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ST*BA Presents M.A.P.A!

1/31/2020

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In the February 2019 SMALL TOWN * BIG ART project proposal by Maui Academy of Performing Arts (MAPA), Chief Operating Officer Carolyn Wright shares:
 
Theatre is essential to a thriving community. As a gathering place where ideas and possibilities mingle in an incubator of humanity’s potential, theatre nourishes the pressing need to belong to a greater good. In theatre we find empathy for our fellow travelers, discover compassion for the pain of life’s tribulations, and celebrate the triumphs of our irrepressible human spirit. Defining who we are, what we believe and what remains after we are gone, theatre changes our world from the inside out. It re-shapes our individual and collective lives by walking us into new worlds, into deeper understandings of self and others. Theatre challenges ingrained ideas, shares new visions, and allows us to rehearse the moral struggles of the world. Connecting people across age, race, and economic barriers, theatre builds a climate of tolerance, compassion, and a shared vision for a healthy community.
 
On Friday, February 7, 2020 (Wailuku First Friday!), MAPA will present its SMALL TOWN * BIG ART project “Birds of a Feather” free of charge for members of the public at the 2027 Main Street studio. Show times are at 6:15 PM and 7:30 PM.
 
An original musical set on Maui written by Kathy Collins with music by Marti Kluth, the show is performed by MAPA's troupe of professional performers: Kathy Collins, Logan Heller, Carlyn Leal, and Kiegan Otterson with live music performed by Gilbert Emata. The story follows Moa (the Hawaiian chicken), Pīkake (the peacock), and Manu’aipilau (the mynah) who struggle to accept and appreciate their differences. To their great surprise, they learn that they are actually more alike than not, and they ultimately discover that their community is stronger because of their diversity.
 
According to MAPA Assistant Artistic Director Hōkū Pavao Jones, the original intent of the organization’s ST*BA proposal was to engage local playwright Kathy Collins to tell a story inspired by Pele’s eruption on Hawaiʻi Island in 2018. “But then came the outcry of the Mauna,” she shares, “which made us think: maybe this wasn’t the story that WE needed to be telling from MAPA as we the people are finding our collective voice. Everyone, not just Hawaiians, were feeling the call. Maybe what was needed was a remembrance that we may all believe in different things. We all hear the call. We are all so alike in so many ways – but we tend to focus on differences!”
 
Hōkū goes on to tell a story about a fellow rally-goer that went to Mauna Kea wondering whether or not he was “worthy” to be there, but came to feel an incredible sense of belonging that disappeared as soon as he returned home. “It was so apparent to him how things were just different,” she shares, “that’s how the story came to be. We weren’t meaning to write it or tell it. But our core audience (children) should hear the story of what he was feeling without being told. This is what theater is all about; talking about what is not being said in a way that people can really hear.”
 
In this way, “Birds of a Feather” is inspired by ʻōlelo noʻeau E aloha kekahi i kekahi, or love one another.
 
“Wailuku is a gathering place, and has been for centuries,” continues Hōkū, “Kathy took a day to walk around Wailuku and pick the 4 birds for the play based on 4 people that she saw in Wailuku, and the cultures and aloha that they represent.”
 
Over the past 30 years, MAPA’s Educational Theatre Tours have been a “gateway” theatre experience for generations of Maui keiki. Often students’ first-ever exposure to live theatre, the tours feature original scripts written by local playwrights like Kathy Collins and Derek Nakagawa, and original music written and performed by Maui musicians. With professionally designed costumes, sets and props, the plays are performed by MAPA’s troupe of professional actors and give students a full theatrical experience. The scripts and production values promote artistic excellence as well as educational value and address relevant child issues like friendship, respect, integrity or bullying – with age-appropriate humor and clear and accessible story lines that offer life lessons.
  
We hope you will join us at 2027 Main Street on February 7 to meet the artists, learn about MAPA and SMALL TOWN * BIG ART and celebrate the triumphs of our irrepressible human spirit!
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Aloha Nui

1/31/2020

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A beautiful turnout this morning for Au's Shaolin Arts Society Chinese New Year performance and the unveiling of Sean Baba's SMALL TOWN * BIG ART sculpture, “Chinese Take Out: Super Size." Congratulations to all of the artists!

Inspired by ʻōlelo noʻeau: O ke aloha ke kuleana o kahi malihini (love is the host in strange lands), Baba proposed sharing this work in response to our February 2019 call-to-artists, which called for quality, style, experience in creating communal or public art, significance to Wailuku and alignment with a pre-selected ʻōlelo noʻeau by Sissy Lake-Farm, Director of Hale Hōʻikeʻike. 

His piece is now on view on level 9 of the County Building at 200 S. High Street and will be "popping up" throughout town; transforming spaces and the way that we interact with each new sense of place. 

Viewings will be announced via the smalltownbig.org mailing list as well as facebook.com/smalltownbigart and Instagram handle @smalltownbigart.
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SMALL TOWN * BIG ART Sneak Peek with Sean Baba: SUPERSIZE ME

1/27/2020

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Picture
​Please join us on the front lawn of the Maui County Building this Friday, January 31 for a sneak peek of Wailuku artist Sean Baba's SMALL TOWN * BIG ART sculpture, “Supersize Me.”
 
Part of Au's Shaolin Arts Society Chinese New Year performance, Baba will join the festivities to share his artwork. 
 
Developed as a public installation that once lived outside of Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House/ Maui Historical Society on Main Street in Wailuku, Baba revived the piece over the course of the last year for the SMALL TOWN * BIG ART call to artists. Proposals called for quality, style, experience in creating communal or public art, significance to Wailuku and alignment with a pre-selected ʻōlelo noʻeau by Sissy Lake-Farm, Director of Hale Hōʻikeʻike.
 
“There are many aspects and cultures that make Maui, Local,” shares Baba, “A symbolic Icon of Hawaii and Wailuku is the Chinese to go container. It symbolizes memories and the mixture of cultures that have mixed and grown to become Hawaiʻi. When I created this, it was received beyond what it represented to me, and the diversity of who gravitated to it was overwhelming. I have been told that Wailuku needs an artwork that symbolizes art, culture and food and this to me has represented this to everyone who has seen it.”
 
A collaboration of the National Endowment of the Arts, County of Maui and Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House/ Maui Historical Society, SMALL TOWN * BIG ART is a creative placemaking pilot project with a mission to develop Wailuku, Hawaiʻi as a public arts district that is focused on its distinctive sense of place, history and culture. The project is led by County of Maui Redevelopment Program Planner Erin Wade and Public Art Specialist Kelly McHugh-White, with guidance and support by Sissy Lake-Farm, Director of Hale Ho'ike'ike at The Bailey House Museum/ Maui Historical Society.
 
“Something that we keep hearing from the public is, ‘it’s working!’ ‘You’re getting people to share their own Wailuku stories with each other!’ ‘The art is bringing them together!’” says McHugh-White, “Each artist that we are collaborating with has uncovered their own unique Wailuku narrative by working directly with this growing network of arts enthusiasts and storytellers. The artwork is a catalyst for community building, historic preservation and an enhanced wonder for Wailuku.”
 
51 SMALL TOWN * BIG ART proposals were submitted in February 2019 through CaFÉ, a public, online call-for-artists management system run by Western States Arts Federation, and a review panel was created with a careful balance of community, historical, art and grant making expertise. Baba's was one of 13 projects that were selected to move into project development in order to sharpen timelines, budgets, opportunities for community engagement, project renderings and any additional resource management. To date, SMALL TOWN * BIG ART has executed public art collaborations with lightwork artist Andy Behrle of Kīhei, Canadian-born muralist Emmanuel Jarus, Wailuku-based E.H.A (Endemic Hawaii Artists), comprised of Kirk Kurokawa, Elmer Bio, Amanda Bowers and Noble Richardson, and award-winning sculptor Jessica Bodner, 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.
 
The January 31 sneak peek of Baba's sculpture will be followed by other public viewings, to be announced via the smalltownbig.org mailing list as well as facebook.com/smalltownbigart and Instagram handle @smalltownbigart.
 
The next SMALL TOWN * BIG ART unveiling will take place during the February 7 First Friday event, created by Maui Academy of Performing Arts. Stay tuned for details.
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Little Free Library

1/2/2020

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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
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    Stories of Wailuku Town and its journey in becoming a public arts district.  MAUI | HAWAI'I

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