Listening Across Oceans: The Evolution of Hui Moʻolelo, Lāhainā’s Memorial Project, and Public Art as a Vessel

A public art methodology developed in Maui. County is traveling to New York City, bringing Lāhainā stories, community-led memorial research, and a new musical work by Native Hawaiian artist Leilani Patao into conversation across the Pacific.

The journey of public art on Maui has been rooted in deep listening, community dialogue, and a sustained commitment to sense of place. What began in 2018 as a creative placemaking partnership among the County of Maui, Maui Public Art Corps, and cultural director Kumu Sissy Lake-Farm has developed into a long-term civic framework connecting artists, cultural practitioners, students, residents, and communities across generations and geographic boundaries. That evolution will come together in New York City on September 18, 2026, when the Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā project brings its storytelling methodology, memorial research, animated films, and live music to NYU and The Museum of Modern Art.

The Evolution: Six Stages of Hui Moʻolelo
The New York City gathering represents the latest stage in an intentional progression of public art, storytelling, and community engagement.

1. Hui Moʻolelo: Hui Moʻolelo, meaning a gathering of stories, was developed as an intergenerational story-gathering framework. Community members learn ethical storytelling and story-gathering practices before recording audio talk-stories with elders and intergenerational partners. Excerpts from these recordings become the primary source material for annual public art applications, helping ensure that commissioned public artworks emerge from authentic local narratives, histories, and relationships to place.

2. Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā: Following the devastating wildfires of August 8, 2023, Hui Moʻolelo expanded into a civic framework for recovery, historical truth-telling, and the processing of grief and memory. Working with trusted community partners and Lāhainā residents, the program has gathered intergenerational talk-stories documenting memories of West Maui, its people and places, and visions for its future. These recordings now form an important community archive and a foundation for subsequent public art and memorial research.

3. The Lāhainā Memorial Project: When the County tasked the public art team with leading research and development for a permanent Lāhainā Memorial, Hui Moʻolelo became a central vehicle for listening to community members and gathering the stories that should inform that work. The R&D process has been grounded by Nā Kūpuna o Lāhainā, extensive historical and ethnographic research by Kumu Pono Associates, and conversations with families, cultural practitioners, students, and other community members. The team has also engaged in global benchmarking, including conversations with the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. The goal is to establish a memorial process rooted in Lāhainā's own history, cultural protocols, community priorities, and the voices of those most directly connected to the loss.

4. The Lāhainā Think Space: The Lāhainā Think Space was created to make this ongoing research and community dialogue accessible beyond meetings and planning documents. The traveling installation functions as a living laboratory for listening, reflection, and continued dialogue. Piloted at Lahainaluna High School and Queen Kaʻahumanu Center, the Think Space brings together audio archives, films, artwork, written manaʻo, and opportunities for residents and students to consider what a future Lāhainā Memorial might be and what it should provide for generations to come.

5. NYU Collaboration and Diaspora Engagement: Lāhainā's history and community extend well beyond Maui. In February 2026, conversations among the core Maui public art team, NYU Hawaiʻi Club Chair Pua Farm, the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU, and the Center for Collaborative Indigenous Research began expanding the Think Space methodology to New York City. The resulting collaboration creates an opportunity for Hawaiʻi students, the Hawaiian diaspora, New York-based partners, and others connected to Lāhainā to participate in the same listening and storytelling process taking place on Maui.

6. Leilani Patao's Participation: The final stage brings the methodology into original performance. Brooklyn-based Native Hawaiian musician Leilani Patao was invited to develop a live musical work from a Lāhainā talk-story recording and perform it as part of the September 18 Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā Film Showcase at The Museum of Modern Art. Leilani's participation demonstrates another dimension of public art: the artist as vessel. The artist selects a community story, listens deeply, and uses their creative practice to carry that story into another form and another place.

Artist as Vessel: Leilani Patao and the 9th Hui Moʻolelo Cohort

When Leilani was invited to participate in the New York City program, the public art team offered them a fast-track option because the performance would take place outside Maui County. The team could not extend grant-funded artist activation opportunities earmarked for Maui County to a New York-based event, and Leilani's participation stretched beyond the standard artist panel selection process. NYU had nominated Leilani for the performance, and rather than simply creating a piece for the New York event, Leilani chose to participate in the deeper Hui Moʻolelo process.

Through a series of sequential-based workshops led by Kumu Sissy Lake-Farm, Leilani learned the methodology and cultural protocols of Hui Moʻolelo, created a self-recorded moʻolelo, gathered an intergenerational talk-story with Kevin Sur (a Kānaka Maoli musician, festival producer, and radio co-host for KEXP known for highlighting global Indigenous voices and music), and participated in deep listening alongside students and community members. Leilani's decision to engage more fully in the Hui Moʻolelo process reflects an approach to public art in which the artist's role is not simply to make an object or performance, but to become a vessel for stories, relationships, memory, and place.

Selecting Rae Kahaialiʻi's Talk-Story

After reviewing the Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā audio archive, Leilani selected a January 29, 2026 talk-story recorded with Lāhainā native Rae Kahaialiʻi and Kelly McHugh White.

Rae is a highly respected member of the Lāhainā community whose work during the recovery has placed her in direct relationship with families, cultural practitioners, and the difficult realities of rebuilding community after the fires. She led the urn recovery initiative, helping families retrieve and care for the cremated remains of loved ones from wildfire debris.

In her talk-story, Rae spoke with unusual clarity about what a future memorial must hold. Her perspective extended beyond individual structures or losses to encompass an entire way of life, emphasizing the need for a place where people can reflect quietly, grieve, heal, and come together across generations, nationalities, and backgrounds.

It was this expansive understanding of community loss and care that resonated with Leilani and became the foundation for her musical interpretation.

Community Consultations: Wisdom That Shaped the Music

Leilani's composition has continued to develop through conversations with Lāhainā community members, cultural practitioners, and musicians. Rather than asking the artist to interpret a story in isolation, the public art team created opportunities for continued dialogue between Leilani and people whose knowledge, experience, and relationships to Lāhainā could inform the work.

• Rae Kahaialiʻi, in a July 22, 2026 consultation, spoke candidly about the unfinished work of recovery and the role that moʻolelo, music, and art can play in healing. She encouraged Leilani to trust their intuition while remaining grounded in identity and kuleana.
• Kamaunu Kahaialiʻi, a cultural practitioner and celebrated musician, spoke with Leilani on July 28 about music's ability to create resonance across differences. He encouraged them to carry forward what they had learned and create music that speaks to the world while remaining grounded in who Hawaiians have always been.
• Amy Hānaialiʻi, the award-winning Hawaiian recording artist, met with Leilani on August 6 and emphasized the ancestral foundation of Hawaiian music. She encouraged Leilani to understand and honor their moʻokūʻauhau while bringing their full heritage into the work.
• Stephen Henderson, a musician who created a multi-movement Hui Moʻolelo work in 2023, met with Leilani on August 28. He reflected on the humility required of artists working in the public realm and the possibilities that emerge when an artist releases control and allows a work to live beyond its creator.

Together, these conversations helped shape not only the music, but the responsibility Leilani carries as an artist interpreting another person's story.

Kumu Sissy Lake-Farm shared “The reason why we led with the story was because we wanted to honor the sense of place. The artist comes and enhances who we are.” Reflecting on the Hui Moʻolelo cohort, she added, “Having our cohort with you folks shines a bright light on our next generation. Our future is so bright we got to wear shades!”

The NYC Program: Three Primary Activities

The culmination of this multi-month collaboration takes place on Friday, September 18, 2026, through three interconnected activities:

1. The 9th Hui Moʻolelo Cohort: The New York cohort brought together students, members of the Hawaiian diaspora, and cultural advisors to practice ethical storytelling and gather intergenerational talk-stories connected to Hawaiʻi and Lāhainā.
2. Panel Discussion | 11:00 AM–12:30 PM: Listening Across Oceans: Story, Memory, and the Making of Memorials. The panel at NYU's 20 Cooper Square will bring together Maui public art and cultural leadership, student delegates, and representatives connected to memorial work, including the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
3. Film Showcase | 6:00–8:00 PM: Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā Film Showcase. The evening program at The Museum of Modern Art's Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2 will feature animated short films based on Hui Moʻolelo stories, including a live musical performance by Leilani Patao.

Become Part of the Next Hui Moʻolelo Cohort

For those attending the New York events, the opportunity to participate does not end on September 18. The next Hui Moʻolelo cohort begins in October 2026, and members of the public are invited to join the process. Participants commit to at least three two-hour Zoom sessions focused on ethical storytelling and story-gathering techniques. During the sessions, each participant will develop a prompt, then create and submit a self-recorded talk-story video responding to that prompt. Participants will also be paired for an intergenerational talk-story session, which will be audio recorded with signed waivers and accompanied by a photograph of the participant and their pairing. These materials become part of the Hui Moʻolelo public archive and may help inform future public art and community storytelling projects.

This is how the process continues: one story, one relationship, and one act of listening at a time.

How to RSVP

The September 18 events in New York City are free and open to the public, but advance registration is required. Register at www.mauipublicart.org/nyu.html.

Important entry information: NYU and MoMA security will only admit individuals who are on the official RSVP list by 11 am September 18, 2026. Because the events are free and seating is limited, an RSVP does not guarantee admission to a particular venue or a seat. Seating is first-come, first-seated until capacity is reached.

Lāhainā Think Space Welcomes First Artist-in-Residence Jana Ireijo for Interactive "Reverse Vanishing Mural" Project at Queen Kaʻahumanu Center

The Lāhainā Think Space community installation, currently located at Queen Kaʻahumanu Center (QKC), is now hosting its first Artist-in-Residence, Maui-born painter Jana Ireijo. Members of the public are invited to visit the space through Labor Day, September 7, to meet the artist, participate in the creation of her interactive installation, and share their own reflections on Lāhainā’s future.

This residency is a featured project of the Good Grief Program, a community-informed public art pilot developed by Maui Public Art Corps in partnership with the County of Maui. Operating as a core part of the ongoing Lāhainā Think Space and Lāhainā Memorial Project research and development process, the Good Grief program explores whether grief can become a catalyst for connection, healing, creativity, and collective action. The program's goal is to support artists in transforming experiences of grief, loss, memory, resilience, and connection into meaningful public artworks that strengthen community healing and inspire collective imagination. Rather than acting as sole authors, commissioned artists serve as creative facilitators and stewards, listening deeply to translate community stories and reflections into shared cultural expressions.

Ireijo’s residency centers on a temporary, participatory artwork inspired by Louis Garcia III’s Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā talk-story recording about catching a 92-pound ulua off Wahikuli Beach. To add depth and local connection to the work, the piece utilizes freshwater and wai kai (brackish water) gathered directly from shoreline sites in West Maui.

During the public hours, visitors are invited to actively participate by using damp sponges to gently dab away portions of a pastel wave, slowly revealing the hidden ulua beneath. 

"People associate me with these vanishing murals that have a sense of loss to it, which there is, but I thought, the reverse can be true too," said artist Jana Ireijo. "While you're grieving, there still can be the sense of, okay, what's happening next? People hopefully would be a part of the reverse vanishing with a sense of excitement... hopefully a sense of, okay, we can have faith. Be a part of the future."

The Lāhainā Think Space, co-developed by the County of Maui Public Art Program and the Maui Public Art Corps, serves as a traveling community sanctuary to gather local knowledge and feedback that will eventually inform the permanent Lāhainā Memorial. 

Think Space Steward Anu Yagi highlighted the profound impact the space has had on residents and visitors alike since its opening. "I feel like this Think Space... is just this kind of magical vessel where it really becomes, like any vessel, what you put into it and who comes into it just yields whatever that ono is going to be," Yagi said. "People come in, we give them this overview of this space, and you just see their hearts open up and connect to this idea." She added that the space has offered a rare and "really beautiful [opportunity] to get to like remember and grieve together in this kind of really like hyper-nuanced, joyful way."

With the current Queen Kaʻahumanu Center location scheduled to close in mid-September for relocation to the Lahaina Gateway in October, this residency represents one of the final opportunities for the public to experience the installation in its current form. 

Jana Ireijo's Artist-in-Residence Public Schedule:

• Friday, September 4: Until 7:00 PM
• Saturday, September 5: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM – 7:00 PM
• Sunday, September 6: 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM
• Monday, September 7 (Labor Day): 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM

The Lāhainā Think Space is free and open to the public. Community members are encouraged to stop by to participate in the mural's reveal, listen to Hui Moʻolelo recordings, and contribute their voices to the ongoing memorial planning process.

On Thursday, August 27, 2026, storytellers, ʻohana, and community members gathered at the Lāhainā Think Space inside the Queen Kaʻahumanu Center for the official blessing and public unveiling of Perfect Days, a new collection of four animated short films celebrating the living history, environment, and intergenerational spirit of Lāhainā.

Created by acclaimed animator Richard O’Connor and his team at Ace & Son Moving Picture Company in partnership with Maui Public Art Corps and the County of Maui Public Art Program, the films translate authentic talk-story recordings into hand-crafted animation. Inspired by  ʻōlelo noʻeau Na lā 'ae 'oia ("The days that were days indeed. The days of youth, prosperity, and strength"), the project is rooted in Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā, an ongoing community initiative that utilizes deep listening and intergenerational talk-story as a foundation for public art and civic infrastructure.

The unveiling event highlighted the power of preserving community knowledge directly from those who lived it. Featured storytellers and contributors including Cornelio Bancaco Jr., Hōkū Delatori, Tom Fujita, Kanoelani Kenolio, Kyla Nahoʻoikaika, Trinity Scanlan, Nayah Smith, Noelle Storer, and Dean Tokishi were honored during the morning gathering.

Speakers emphasized that Perfect Days is not a replacement or retelling of Lāhainā’s history, but an expansive layer of artistic interpretation designed to bring community memories to life for future generations. During the event, storytellers reflected on the experience of having casual, heartfelt conversations transformed into lasting visual art.

"Seeing this come to life really brings back memories of what I used to do, what my family used to do way back," shared storyteller Cornelio Bancaco Jr. during the gathering. "I really appreciate all of you for making this possible so that we can share our stories."

"We thought we were just going to sit down at the table and talk story," recalled Trinity Scanlan, reflecting on recording with close friend Noelle Storer alongside fellow storytellers Kyla Nahoʻoikaika and Nayah Smith. "It's our generation's turn to be able to share what we went through, so hopefully our kids can grow up holding onto the same values."

The oral histories collected through Hui Moʻolelo and visual works like Perfect Days serve a purpose beyond the installation setting. By prioritizing deep listening before design, the project functions as a relational framework to directly inform long-term civic recovery efforts, including the Lāhainā Memorial Project planning process. Rather than deciding what a memorial should look like first, the initiative gathers genuine community values, memories, and hopes to ensure future spaces are guided entirely by local voices.

"Stories build a foundation," noted lead speaker Kaliko Storer during the event. "Everybody has stories, and what a way to share them with our community, our families, and the world."

The multi-screen immersive installation of Perfect Days is now open to the public at the Lāhainā Think Space at Queen Kaʻahumanu Center. Visitors are invited to explore the space, put on headphones, and engage with each story individually. Community members are also encouraged to participate in ongoing Hui Moʻolelo recordings, as personal memories, family histories, and hopes for the future continue to be archived to guide Lāhainā’s path forward.

To learn more about the project, listen to the full audio recordings, or participate in upcoming community initiatives, visit mauipublicart.org/perfectdays.

On a sunny Thursday morning in Pāʻia, community members, cultural leaders, artists, and public officials gathered at the historic Pāʻia Sugar Mill for a moment of gratitude and celebration. Together, we blessed and unveiled a new large-scale mural painted by artist Efren Rebugio Jr.; a work of art shaped entirely through listening, deep collaboration, and a shared commitment to place.

Every public artwork commissioned by Maui Public Art Corps & the County's public art program begins with a local voice. This mural was inspired by a Hui Moʻolelo ("gathering of stories") audio recording between oceanographer Dr. Andrea Kealoha and her father, Sheldon Kealoha. Their conversation wove together generations of family memories tied to Pāʻia’s shoreline and fishing traditions.

Selected through an open artist call process, Efren Rebugio Jr. spent months immersing himself in these histories, meeting with cultural practitioners, community leaders, and longtime residents to expand that initial spark into a broader portrait of Pāʻia’s enduring relationship between people, land, and ocean.

"This mural is about all of us and the role we each play in caring for the places and the communities we call home," Efren shared during the ceremony. "I’m grateful to have been a vessel for even a small part of this knowledge."

The morning blessing was led by Kahu Wayne Higa of Kaʻahumanu Church, with cultural leadership and emceeing by Sissy Lake-Farm. Attendees heard moving remarks from community leaders, the artist, and the storytellers themselves. County of Maui Deputy Managing Director Erin Wade spoke to the power of place-based art in building strong community bonds:

"Public art helps transform shared spaces into places of connection. When we invest in artists, culture, and community voices, we invest in belonging. This mural demonstrates how the County’s public art program can honor local history while creating opportunities for people to come together, learn from one another, and imagine the future of Maui together."

For Dr. Andrea Kealoha, seeing her family's stories rendered on such a grand scale was a reminder of our collective responsibility to the future.

"My hope is that we don’t just preserve these stories, we live them," Dr. Kealoha reflected. "That the values of family, culture, and community continue to shape Pāʻia so that years from now our future generations will look back on our time and say that we honored the legacy we inherited."

Hosted by the Pāʻia Sugar Mill and the Maui Advanced Manufacturing Alliance (MAMA), the unveiling also marked an exciting transition for the site itself — from a historic center of plantation industry to a modern hub of education, innovation, and community gathering.

"The buildings matter, the history matters, but it’s the people and the stories that give this place its soul," said host Wayne Thibaudeau. "Our hope is that the mill will once again be a place where people can create, build, learn, and work together."

This commission was made possible through the County of Maui’s public art program—a public-private partnership between the County of Maui and Maui Public Art Corps. Special thanks to Kahu Wayne Higa, Sissy Lake-Farm, Efren Rebugio Jr., Erin Wade, Dr. Andrea Kealoha, Brian McCafferty, Wayne Thibaudeau, and all the community members who lent their voices and hearts to this project.

Visit the Mural: The artwork is now officially open for public viewing at the historic Pāʻia Sugar Mill (300 Baldwin Ave). We invite you to visit, reflect on the stories embedded within, and celebrate the rich history of Pāʻia. To learn more about the Hui Moʻolelo project and listen to the original story that inspired the art, visit mauipublicart.org/kealoha. 

Every place has stories that shape it. Some are passed down around dinner tables, some are remembered while walking familiar streets, and others live deep in the memories of those who have called a place home for decades.

Perfect Days is a new collection of animated film shorts by acclaimed animator Richard O'Connor and Ace & Son Moving Picture Company that brings those stories to life. Inspired by conversations recorded through Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā, the films transform lived experiences into public artworks that celebrate the people, places, and relationships that continue to define Lāhainā.

Hui Moʻolelo is an intergenerational storytelling initiative presented through the County of Maui Public Art Program in partnership with Maui Public Art Corps. Together, this public-private partnership serves as Maui County's Local Arts Agency, as recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts. Each year, community members participate in an intensive Hui Moʻolelo training before pairing with elder kamaʻāina and longtime residents to record meaningful talk-story conversations that preserve local history, culture, and sense of place while inspiring future public art across Maui County.

Many of the storytellers featured in Perfect Days participated in the program's most recent Lāhainā-focused cohort, led by Kaliko Storer, whose thoughtful mentorship helped cultivate a new generation of story collectors and community stewards.

The stories inspiring this collection come from conversations featuring Trinity Scalan, Kyla Nahoʻoikaika, Nayah Smith, Kanoelani Kenolio, Hōkū Delatori, Noelle Storer, Cornelio Bancaco Jr., Tom Fujita (Lahainaluna High School Class of 1962), and Dean Tokishi of the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission. Together, they reflect a wide range of experiences, from childhood memories and family traditions to environmental stewardship and deep connections to ʻāina and ocean.

For Maui Public Art Corps, the recordings are more than scripts to be illustrated; they are invitations to listen. Richard O'Connor's team began by immersing themselves in each conversation, identifying the emotions, imagery, and moments that resonate most deeply before translating them into hand-crafted animation. Throughout production, the creative process remains rooted in dialogue, allowing the films to evolve through continued engagement with the community. That collaborative process extends well beyond the original storytellers.

As Perfect Days enters production, Maui Public Art Corps is inviting classrooms and community groups to become part of the creative process. Participants will listen to selected excerpts from the Hui Moʻolelo recordings and create original drawings inspired by what they hear. These drawings will be shared with the animation team as a source of inspiration, expanding the circle of authorship and helping shape the visual language of each film. Participants are invited to listen carefully, imagine freely, and respond creatively. The resulting artwork becomes another layer of interpretation—another voice contributing to the final public artwork.

This approach reflects Maui Public Art Corps' philosophy of public art. Public art is not simply art placed in a public space. It is created through a public process, rooted in a sense of place, and developed in direct dialogue with the community. Perfect Days embodies each of these principles, demonstrating how storytelling, listening, and artistic interpretation can come together to create works that belong to everyone who helped shape them.

The completed films will premiere in August 2026 as an immersive multi-screen installation, offering audiences an opportunity to experience Lāhainā through the memories of those who know it best. More than animated films, Perfect Days represents an ongoing conversation that reminds us that our stories are among our most valuable cultural resources. Because the most meaningful public art isn't created for a community. It is created with one.

The rebuild of the Pāʻia Youth & Cultural Center (PYCC) is both a response to environmental change and an exciting opportunity to root a new facility in the stories, relationships, and lived experiences that help to define Pāʻia. In partnership with the County of Maui Public Art Program, Maui Public Art Corps (MPAC) is guiding a multi-year process to embed community-authored public art directly into the design of the new, climate-resilient campus.

At the heart of this work is the Hui Moʻolelo program, a community-based storytelling initiative that gathers and preserves intergenerational “talk-story” recordings rooted in place. In summer/ fall 2025, a dedicated cohort of Pāʻia-connected storytellers came together under the guidance of cultural practitioner Kumu Sissy Lake-Farm to share personal narratives reflecting the area’s history, culture, and evolving relationship to land and ocean. These recordings, which include those by Pūlama Collier and Kiaʻi Collier, and Sheldon and Andrea Kealoha, now serve as the creative foundation for the public art process.

Building from this foundation, MPAC designed and led a public artist selection process, inviting applicants to ground their proposals in these recorded moʻolelo. Nearly 20 artists applied for PYCC-specific projects that included a relief or 3D installation on an external elevator shaft, powder-coated aluminum railings, permanent relief concrete columns and landscape sculptures, yielding three finalists that were awarded stipends to enter an intensive concept development phase. Rather than working in isolation, these artists are now engaging in a structured process of listening, learning, and exchange designed to ensure proposals are shaped by those connected to Pāʻia.

This phase has been guided by a deeply collaborative network of cultural practitioners, scientists, educators, and community leaders. Community consultants to date have included lead architect Alika Romanchak, Sissy Lake-Farm & the MPAC team, Sheldon & Andrea Kealoha, Pūlama Collier and Kiaʻi Collier, PYCC staff and board members, Tara Owens and Wes Crile of the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant Program, and Dr. Lei Ishikawa, Native Hawaiian kapa practitioner, educator, and community leader.

Together, this network of contributors ensures that the resulting artworks are not just inspired by community, but co-authored through it. MPAC’s role is to hold this process with care: facilitating consultation, translating feedback, and supporting artists as their concepts evolve in response to both ancestral knowledge and present-day youth experience.

The proposed artworks, ranging from integrated concrete column designs and narrative railing panels to sculptural, landscape, and functional outdoor elements, are being developed in phased, fundable segments aligned with PYCC’s capital campaign and construction timeline. This structure allows the project to move forward with transparency and flexibility, ensuring each phase can be realized with integrity as funding becomes available.

As of spring 2026, three complete artist proposals have been submitted and are under review, alongside a new round of artist applications through an April 2026 artist call to expand the field of possibilities. Final proposals will be presented to the PYCC Board in May 2026, with selected projects moving into contract and fundraising shortly thereafter. Installation is anticipated in 2027.

Through this process, the new PYCC will become more than a building, standing as a living, visual expression of Pāʻia, its histories and its deep sense of belonging shaped by the many voices who continue to care for and define this place.

On April 1, 2026, Maui Public Art Corps and the County of Maui unveiled the Lāhainā Think Space with a traditional blessing led by Uncle Bill Garcia and hosted by Sissy Lake-Farm, Cultural Consultant for Maui Public Art Corps & respected cultural practitioner and educator. The gathering marked the opening of a month-long interactive residency at Lahainaluna High School designed to center student voices and community storytelling as part of early conversations surrounding Lāhainā’s future memorial spaces.

Lake-Farm is the daughter of the late Kumu John K. Lake, the renowned Hawaiian historian, kumu hula, and composer of the beloved Lahainaluna song “O Kou Aloha,” written for David Malo Day in 1992. Continuing her father’s legacy of cultural stewardship, she serves as Kumu Hula of Hālau Makana Aloha O Ka Lauaʻe and teaches Hawaiian language and culture at St. Anthony School.

The Lāhainā Think Space is an immersive installation and living classroom located at Hale Naʻauao on the Lahainaluna campus. Rooted in the Hui Moʻolelo storytelling program of Maui Public Art Corps and the County of Maui, the space invites students, faculty, and staff to explore story-based public art projects while contributing their own memories, reflections, and visions for Lāhainā’s future. The exhibition design was developed in close collaboration with Maui-based creative producer Rich Tully, who spent months studying the Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā archive and working with the team to translate its stories into an interactive environment for memorial dialogue and learning.

Throughout April, participants can move through an interactive exhibition featuring Lāhainā story recordings within a “museum in a box”, mele, short animated films, micro-documentaries, artwork displays connected to community stories, part of the 1,000-foot long “Maui Strong” student led artwork that once lined Honoapiilani Highway, and ʻōlelo noʻeau. After engaging with the materials, students and educators are invited to share their own drawings, words, and reflections, helping expand a living archive of community knowledge and experience that will inform future public art and memorial projects.

“The Think Space is built on the idea that before we create, we must first listen,” said Kelly White, County of Maui Public Art Program Manager and Chair of Maui Public Art Corps. “Hui Moʻolelo is helping us gather and honor the stories that define Lāhainā so that future memorials and public spaces are shaped not by assumptions, but by the voices, memories, and cultural values of the people who call this place home.”

This first iteration of the Think Space is intentionally focused on the Lahainaluna school community. Students are encouraged to visit during open periods, while faculty members can bring classes to engage with the exhibition and related activities across disciplines. Staff members are also invited to participate and contribute their perspectives, reinforcing the space as a collaborative environment rooted in shared reflection and cultural learning.

“Anywhere I go, when I mention Lahainaluna, somebody has a connection and that connection is what’s special,” shares Lahainaluna Principal Richard Carosso,”I am very honored to be able to host something like this, it’s just fantastic.”

The Think Space will be open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Hale Naʻauao through April 25, 2026. It will be hosted by Anuhea Yagi, who co-led the 2024 Hui Mo‘olelo: Lāhainā program and by staff from Maui Behavioral Health Wildfire Response (MBHWR)/ Hawai’i State Department of Health and the Lahaina Comprehensive Health Center. 

While the current residency is dedicated primarily to the Lahainaluna community, Maui Public Art Corps is collecting public interest through an online form to gauge participation in a potential community open house on Saturday, April 25. If sufficient interest is received, a special public access period will be offered from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. to allow community members to experience the installation and contribute their perspectives.

The Lāhainā Think Space is designed as a traveling laboratory for community storytelling and creative engagement. Following the Lahainaluna residency, the next installation is scheduled for May and June 2026 at Queen Kaʻahumanu Center, where a broader cross-section of Maui residents will be invited to explore the exhibit and participate in the Hui Moʻolelo storytelling process.

Through this evolving initiative, Maui Public Art Corps and the County of Maui aim to ensure that Lāhainā’s recovery and future memorial spaces are guided by authentic community voices, strengthening cultural continuity while honoring the memories and values that define this historic place.

More information about the Think Space and the Hui Moʻolelo program can be found at: mauipublicart.org/thinkspace.

Maui Public Art Corps, in collaboration with the County of Maui and cultural consultant Sissy Lake-Farm, is pleased to announce a new public art commission led by artist and choreographer Karli Jo List. Rooted in the Hāmākua region, the project finds its heartbeat in a Hui Moʻolelo recording featuring Hawaiian scholar, educator, and philosopher Pūlama Collier and her son, Kiaʻi Collier, Manager of ʻĀina Stewardship at Hawaiʻi Land Trust (HILT).

This commission marks a continuation of our commitment to listening first. We believe that authentic public art is not a solitary act of creation, but a collective process. It is shaped through public dialogue, refined through community relationships, and grounded in lived experience and sense of place.

The selection of Karli Jo List followed a professional vetting process, with her initial proposal reviewed by a community panel whose scores qualified her for further evaluation. This structured approach ensures that the resulting work is not a grant-funded independent project, but a true commission; a partnership between the artist, the County, and the community to steward a shared narrative.

The project’s conceptual framework is built upon the intergenerational dialogue between Pūlama and Kiaʻi. Karli Jo selected this specific recording from a menu of over 60 Hui Moʻolelo recordings, identifying its themes of guardianship and "cherishing" as the foundation for a new choreographic work. As a team, we facilitate connections between the artist and a network of community mentors and cultural consultants to ensure the movement is an extension of the land’s own rhythm.

In recent community consultations, the dialogue has focused on the accountability of the artist to the resource. Cultural steward and waterman Daniel Goldberg emphasized that land stewardship requires reciprocity rather than consumption, sharing, “If we don’t take care of the land, the land doesn’t take care of us.” He highlighted the vital importance of intergenerational knowledge transfer, noting that authentic art emerges when we prioritize learning from elders over modern technological shortcuts.

Furthering this sentiment, Pūlama and Kiaʻi have emphasized that the work must be co-authored with the community. Pūlama shared, “It’s not just our story—because once you hear the story, then it becomes your story too,” and added, “To tell a story authentically, you have to be the storyteller. You cannot be the observer. This is regardless of blood, race, or age. It’s about awareness.” They envision a “triangulation of meaning”; a weaving of movement, landscape vocabulary, and ancestral narratives. Discussing the revitalization of Maliko Bay, the group explored how art can mirror environmental resilience, shifting from degradation to collective healing. Karli Jo has been exceptionally tuned in to this demanding process, navigating the complexities of cultural accountability with deep respect for the “authentic intelligence” of the people who belong to this place.

This commitment to cultural grounding was further strengthened through consultation with Dr. Keola Donaghy, a specialist in Hawaiian language and music. Keola guided Karli Jo to root her choreography in the structural logic of mele and the sensory specificity of place, encouraging the dance to unfold like a traditional song—opening with land, deepening through local winds, rains, and histories, and closing by returning to the original theme. He shared metaphors of the hale, emphasizing land as foundation and central supports as sources of cohesion, and offered directional principles such as moving mauka to makai. Keola stressed that movement must remain inseparable from language and meaning, urging specificity over abstraction and encouraging deep place-based research so the work could be shaped by intergenerational knowledge and lived experience.

Maui Public Art Corps will invite the community to participate in this ongoing story through a series of engagement activities. This Saturday, we invite the public to join Kiaʻi Collier at his workplace for a hands-on restoration event. This is an opportunity to huli ka lima i lalo (turn the hands down to work) and care for the story that is inspiring this artwork.

Waiheʻe Coastal Dunes & Wetland Refuge Volunteer Workday
Saturday, February 14 | 8:00am–12:00pm
(Volunteers are welcome for any portion of the morning)
All ages welcome.

Participants will have the chance to meet Kiaʻi, learn about the restoration of the loko iʻa kalo in Waiheʻe, and hear the stories of place that form the bedrock of this commission.

Please bring water, snacks, and sun protection. Registration is required through the Hawaiʻi Land Trust (HILT). You can learn more and sign up HERE.

To learn more about this developing public art project, visit mauipublicart.org/collier. 

Public art isn’t about decoration. It is a living conversation that reshapes how we see ourselves and one another, and how we ground our shared sense of place into the public realm. At its best, public art emerges from the voices of a community, not from a single creator; it is protocol before product, place before performance, and connection before concept.

That is the spirit animating a forthcoming pop-up performance in Wailuku rooted in intergenerational talk-stories from Hui Mo‘olelo — Maui Public Art Corps’ signature storytelling and public art program created in partnership with the County of Maui. The performance's creative spark comes from two deeply resonant Hui Mo‘olelo recordings: Uncle Eugene Kaho‘ohanohano and Aunty Marjorie Kahalaomapuana, each in conversation with teaching artist (and son) Francis Tauʻa. But the performance is only a beginning; a place where we gather to listen together, reflect together, and talk story about who we are and where we come from.

Hui Mo‘olelo (a gathering of stories) began as a community-rooted effort to capture lived experience through intergenerational talk-story recordings. Participants engage in workshops and then sit with kūpuna and neighbors to record narratives that anchor identity to specific places across Maui County. More than memories, these recordings are raw material for public art that foregrounds voice, memory, culture and aloha. 

Over recent years, Hui Mo‘olelo has grown from a local storytelling initiative into a dynamic public art reservoir that informs murals, exhibitions, animated films, utility box art, mele, and performance. Currently, our Hui Mo‘olelo: Kahului exhibit at Queen Ka'ahumanu Center provides open access to talk-stories through portraits and QR-linked audio, inviting broader engagement and prompting visitors to listen before they interpret. 

Artist Lee Cataluna’s working draft script Tasty Crust draws on the cadence of everyday talk — breakfast conversations where Marjorie and Eugene share “small kid time” memories in Happy Valley and Waihe‘e, reflecting on childhood, care, work, respect, and Maui’s evolving landscape. Critically, the performance is not an auteur’s soliloquy, but rather a shared site of exchange. Her role is to be a vessel for the stories and community ties that have already been revealed through Francis' participation in Hui Mo‘olelo. The voices of he and his parents are not “inspiration” in the abstract; they are the living source material from which the performance must grow. Any adaptation of these stories must honor their nuance, rhythm, and care for place and people.

The community is invited to help shape this performance in two key ways:

1. Host a Workshop: Organizations, cultural groups, and community hubs are invited to gather for read-throughs, feedback sessions or hands-on arts activities that share your own depictions of what was heard in the recordings. These sessions foster dialogue between storytellers, place-keepers, and the performance team. 
2. Take the Survey: Contribute to how the performance is structured, staged, and understood by sharing reflections through this brief survey. 

What Public Art Means in This Context

Public art in this community-driven model is:

• Rooted in Place: Anchored in the lived stories and memories of kūpuna, families, youth, and residents.
• Dialogic: Always a conversation, never a finished object, the art invites response and ongoing participation.
• Transformative: Helping communities see their histories and futures as interconnected. 

To the people of Wailuku, let this project shape the breath of a community remembering itself and its shared hopes for the future. 

Note: While this specific project is no longer moving forward, we remain committed to honoring the community stories highlighted throughout this process. We extend our sincere gratitude to the artist for their beautiful proposal and collaboration.