Throughout the final days of 2022, this 100-foot temporary mural by Alex Underwood will be installed along the perimeter of the Hālau of ʻŌiwi Art construction zone, on Church Street where it intersects with Vineyard Street in Wailuku. 

Upon completion last year, the mural panels were earmarked to temporarily enclose the Wailuku municipal parking lot construction site as part of our Mana Wahine collaboration that resulted in a collection of three murals. However, due to construction updates and new developments — most notably the future Halau of ‘Oiwi Art and Wailuku Arts District projects — the panels were stored until a specific install site could be secured.

Entitled "Mōhala I ka wai ka maka o ka pua (Unfolded by the water are the faces of the flowers)" and inspired by its namesake ʻōlelo noʻeau, Underwood chose to highlight Wailuku’s integral connection to water and the unique flora that results from it. Highlighted are a diverse range of plants found throughout Moko ‘O Wailuku - wauke, loulu, pohinahina, naupaka, ma’o, and the rare hesperomannia.

"This goes to represent not only the amazing biodiversity found in Wailuku, but also its beautifully diverse community," shares the artist. She continues, "Woven in between these plants are bright blue kalo, as kalo is so intrinsically connected to water and therefore a huge part of Wailuku’s identity. Wailuku is an extremely resilient and special place - home to such rich history, immense natural beauty, extremely special people, and intense mana'o. As Mary Kawena Pukui said in this Olelo No’eau, 'Mōhala I ka wai ka maka o ka pua - flowers thrive where there is water, as thriving people are found where living conditions are good', which I think is the perfect description of Wailuku."

Learn more at the links below:

• Project webpage
• Community consultant highlight reel
• Mana Wahine project documentary
• 2021 unveiling announcement
• "Wahine energy in Wailuku: Maui murals draw from community input" article
• "ST*BA Collaborates with Maui-Grown Artists for Next Public Art Project in Wailuku" article
• Artist website

Details regarding the third and final 100-foot mural unveiling within this series are forthcoming. To stay up-to-date on the Wailuku Town Improvements Project, visit Wailuku Live. 

​On Tuesday, December 20, 2022, SMALL TOWN * BIG ART partners County of Maui + Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House / Maui Historical Society + Maui Public Art Corps will unveil a collection of film shorts that celebrate Maui County history, culture and sense of place.​

The result of the initiative’s most recent call to artists, the collection stems from its new Hui Mo'olelo program. Through kumu Leilehua Yuen, a cohort of storytellers are trained through a series of virtual, live workshops. Hale Hōʻikeʻike Executive Director Sissy Lake-Farm then pairs workshop students with kūpuna to share their stories. Upon completion of the workshop series and recorded kūpuna sessions, resulting audio excerpts become the basis for annual requests for artist proposals (RFP). After an artist is selected by a community panel, they begin an intensive learning and cultural exchange that is rooted in specific places throughout Maui County.

Selected by a community panel, artists Rose Stark, Natalie Greene and Taisiya Zaretskaya have worked with Maui Public Art Corps and Hale Hōʻikeʻike since July to bring a collection of stories to life under the direction of Oscar contending artist Richard O'Connor. Their animated film shorts will be presented in alignment with recorded talk-story excerpts about Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe and Kahului. Story participants include Coach John McCandless (aka Johnny Mac) with Dean Tokishi, Ocean Resources Specialist, Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission; Anthony Pacheco with his father Henry Eskaran, Jr., kamaʻāina of Lānaʻi; Michael K. Nāhoʻopiʻi, Executive Director of Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission with Kelly McHugh-White, Maui Public Art Corps; Soon Yai Amaral, Elder kamaʻāina of Lānaʻi with her daughter Diane Preza, kamaʻāina of Lānaʻi; Kahoʻiwai Belsom, Attorney with Jocelyn Romero Demirbag, Ed.D., Director of Development, Maui Nui at The University of Hawaii Foundation; and Dean Del Rosario, kamaʻāina of Lānaʻi with Shelly Preza, Executive Director, Lānaʻi Culture & Heritage Center.

Project talks began in February 2021, soon after Maui Public Art Corps was first established to expand the work of Wailuku Town’s SMALL TOWN * BIG ART (ST*BA) initiative into new neighborhoods countywide. In November 2021, the team was selected for grant funding by the National Endowment for the Arts to pilot related programming in up to three additional Maui County neighborhoods. By April 2022, partners from Kahului as well as the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission and Lānaʻi Culture & Heritage Center had joined on to participate in Hui Mo'olelo.  

“The Lānaʻi Culture & Heritage Center is grateful to be working with this initiative to express the intergenerational stories of our community through art,” shares Shelly Preza, Executive Director, Lānaʻi Culture & Heritage Center, “The SMALL TOWN * BIG ART effort to date, which pairs professional artists with community members to help share stories and values of Wailuku Town, has been impressive, and we are excited to collaborate with their team to share our Lānaʻi stories.”

Preza will join the December 20 event to present three animations about Lānaʻi that she consulted on closely, along with former director Kepā Maly, to help commemorate 100 years since Lānaʻi was purchased by the Dole Corporation (1922).

"Many people are familiar with the island of Kahoʻolawe as a whole, but very few know of the many different special places that comprise it,” shares Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission Executive Director Mike Nāhoʻopiʻi. “This kind of public art and community engagement, allows us to connect people to those places and share the stories of Kahoʻolawe through creative and meaningful experiences, which is at the core of the KIRCʻs mission.” 

The December 20 Hui Mo'olelo film festival event will be emceed by Sissy Lake-Farm of Hale Hōʻikeʻike, beginning promptly at 5:30 PM and ending at 7. Free to the public, audience members will experience the premiere of six individual animated talk-story excerpts, each between 3 to 5 minutes in length, as well as an offering by Hui Mo'olelo featured kūpuna Aunty Kahoiwai Belsom. Arrive early to enjoy a collection of paintings created by Maui Satellite Job Corps Center students, who participated in a free Hui Mo‘olelo workshop with Art Corps' Kelly McHugh-White and teaching artist Jana Ireijo. Together, they listened to the kūpuna audio recordings and created their own visual interpretations, each paired with a link to a recording of their own personal artist statements. Bring your headphones! 

“We connect with one another in the space we share and the actions we take to build that space,” shares artist Richard O’Connor, “These works reflect the voices who once labored in those spaces. They echo to current generations. Through these reverberations we create ties to the past and a path to the future. People. Places. Work.”

To view the artwork research, listen to the story recordings, and more, visit mauipublicart.org/lanai, mauipublicart.org/kahoolawe and mauipublicart.org/ace. 

###

About 
Following a successful three-year pilot program entitled SMALL TOWN * BIG ART — a creative placemaking collaboration of the County of Maui and Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House/ Maui Historical Society —  Maui Public Art Corps was established in 2020 in order to scale the positive community response and impacts from Wailuku Town to a county-wide initiative. Its mission is to connect people, place and story through the development of exceptional public art. Learn more at mauipublicart.org. 

Photos: Kelly Pauole

On Monday, August 22, 2022, a new SMALL TOWN * BIG ART (ST*BA) mural dedicated to Wailuku’s distinctive sense of place, history and culture will be unveiled at 33 Market Street in Wailuku by artist Edwin Ushiro. The community is encouraged to join a 4:30 PM blessing of the public artwork and space by Uncle Bill (William) Garcia, which will be followed by remarks from both the artist and community members with whom he worked to design the piece. 

Inspired by an audio recorded talk-story between Cultural Historian & Resource Specialist Kepā Maly of Kumu Pono Associates LLC and Lopaka White of the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission, Edwin spent two months working with the ST*BA team and community consultants to help root his design in its ultimate sense of place. The work is entitled Wailuku Ho’okele / Wailuku Wayfinders.

“It was interesting to hear from the recording of Lopaka White and Kepā Maly that the true meaning of ʻĪao isn’t fully understood, although we know that one of its meanings is the name for Jupiter,” shares Ushiro, “Knowing that the ancient Hawaiians were phenomenal navigators, one can only assume that they understood the constellations. That idea of the constellations guiding us around would be a great symbol for these stories that help us find our way to our origins and history—our “wayfinders” or ho’okele.”

The artist’s design encases water within the building’s recessed window shapes in an attempt to place the viewer on the open sea. Each of three windows contain an imagined constellation that “acknowledges the oneness with the universe.”  They are: 1) Iwikuamoʻo bone back lizard, Hōkūleʻa shines in orange-red; 2) Ka Lupe o Kawelo - Lupe or sting ray; and 3) Ka Makau Nui o Māui - Maui’s Fish Hook with Maui. 

In preparation for his communal design process, Ushiro met with storytellers Kepā Maly and Lopaka White, Steve Parker of 33 Market Street, Aunty Leola Leong and Ron Muromoto, Archaeologist Erik Fredericksen and Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House / Maui Historical Society's Sissy Lake-Farm – with all recordings available on his project page at https://www.smalltownbig.org/ushiro.html. Regarding this intensive community consultation process, the artist shared: 

“The community engagement offered access from many angles on how the importance of a mural can help to preserve history and oral traditions. After that experience, I can see how these engagements allowed me to visually connect the aligning stars to tell the story of how we got here. Kepā Maly spoke of quality over quantity. So I trimmed the fat of information. Lopaka White offered his experience of leading with the gut and the connection and awareness to nature. So the placement in the sea was an obvious solution. Steve Parker revealed that Wailuku town was built on immigrants. There is that ocean reference again. Leola Leong reminded me of the fondness and carefree days of youth. So I thought to draw the outline of the figure as if this were a game of connect the dots. Erik Frederiksen spoke about order and process that allowed me to create structure in this illustration.I hope our community members will be satisfied with this illustration. I look forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts and producing something special for our Wailuku town. Mahalo nui for this opportunity.”

Kepā Maly shares, "While our modern view is that 'the landscape has changed so it is no longer sacred,' that’s irrelevant in the Hawaiian perspective, because the mana is still there. And so, even as the land changes, you go home there’s still something that attracts you to place; those touchstone things, the views that you see in the distance. While the old mom-and-pop store or the home that you grew up in -- while those things may have changed, there are experiences that are  embedded within the landscape that are always there. We might call them intangible, but to those who have been raised in a place, those intangibles are as tangible as the physical remains. Don't forget that you were of this place first."

About the Artist: Edwin Ushiro’s work resonates with the echoes of his boyhood in the “slow town” of Wailuku, Maui. While structuring his work around the narrative tradition of “talk story” native to the Hawaiian islands, he interweaves the uncanny obake tales of his Japanese heritage. After earning a BFA with Honors in Illustration from Art Center College of Design, he worked in the entertainment industry as a storyboard artist, concept designer and visual consultant. More recently, he has exhibited in venues worldwide, including Villa Bottini in Italy, Grand Palais in France, the Museum of Kyoto, HoMA, and the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. A monograph of his work entitled "Edwin Ushiro: Gathering Whispers" was published in 2014 with editions by Zero+ Publishing in the United States and Diagon Alley in China. In recent years, he has participated in several POW! WOW! mural festivals in Honolulu and Long Beach, as well as the Windows of Little Tokyo public art festival in Los Angeles. He lives and works between Los Angeles and Maui.

Photos by Sean Hower

​On Thursday, August 11, 2022, a 72-foot SMALL TOWN * BIG ART (ST*BA) mural dedicated to Wailuku’s distinctive sense of place, history and culture will be unveiled as the temporary construction wall surrounding the future site of The Parlay, a new retro-style tavern by the team behind Esters Fair Prospect. 

Created in the summer of 2021 over the course of two weeks, Maui artists Bailey Onaga and Courtney Chargin painted the mural on individual 4x8 panels offsite at the Imua Discovery Garden; among the grounds where Maui's last ruling Chief Kahekili once lived.

Entitled Wailuku i ka malu he kuawa (Wailuku in the shelter of the valley), which is also the proverb from Mary Kawena Pukui’s ‘Ōlelo No‘eau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetical Sayings that inspired the artwork, the piece depicts the Wailuku bridge that will now be seen in the distance when facing the mural, which will be installed at the northeast corner of Main Street and North Church Street in Wailuku. 

"These words resonated so deeply with me and my artistic collaborator, Courtney Chargin," shares Onaga, "We are based in Wailuku, protected by Wailuku, and proud to find inspiration in this sacred place. I drive under and/or over the bridge every single day, inhaling and exhaling, finding the foundation in knowing that everything is going to be okay, somehow. I think about waking up early before field trips to go to Takamiya Market to grab bentos…I think about all the local makers who fill Paradise Now with aloha…the resilience and deep love for the small businesses like Request and countless others…artists like David Sandell and Philip Sabado who I looked up to since I was a little girl…born on Maui, raised in Waiehu, educated in Waihe’e, rooted in Wailuku."

Upon completion last year, the panels were earmarked to temporarily enclose the Wailuku municipal parking lot construction site as part of ST*BA's Mana Wahine collaboration that resulted in a collection of three murals. However, due to construction updates and exciting, new Wailuku developments -- most notably the the Hālau of ʻŌiwi Art and Wailuku Arts District projects -- the panels were stored until a specific install site could be secured. 

"In June 2021, we were able to formally unveil one of the three Mana Wahine pieces: Haʻahaʻa by Amanda Joy Bowers, which was inspired by ʻōlelo noʻeau: E Noho iho I ke ōpū weuweu, mai ho’oki’eki’e (Remain among the clumps of grasses and do not elevate yourself)," shares ST*BA's Kelly McHugh-White, who has since founded the new nonprofit Maui Public Art Corps to expand this work to new neighborhoods, "On August 11, we will unveil the second in this series: Wailuku i ka malu he kuawa (Wailuku in the shelter of the valley), by Bailey and Courtney, and we are beyond excited that their moment has finally come to share this dazzling work with Wailuku."  

The third mural – Mōhala I ka wai ka maka o ka pua (Unfolded by the water are the faces of the flowers) by artist Alex Underwood, is expected to be installed during the holiday season at the end of this year. A 7-minute documentary featuring the Mana Wahine collection may be viewed at the project page: smalltownbig.org/manawahine.

As a Mana Wahine collaboration, the team spent several months working with community consultants, construction teams, County partners, Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House Museum/ Maui Historical Society supporters and others to create the artistic compositions and select ‘ōlelo from Mary Kawena Pukui's ‘Ōlelo No‘eau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetical Sayings to firmly root each piece in its ultimate sense of place. Among those consulted were Maui Nui Botanical Gardens Executive Director Tamara Sherrill and Board Member Robert Hobdy; Hawaiʻi Land Trust Chief Conservation Officer Scott Fisher, Ph.D.; Father Robert "Moki" Hino, Good Shepherd Episcopal Church​; Artist Phil Sabado; Imua Discovery Garden's Dean Wong; and most recently Suzanne Navarro of Esters Fair Prospect and the new retro-style tavern The Parlay. 

“Being a female business owner in Wailuku, I am honored to display a mural fronting our new restaurant - The Parlay - that was created by two locale female artists, Bailey and Courtney," shares Navarro, "It's so important to me as a member of this community to nourish the artists who live here and make Wailuku so special and different. This mural reminds me of how sacred Wailuku is and what an important part this town plays in Maui's history. Thanks so much to SMALL TOWN * BIG ART for all they have done for Wailuku!” 

The public is encouraged to attend the mural blessing and unveiling on Thursday, August 11 at 4:30 PM, which will be led by Uncle Bill Garcia. Attendees will convene on the corner of Main & Church about 15 minutes prior to the blessing, which will be followed by brief remarks by ST*BA partner Sissy Lake-Farm of Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House / Maui Historical Society as well as by each artist. Each of the Community Consultants will be offered an opportunity to share any manaʻo regarding their May-June 2021 experience talking story with the artists; which is a vital piece of each ST*BA project that helps us firmly root the artwork in a Wailuku sense of place. 

Interested in submitting a public art proposal for consideration? The next ST*BA/ Maui Public Art Corps deadline is August 15, 2022 -- and the team is encouraging artists of all disciplines, (dance, poetry, music, theater, painting, sculpture, light work, and more) to apply. Details are at smalltownbig.org/rfp.

This morning I woke up thinking about the interview and the things that came out of it. The more I thought about it the more I realized the awesome journey my life has been. It got me thinking about writing down the stories in a book (a small book) and prompted me to write a short intro to the book. I wanted to share that with you so I have attached it here.  I am grateful for the opportunity you gave me to share my story, or at least parts of it. – Caroline/Kaho'iwai

​The Journey to Find – Myself
INTRODUCTION

I am one of those people who envy others who can recall their childhood.  You see, I have few, if any memories of my childhood until the sixth grade.  Although I remember some of my elementary teachers’ names and the layout of my elementary school, I do not remember classes or students or any work that we did.  I remember my parents and my siblings within the context of our home, and the kids on our street with whom we played.  Very few specific moments, events, adventures; a day at the beach with the family, our old cars, playing hide-n-seek with the neighbor kids.

In 6th grade my teachers convinced my parents to allow me to apply to a private school where I would find more challenges in my education.  I was accepted to the school and remember feeling proud and happy at my new school.  Still, I did not feel like I fit in well with the other kids.  One would say that I flourished at this school, and I did.  I was an academic success, but a social nothing.  During high school I began stretching myself to do things that were not expected of a poor kid from Kalihi, a not so affluent but highly diverse neighborhood on Oahu.  Since then, I have had many adventures, some of them handed to me, some of them by default due to my inaction, and others that I intentionally pursued.  

​Recently I was interviewed for a project conducted by Small Town Big Art here in Wailuku, Maui.  Although I was not sure what I could contribute to the project that was aimed at collecting “sense of place” stories, by the time I left the nearly one-hour interview, lots of thoughts were floating in my mind.  This morning, as I lay in bed during that period of drifting thoughts, I realized that my interview responses were really describing my life’s journey to find myself, to be in a place where I was comfortable in the skin I was born in and proud of the genes I had inherited.  Someone once observed that I managed to change something in my life roughly every five years.  As I thought about my interview and the stories I told there, I realized that I have spent my life trying on different “skins” and being different aspects of myself, all in search of an environment that would not only allow me to be who I truly am, but one that would also nurture me as I live and continue to grow.  Some might say I was searching for an environment that would allow me to “live up to my potential”.
In the end, I must acknowledge that the many twists and turns in my life were merely touchstones along my journey.  Positive, uplifting, and rewarding as they have been, none were the destination – until I moved to Maui.  Until I discovered my Hawaiian ancestral roots, both the people and the land.  Since I arrived on Maui roughly 30 years ago, I have been accumulating information that, unrecognized by me, was slowly filling in the blank spaces of my life, forming the connections I needed to truly understand this journey of discovery. I am at peace with the life that I have created for myself here on Maui, with my familial relationships, my formed relationships, my career, and my future.  This book is the story of my journey.

Access Anu's pdf HERE or read on

FISHSTORY

Oxford dictionary says that a “fish story” is an “incredible or far-fetched story”; an idiom from sports-fishers’ tendency to exaggerate the size of their catch. 

But in the case of the tiny o’opu’s mighty journey from wild sea to far up-rivers’ pristine pools, that’s a rather inverse fish story. A profound tale in the smallest of packages. 

So, when ST*BA asked me to write about the multidisciplinary art that’s coming from these storytelling projects (in particular, the new mural and contemporary dance work that came of Uncle Clifford’s analogy of the “tenacity of the o’opu”)—well it was a lot to unpack.  

It began with last summer’s storytelling workshops, which resulted in recorded intergenerational interviews, then Akaku’s distillation for DIY StoryCorps, then the call-to-artists… Then allll the ways those stories can inspire art of different mediums: like the animations we’re going to meet tonight, Cory’s mural, and the Adaptations Dance Theater work (and maybe even this longshort story thingy). 

Trying fo’ write about all dat stuffs—it’s been like trying to hold water. And what should have been a nice, normal 1,000-word piece of objective journalism has, um, taken on a life of its own. Three weeks after the unveiling of the mural and dance work, what I’ve instead got dis ukubillion-word, four-chapter, work-in-progress, longshort story thingy. 

Even though I didn’t finish (never mind not give them what they asked for) ST*BA has been kind enough to invite me to read an excerpt tonight. 

I’ve never really read in front of an audience like this before… And I tend to think of writing as a form of visual art, meant to be perceived on the page… So thanks for hanging in there with me while I try :) 

For context—because ST*BA is all about building community through art—I hoped to contribute to the story of “the tenacity of the o’opu” through the lens of introducing a new human to our art-filled community and watching these new works come to life. 

Which reminds me that I’d like to share totally personal plug for the ST*BA website. If you have not explored that site yet, berah, grab your snorkel and your fins and dive in ‘cause it is an enchanting sea cave of insight and robust resources to explore the processes of these projects.  

For example, you can spock da project pages and watch the recorded artist-and community consultation meetings—which were wonderful to listen to. Some of them are just under an hour each. That sounds like a lot (and at first it felt voyeuristic listening to someone else’s meetings) but then you see what’s happening and you’re like: Oh, wow. Cool. And you’re hooked! 

The website is a neat window into the depth of processes for the art itself. But moreover, the additional stories brought forth really stoked in me an alohaful understanding of this place and the people of this place—in a way that I don’t know how I could have gained otherwise.  
​
I urge you to check it out for yourself; because it will give you something that all the writing in the world couldn’t—you’ve just gotta dive in and check ‘em go check. 



WATER SHARES THE SHAPE OF TIME 

Between the banks of the river Wailuku, I bathe in a shallow pool. I am not alone. A child swims in my womb, ontogeny recapitulating phylogeny (ish). And a tiny young goby fish, born in the sea, climbs a waterfall in her patient journey of connectivity. 

Hello, O‘opu friend. Teach me a story? 

I watch to listen. The o‘opu climbs. Just an inch of fish, yet a powerhouse. She suctions against torrents of water, time, slime, and all-odds. I watch to listen. The o’opu climbs. Time quickens in its passing. The expanding universe is somehow speeding-up. Stars turn overhead, known but unseen by me amidst the bright blue. How long has it been? An hour? An eternity? There is only this moment; past and future coalesce in this breath. My lungs, the o’opu’s gills, and my womb-child somewhere in between. I watch to listen. The o‘opu climbs. My heart hears: 

Water shares the shape of Time. We are beings made-of and moving amidst it. 

Between banks of the river of Time, I scoop of a deep pool. Some trickles back and rebecomes the flow to the sea, some makes it to my mouth and becomes me. I am not alone. Everyone is here. Creatures of Time incarnate. We drink. We think. We create. We eliminate. Eventually the water of our flesh will seep into the soil, will rise into the mists, and our ever-rebecoming bodies will again be rain and river and aquifer and ocean. The Time of our lives melts back into the formless dimensions accessible only through others’ perceptions. If anything of our now-lives survives, it isn’t in cells—it’s in mo‘olelo. 

The o’opu climbs. I watch to listen. And in silence learn to speak. 

Hello, Friend. Teach me a story? 



THEBRIDGE

The breeze is at our backs as we cross the bridge. Up and over the concrete chasm that casts our sacred Wailuku River. Ritual pause to regard the water. Pure valley air, pau hana exhaust dichotomy. Daddy and Mommy-me, we push our brand-new baby along a well-worn path. Toward the heart of Wailuku Town we stroll(er), our familiar world made fresh through her eyes. 

“This is a bridge,” I explain in singsong whilst cars whiz by. “But you are a bridge, too. Our bridge into the future. Just as we are your bridges into pasts.” 

I marvel at her ‘ano. Just a baby, yet full of features from so many loved ones, some long gone. Grandma’s nose is no longer her own, and I wonder from whom and how far-back this nose goes. Funny how I can peer into the past by looking at the face of the future, this flesh-and-blood time machine. 

“You’re a baby now, but you will be a girl, a woman, a kupuna, an ancestor,” says Daddy to daughter. She is six months old, but we try to talk-story as if she were 6 or 16 or 60… 600… 6,000; knowing that she will be all these ages and then some. I try to think of her as both an eternal soul given new skin and a new life made of primordial molecules. Water, mostly. 

“Did A Dinosaur Drink This Water?” is one of our favorite keiki books. Fittingly the author’s surname is Wells, and he takes readers on a wholesome romp through our planet’s hydrologic cycle, cleaning and recycling the same water for billions of years. Enter modern pollution, and the book expectedly closes with a plea to humanity to care for its most precious resource.  

This dovetails well with another beloved book, “We Are Water Protectors,” a dreamily illustrated gem from our Ojibwe brethren. “We come from water,” reads a cherished page. “It nourished us inside of our mother’s body. As it nourishes us here on Mother Earth. Water is sacred… Water is alive.” 

Stories are alive, too. And to feed them, we need to read them. Since the night she was born, we’ve read-aloud a lot. Piles of kids’ books, of course, but also passages from whatever novel or online article that I happen to be nosing. From the latter we learn that humans split atoms but cannot manufacture water. And that all of Earth’s water may be even older than the Sun! There are several big hypotheses, but new evidence suggests that Earth’s water could have been delivered by the same interplanetary collision that created our Moon. I rather like this theory, as there is poetry and (literal) gravity in how the Moon and Earth’s water—including the wai within us—remain connected. 

It is good to know the stories of the wide world and beyond, but it is essential to know the stories of our home. Because we are the homes of stories. So, we share with our baby the many centuries-old hydrologic cycle oli, that poses the question “Aia i hea ka wai a Kane?” We listen to voice of a beloved mentor speak of “the tenacity of the o’opu.” We listen to the voice of real-life water protector, reminding us to not merely survive, but thrive.  

And, I tell her of our mythical water protectors, mo’o, our Hawaiian dragons. I tell her how mo’o is the root word for processes precious to us: mo’okuauhau, genealogy; mo’opuna, grandchild; mo’olelo, story. I tell her how in Hawai’i nei we have no alligators, no large water monitor lizards, no dinosaur bones eroding from the mountainsides, but the memory of these thing traveled with our ancestors; and the lessons they teach live in us as we keep the stories—and this water—alive. 

Water that dinosaurs drank. Water that is older than the sun. Water that is within and connects us all. 

Ritual pause to regard the water. Up and over the concrete channel that casts our sacred Wailuku river. The breeze is at our backs as we cross the bridge, and push our brand new baby along this well-worn path. Toward the heart of Wailuku Town we stroll, our familiar world made fresh through her eyes. 



THEBECOMING
[TKTKTK This chapter is about our many family strolls to watch the mural come to life—from blank wall to watching Cory work.] 
… Cory’s face is uncannily familiar, though I’m quite sure we’re strangers. Stranger still, his ‘ano has a curious timelessness.  Am I meeting a kanaka from the year 300 or 3,000? And in the way you can recognize a Waterman by their sea-eyes, judging by Cory’s maka, I’d peg him as a Seer. Apropos for an artist. I instinctively have a deep sense of trust in him as a kahu and creator of Hawaiian imagery. …
 
THEBLESSING
[TKTKTK This chapter is about the mural blessing and the Adaptations Dance Theater performance… Especially how neat it was that they focused on Uncle Clifford’s mana’o of listening, then gained the bulk of their inspiration by listening to the community consultations. Cool!] 
TK WORDS ABOUT IDEAS … ​ Coming Soon.

THEBEGINNING
[TKTKTK This chapter loops back to the Storytelling Workshops with Kumu Leleihua, which preceded the interviews and art.] 
TK WORDS ABOUT IDEAS… Coming Soon.

​PRESS RELEASE
July 1, 2022

Yesterday at 4:30 PM, community members gathered for the public blessing and unveiling of SMALL TOWN * BIG ART (ST*BA)’s 24th public art project aimed to celebrate the distinctive sense of place, history, and culture of Wailuku. 

A collection of three paintings by Sachelle Dae and a 10-minute performance by Anu Yagi were presented fronting First Hawaiian Bank Wailuku Branch at 27 North Market Street. Inspired by the developing Small Town, Big Stories initiative by the ST*BA collective – which includes the County of Maui, Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House / Maui Historical Society, and the newly formed Maui Public Art Corps, Maui artists Dae and Yagi created artwork based on two audio-recorded conversations: one between Anuhea Yagi, Student of Hawaiian Life Ways and Roselle Bailey, Kumu Hula, KaʻImi Naʻauao O Hawaiʻi Nei Institute; and the second between Kalapana Kollars, Hawaiian Cultural Programs Director, Lahaina Restoration Foundation and Wallette Pellegrino, Host of “Preserving Our Recollections” Oral History TV Program for University of Hawaiʻi Maui College. Both recordings are available at smalltownbig.org/dae.

Uncle Bill Garcia began the June 30 event with a blessing, sharing four oli that he selected for their relationship with the artists’ intentions, inspiration, and selected proverb to root the work in its sense of place: ‘ōlelo no‘eau #2829: Ua mau ke ea o ka `āina i ka pono (the life of the land is preserved in righteousness). 

Special remarks and impressions were shared by artwork subjects Roselle Bailey and Wallette Pellegrino as well as Sissy Lake-Farm of the Maui Historical Society, Lisa Tomihama, First Hawaiian Bank Senior Vice President & Retail Banking Regional Manager and Maui painter Sachelle Dae. 

Artist Anu Yagi shared a work of performance art and poetry based on her experience with the project, who gave birth to her daughter Luana one week following her Talk Story recording with Roselle Bailey, and whose partner, Kalapana Kollars, recorded his Talk Story recording with Walllette Pellegrino one week after the birth – an event that found its way into each facet of the artwork, for both Yagi and Dae. 

Excerpt: “You’re a baby now, but you will be a girl, a woman, a kupuna, an ancestor,” says Daddy to daughter. She is six months old, but we try to talk-story as if she were 6 or 16 or 60… 600… 6,000; knowing that she will be all these ages and then some. I try to think of her as both an eternal soul given new skin and a new life made of primordial molecules. Water, mostly.
 
“Working with ST*BA has been a very unique experience in that you are truly listening to community members and what they bring to the table,” shares Dae. “I’ve been energized and touched by the memories and knowledge that’s been shared with me, and I hope to create a reflection of woven images that we can all relate to and see ourselves as part of.”

“First Hawaiian Bank is proud to partner with this arts and culture initiative,” says Lisa Tomihama. “In listening to the talk story recordings between Anuhea Yagi, Roselle Bailey, Kalapana Kollars, and Wallette Pellegrino, I could feel the special sense of place for Wailuku and relate to the inspiration for Sachelle’s new exhibit. I am humbled and honored to exhibit Sachelle’s work at our historic Wailuku Branch and to partner with the extraordinary ‘Mana Wahine’ that have created art for this space.”

In preparation for the next ST*BA call-to-artists, the collective has recently produced 13 additional Talk Story audio recordings. Interested artists will be asked to select one or more recordings to create a proposal that brings these stories to life in song, poetry, dance, visual or other artistic discipline. Upon juror selection, artists are paired with community consultants to further co-develop the work, design community engagement opportunities and present the work of public art. Due to a new grant through the National Endowment for the Arts, artwork may be installed or performed in various neighborhoods throughout Maui County (beyond Wailuku). Recordings are available under "2022 HUI MO'OLELO" at smalltownbig.org/talk-story. The RFP/ call-to-artists will be released this summer. To be the first to know details, subscribe to the ST*BA email list at smalltownbig.org/e-newsletter.

SMALL TOWN * BIG ART welcomes Mana Wahine, Maui-based artist Sachelle Dae
Paintings will be exhibited at First Hawaiian Bank Wailuku Branch starting June 21
PHOTOS

WAILUKU - Wailuku’s creative placemaking program, SMALL TOWN * BIG ART (ST*BA), announces its latest public art collaboration, the 23rd ST*BA project aimed to share stories of distinctive sense of place, history, and culture.

In June 2022, Maui-based artist Sachelle Dae will present a collection of three oil paintings inspired by two talk story recordings. 

The recordings were gathered as part of the 2021 ST*BA storytelling exchange in a process stimulated by artist Leilehua Yuen. Dae’s work is inspired by authentic moments of connection captured during the open talk story sessions.

The first piece of inspiration is a talk story session between Anuhea Yagi, Student of Hawaiian Life Ways and Roselle Bailey, Kumu Hula, KaʻImi Naʻauao O Hawaiʻi Nei Institute; and the second is a session between Kalapana Kollars, Hawaiian Cultural Programs Director, Lahaina Restoration Foundation and Wallette Pellegrino, Host of “Preserving Our Recollections” Oral History TV Program for University of Hawaiʻi Maui College.

Dae chose the two talks given their contrast of immateriality and materiality, concepts that mesh well with her background in classical realism painting with fantastical and abstract elements.

According to Dae, the first and last painting will investigate kumu Roselle Bailey's mana'o on Oli, as well as pay homage to the original way of record-keeping in Hawai'i through Oli.

In the talk story session, Bailey reflects on intention. “This is the most important – the intention – it affects what will come out of your voice,” said Bailey.

The second painting will delve into Wallette Pellegrino's memory of old Wailuku town and represent remnants of the town’s history.

“I was born and raised right in Wailuku. I could probably name for you all or many of the stores or people who lived in the neighborhood,” said Pellegrino. “Much of what you see today, really, they are actually remnants of what Wailuku was like when I lived there and played there.”

Closely following the work of ST*BA, Dae was driven to participate in the community and place-based artistic process. Dae is working with the ST*BA team to identify a proverb that connects her compositions to Wailuku’s sense of place and is participating in a series of online community consultations to help develop overall design.

“Working with STBA has been a very unique experience in that you are truly listening to community members and what they bring to the table,” said Dae. “I’ve been energized and touched by the memories and knowledge that’s been shared with me, and I hope to create a reflection of woven images that we can all relate to and see ourselves as part of.”

Dae’s paintings will be scanned, super-sized, and temporarily exhibited facing Market Street at the First Hawaiian Bank Wailuku Branch (27 North Market Street) for a 60-day run beginning June 21. A traditional blessing, unveiling, and spoken word performance by Anuhea Yagi will be held at the courtyard area adjacent to the Bank entrance on Thursday, June 30 at 4:30 p.m. All are welcome to attend. 

The exhibit area will eventually connect to a new walkway surrounding the Wailuku municipal parking lot, which features the work of ST*BA's former Mana Wahine project. Not only will Dae’s pieces become a valuable extension of this work, but First Hawaiian Bank’s new Senior Vice President & Retail Banking Regional Manager Lisa Tomihama, who is the first female in this position, has graciously offered to host this installation, and recognizes the Mana Wahine connection.

“First Hawaiian Bank is proud to partner with this arts and culture initiative,” said Tomihama. “In listening to the talk story recordings between Anuhea Yagi, Roselle Bailey, Kalapana Kollars, and Wallette Pellegrino, I could feel the special sense of place for Wailuku and relate to the inspiration for Sachelle’s new exhibit. I am humbled and honored to exhibit Sachelle’s work at our historic Wailuku Branch and to partner with the extraordinary ‘Mana Wahine’ that have created art for this space.”

Professional artist Sachelle Dae is a recipient of the State Foundation on Culture and The Arts Acquisition Award and has recently had her work exhibited at the Hawai'i State Art Museum. She was also a part of Hawai'i's statewide 2022 Schaefer Portrait Challenge. Dae also has extensive experience teaching art to children and young adults.

For updates on the project, and to learn more about Sachelle Dae, visit www.smalltownbig.org/dae

In June 2022, Maui-based artist Sachelle Dae will present a collection of three oil paintings inspired by two "talk story" recordings, which embody authentic moments of connection. The first piece of inspiration is a talk story session between Anuhea Yagi and Roselle Bailey; and the second is a session between Kalapana Kollars and Wallette Pellegrino.  
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The work will be exhibited in the First Hawaiian Bank Wailuku Branch, facing Market Street (27 North Market Street). The exhibit area will eventually connect to a new walkway surrounding the Wailuku municipal parking lot, which features the work of ST*BA's former Mana Wahine project.

The location and Dae’s experience as a Maui-based Wahine artist creates a natural extension of Small Town * Big Art’s previous Mana Wahine works, tying together multiple ST*BA projects and programs.

We recently had the opportunity to ask Sachelle a few questions about her ST*BA experience and inspiration, and what the process means to her:

As an artist, what drew you to Small Town * Big Art, and being a part of public art in Wailuku town?

When I was a teenager, I did a lot of volunteering up at Waikamoi Forest as well as a conservation internship with Kupu. At that time, I thought I would become a conservation biologist because giving back and helping a place I loved felt right.
Although I had always done art in some form, I later became really obsessed with realist art and attended school for it in Philadelphia, PA. As a teenager I also did a lot of murals with my friends just for fun. 

Moving back home I always had the intention that I wanted my actions to enhance the community and environment. Being part of Small Town Big Art seemed like a natural choice for my framework and what I wanted to be involved with going forward. I love how the program actually involves members of the community, not just putting a mural in a neighborhood with no context. It's creating connection in an age when we need it most. 

What does being a part of public art on Maui mean to you, personally? 

It means everything! Maui is where I'm from and so it's a part of my heart. It's like being in love and having your actions energized by that love.  

Your work is based on the ST*BA storytelling exchange led by Leilehua Yuen. What drew you to the stories of Roselle Bailey and Wallette Pellegrino?

Roselle Bailey and Wallette Pellegrino's stories have a nice contrast of immateriality and materiality. Duality is fun to play with but there is also something that links them together. One is not mutually exclusive.

Hearing Walette Pellegrino's stories of old Wailuku town was heartwarming but also historically interesting to me. Even though her account is more factual, you can tell she has a love for the spirit of place.

Roselle Bailey talks about what that spirit is, how the land speaks to us through sound and vibration. Although I studied realist art, I did a lot of abstract art when I was younger so now my art is becoming a combination of both (again a connected dichotomy). These two stories felt fitting for what I enjoy expressing. 

Your installation is set to become a natural extension of the ST*BA Mana Wahine project in Wailuku town.  How has working with the stories of Wahine been significant for you and your work?

Well, in some ways it's interesting because I studied western figurative art which, historically, was women painted by men and where the term "male gaze" probably first took flight. So, it's cool that I can take the skills from that lineage and reclaim it as a wahine. There is so much more to unpack than has historically been shown. I am thrilled to give voice and elevate the strong, smart, and interesting wahine in our community. 

What has been the most significant moment, or experience, of your community consultations?

My favorite was meeting Roselle Bailey. We met at her house and sat in the hale where she has her hula halau. She has such a unique warm presence where you can really feel her aloha. We talked story for a long while and then she taught me more about oli and other Hawaiian cultural practices, views and values.

Not only was the information she imparted extremely valuable but sitting down during the day just to be in each other's presence with no cell phone to distract each other was an amazing experience in itself. It's the most natural thing in the world yet also feels like going back in time. 
 
Note: emphasis added by author in certain areas. ​