ABOUT

Mission: To connect people, place and story through the development of exceptional public art.
Vision: Outstanding place-based public art throughout Maui County that is deeply rooted in community collaboration and values.

Definition: Planned or executed outside of a gallery or theater context and intended specifically for presentation within free and public view, public art is: A) commissioned by a public process; B) characterized by interaction or dialogue with the community; and C) site-specific, meaning that it is created in response to the place in which it resides.  

Scroll down to learn more about our TEAM and BACKGROUND.

THE TEAM

Kelly McHugh-White

Chair & Founder

Nohe U'u-Hodgins

Treasurer

Sissy Lake-Farm

Cultural Advisor

Susie Thieman

Vice Chair

Mike Naho'opi'i

Business Advisor

William Garcia

Cultural Advisor

 Rebecca Filipovic

Secretary

Erin Wade

Business Advisor

Matt Pierce

Audio-Visual Storyteller

BACKGROUND

2012

A yearlong Laila-Twigg Smith grant project brings together arts administrator Kelly McHugh-White, County of Maui’s Erin Wade and Philadelphia Mural Arts’ Eric Okdeh to create the Nā Wai ʻEhā mural in Wailuku, amidst the transformative reWailuku community visioning effort.

2015

Wade & McHugh-White develop plans to expand public art in Wailuku, meeting with stakeholders, producing workshops and bringing the dialogue to creative placemaking as Capital Improvement Projects plans are initiated for the Maui redevelopment district. In 2017, they submit an Our Town grant proposal to the National Endowment for the Arts that will set the stage for a Wailuku Arts District to celebrate the distinctive sense of place, history and culture of Wailuku, Hawai‘i. 

2018

Maui County is selected as sole Hawaiʻi awardee for 2-year national arts grant to support the planning and implementation of place-based pilot arts programming in Wailuku. The project is entitled SMALL TOWN * BIG ART (ST*BA), a nod to the Town motto: Small Town, Big Heart. 

2020

In partnership with Sissy Lake-Farm of the Maui Historical Society, the ST*BA pilot yields 20 works of public art created with community input that are grounded in ‘Ōlelo No‘eau. The positive community response results in a commitment by the County to extend funding into an additional year of programming and plans for expansion. Maui Public Art Corps is incorporated.

2021

The ST*BA program continues as a County of Maui initiative to revitalize Wailuku Town. Plans are developed to expand the program as a private-public partnership (PPP) of the County, Maui Historical Society and the newly formed nonprofit: Maui Public Art Corps, with a goal to execute a countywide Percent-for-Art program.

2022

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) awards the ST*BA collective a 2-year grant to create countywide criteria for public art and to pilot programming beyond Wailuku as a local arts agency. Simultaneously, the team launches a Wailuku Arts District management planning process.

2023

Maui Public Art Corps delivers the County of Maui Public Art Master Plan + the Wailuku Arts District Management Plan. Policy and fund development work continues. Wailuku Garage opens, with first floor devoted to farmer’s markets, performances, and events.

Program statistics at the end of the calendar year include 29 murals, 17 digital & new media works, 9 pop-up performances, 7 experiential projects, 3 sculptures, 4 public exhibitions, 2 master plans, and 1 free mobile app​

2024

Our Hui Mo‘olelo program receives grant support from local, state and national sources, including a 2-year National Endowment for the Arts grant under the Local Arts Agency category. 

OUR VALUES

​Artistic Excellence
Artistic excellence exhibits evidence of mastery of skills and techniques, communication of unique vision or perspective, professional approaches to process and presentation, and/or communication of unique vision or perspective. To help achieve this, we work with established/ professional artists, maintained through our rigorous artist selection process. 

Community Participation
As an initiative that commissions panel-selected artists to create collaborative works of public art with our host neighborhood, each artwork is co-designed and involves artists bringing their assets to bear on a community-defined need, story or identifying characteristic. 

Deep Listening
Deep listening is a process of listening to learn. In order to arrive at an artwork blueprint that is indicative of community feedback rather than the artist’s personal response, we value the temporary suspension of judgment, and a willingness to receive new information – whether pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral.

Sense of Place
This describes the distinctiveness or unique character of particular localities and regions. Through community consultations, public events and the resources provided by the Maui Historical Society, each artwork is firmly rooted in the artwork installation site's history, culture and sense of place. 

OUR PUBLICATIONS