Developed through a 2018-2020 Our Town grant by the ​National Endowment for the Arts, SMALL TOWN * BIG ART is a creative placemaking collaboration of County of Maui and Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House Museum/ Maui Historical Society that aims to develop Wailuku, Hawaiʻi as a public arts district focused on its distinctive sense of place, history and culture. Engaging the public in both the process and the product, art experiences are paired with activities such as talk story sessions, artist workshops, public rehearsals and more. Each art installation is led by professional artists that have submitted project applications exhibiting exceptional quality, style, experience in creating communal or public art, significance to Wailuku and alignment with a selected ʻōlelo noʻeau. Through many hands and many voices, these creative interpretations represent a revitalized identity for this small town with the BIGGEST heart.

WHAT IS SMALL TOWN * BIG ART?

  • SMALL TOWN * BIG ART is a creative placemaking project geared to position Wailuku, Maui, Hawai‘i as a public arts district that is focused on its distinctive sense of place, history and culture.
  • Visual, performing and experiential art installations are paired with public events such as talk story sessions, unveilings, free artist workshops, pop-up paint and play days, and more, which invite the community to be a part of both the process and the product. 
  • As one of 60 grant awardees selected throughout the United States by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Our Town program, the Maui Redevelopment Agency executed a pilot project from 2018 - 2020. County of Maui has extended the program into 2021. 
  • Our Town is the NEA’s signature creative placemaking program to support partnerships of artists, arts organizations, and municipal government that work together to revitalize neighborhoods.
  • Working closely with Hale Hō‘ike‘ike at the Bailey House/ Maui Historical Society (MHS), SMALL TOWN * BIG ART delivers a strategic response to the community need for public art in Wailuku Town. 
  • Public art applications are reviewed by an evaluation panel with selection criteria aimed at quality, style, experience in creating communal or public art, significance to Wailuku and alignment with an MHS-selected ‘ōlelo from Mary Kawena Pukui's ‘Ōlelo No‘eau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Political Sayings.

"Public art projects will be most effective when they are part of a larger, holistic, multidisciplinary approach to enlivening a city or neighborhood."
- Project for Public Spaces

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