projects with their manaʻo and hands-on participation, consistently remarking on the sense of community, inspiration and education that each experience has offered.
 
Andy Behrle’s September 2019 work entitled “lost & found” was a digitally created reimagination of the stained glass windows that once adorned Saint Anthony’s Church in Wailuku, before the structure was lost to arson in 1977. Projected onto the side of Historic Iao Theater, Kīpuka Square (the area between the police substation and the theater) was transformed “into a sort of open cathedral and contemplative space,” according to a Maui Time cover story, “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.” Andy and the SMALL TOWN * BIG ART team worked closely for 3 months to research, collect and share stories of the church and Wailuku River that would ultimately be unveiled for just 1 night.
 
Later in September, Emmanuel Jarus joined the team with a full day offering of free portraiture classes at Wailuku’s classic Sabado Studios, where he was able to spend time cultivating his mural concept: ʻIke aku, ʻike mai. Kōkua aku, kōkua mai. Pēlā ka nohona ʻohana. (“Watch, observe. Help others and accept help. That is the family way.”) During his 3-week residency, a Wailuku family invited Jarus on a fishing trip where he observed and learned first hand the experience of spear fishing. “In freshwater and salt, water as the heartbeat of life’s existence resonated,” shares the artist, “having had the opportunity to be immersed within the river and ocean waters guided by Wailuku residents, and, taking in where the stream meets the sea at the Waiheʻe Coastal Dunes and Wetlands Refuge, these experiences observing life became the inspiration for the mural.”
 
“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.” Sissy led a public blessing of the artwork, completed in October, as friends and neighbors got to know the artist and learn more about SMALL TOWN * BIG ART.
 
In November, E.H.A engaged Wailuku Elementary School, Iao School and Pūnana Leo o Maui to help paint their piece Pō Mekeʻau (nightfall) alongside Wells Park. Exhibiting “a reflection of perspectives,” according to the artists statement, the piece depicts Wailuku’s four rivers, kukui and pohaku as a cohesive representation that “no task is too big when protecting our great kupuna that sustains our levity and cultural significance that live through the hands of our mentors and hearts of our keiki.” Community member Shahlia Wainui-Tucker shared that SMALL TOWN * BIG ART offers a chance for community artists to depict values of the area that they are working in and that this art “has the power to connect people across all platforms, cultures and religions.”
 
Monthly SMALL TOWN * BIG ART opportunities throughout Wailuku Town to talk story with artists and collaborators, attend free rehearsals and performances, experience mural and installation exhibits and become a integral part of the story of Wailuku Town will continue until June 2020, with upcoming artists and groups including the Maui Academy of Performing Arts, installation artist Michael Takemoto, performance artist Leilehua Yuen and - next up - award-winning sculptor Jessica Bodner, who is currently creating a six-foot reclaimed steel basket sculpture inspired by the hīnaʻi (basket fish trap) used by the Iawaiʻa (fisherman). “Creative placemaking creates a dialogue and allows the community to be involved,” shares Bodner, “What is this place? What is this thing?  Why is it here? Art in public places gives that sense of place, which is extremely important in sensitive places like Wailuku where war and turmoil once existed. It’s important for people to know the history before they can determine what they want from their community in the future.”

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)