A new public art exhibition honoring voices of Lāhainā has been unveiled at Lahaina Cannery. Installed on September 30, 2025, Hui Mo‘olelo: Lāhainā is a collaborative effort of the County of Maui’s Public Art Program, Maui Public Art Corps, and Lahaina Restoration Foundation.

Maui Public Art Corps commissioned artist Christina Wine through a Maui Strong grant, who also serves as Ocean Resource Specialist for the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC), to create 21 watercolor portraits of Lāhainā community members that participated in the Hui Mo‘olelo: Lāhainā storytelling project. Wine proposed these portraits through the County of Maui and Maui Public Art Corps' most recent call for artist proposals, and her vision has transformed the Cannery into a place where portraits of kūpuna stand beside their voices and words of wisdom.

“Hui Mo‘olelo: Lāhainā is a gathering of voices — a weaving of stories born from the heart of a community forever changed,” shares Kelly White, Chair of Maui Public Art Corps and Manager of the County of Maui’s Public Art Program. “To see them come alive at Lahaina Cannery means these voices will continue to guide us in rebuilding a future rooted in aloha and belonging.”

A Storytelling Tradition
Launched in response to the August 2023 wildfires, Hui Mo‘olelo: Lāhainā brings together the efforts of Maui Public Art Corps, Lahaina Restoration Foundation, and the County of Maui.

In summer 2024, cultural historian Kalapana Kollars and Hawaiian life ways practitioner Anuhea Yagi guided a cohort of Lāhainā storytellers in recording intergenerational stories of life in the community — recollections that spanned hukilau at Launiupoko, fishing ʻōpelu at Mala, lantern ceremonies at the Jodo Mission, and the hum of Front Street. Recorded stories went on to inspire nine public artworks across Maui and Oʻahu to date: five animated film shorts, one utility box artwork, and three mural installations. Together, they serve as testaments to healing, connection and cultural continuity.

This 2024 Hui Mo‘olelo program was made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, whose support helped bring these stories to life and share them with the community.

Today, Hui Mo‘olelo continues to provide opportunities for community connection and place-based art grounded in local voice. We have just completed our most recent cohort and are preparing to release the next Request for Proposals (RFP) in fall 2025. An upcoming Hui Mo‘olelo: Lāhainā cohort will be led by Kaliko Storer.

The Artist Behind the Portraits
Born and raised in Waiehu, Wine is a Baldwin High School and UH Hilo graduate whose career has spanned marine science, sailing, environmental education, and maritime systems before returning home to Maui.

Reflecting on her artistic journey, Wine recalls an unlikely teacher: “As a teenager, I met a quiet, deaf artist who, in a single weekend, broke through language barriers to show me the fundamentals of how to draw. I never stopped after that. Over time I adopted a no-erase, Zen-calligraphy style — each line committed, each mistake part of the whole. I’m grateful to everyone who has received my art, whether it’s a framed painting or just a lesson remembered in the heart.”

Wine now brings that spirit of openness and gratitude to her portraits of Lāhainā kūpuna, offering visual windows into stories of resilience, tradition and belonging.

A Living Space for Healing
The Lahaina Cannery has become a focal point for gathering, remembrance, and healing since the wildfires. By hosting this exhibition, the Cannery continues its role as a hub for cultural programming, local markets, and civic engagement.

Visitors can experience the portraits alongside quotations that reflect Lāhainā’s strength and hopes for the future. QR codes connect viewers directly to recorded stories and public artworks inspired by these voices throughout Maui.

The Hui Mo‘olelo: Lāhainā exhibition is free and open to the public through the month of September.
Learn more: mauipublicart.org/lahainamoolelo.

Following our second Hui Mo‘olelo 2025 session, cohort members were invited to record a self-recorded mo‘olelo on a topic of their choosing. This practice helps model for upcoming intergenerational talk-story partners the same spirit of honesty and generosity we are asking of them.

What emerged from these recordings was a deep intertwining of love for nature and home with personal passion, spiritual grounding, and community connection. For many, Maui is not just a place but a source of identity and belonging, compelling them toward service, tradition, and shared purpose.

Iokepa Cabanilla-Aricayos spoke of how his passion always returns to nature and home. Born and raised on Maui, even a brief time living on the mainland intensified his gratitude for being from Hawai‘i and confirmed his sense of identity. Tina Kailiponi described moving 25 times as a child before coming to Maui, where she finally felt settled and discovered her “tribe.” Liana Horovitz recalled her childhood in upper Kula, walking two miles uphill through black wattle forests to her family’s carnation farm, where the smell of her mother’s fresh bread marked the end of the journey home.

Nature is more than a backdrop in these stories. It is a source of grounding and a spiritual connection. For Iokepa, this began early, nurtured by his hula-teacher mother and landscaper father. When he needs to feel grounded, he goes to places like ʻĪao Valley or simply puts his bare feet in the sand, the dirt, or the water. Even when living far from Maui, he sought out streams and trails, feeling a spiritual need to connect with the earth. He believes people must take care of nature because it nourishes us physically, spiritually and emotionally and is a priceless treasure to pass to future generations.

This connection manifests through tradition. Iokepa creates lei and flower arrangements as a way to mark important moments, from graduations to funerals, filling himself with a sense of meaning. The fragrance and color of flowers, he says, seal memories and create core experiences that stay with us. His first inspired lei, made for his grandfather, bridged his Hawaiian and Filipino heritage and embodied the spirit of ʻohana. He now works to instill this connection in his children and grandchildren, believing that even the smallest act, like a child picking a flower for a friend, keeps this bond alive.

That sense of belonging also drives a passion for community service. Tina spoke of feeling that being embraced by Maui gives her the responsibility to give back. She serves with the Maui Food Bank and sees the entire island as her ʻohana. This emphasis on shared value and connection aligns with the reflections of Francis Tauʻa, who links passion to choosing wisely where to place value and finding joy in connection. Francis reminds us that in a world designed to provoke reaction, focusing on what truly matters allows community support to emerge naturally. He shared the story of a group of first graders who stopped their conflicts to help a friend search for a lost Pokémon jibbitz, their joy erupting when it was found. This simple but powerful moment revealed how shared purpose can turn even divided groups into a vessel for collective joy.

Naomi Tokishi offered another powerful expression of passion through collective effort. She described her experience in the Maui High School Color Guard, where she and her teammates trained for months, practicing twelve hours a week in preparation to compete in California against much larger bands. Despite the exhaustion and challenge, the moment they performed together —hitting every beat, matching the music, and seeing each other shine, was one of pride and exhilaration. When they won first place overall, Naomi and her teammates wept and embraced, overwhelmed by the power of shared success. This experience of perseverance, discipline, and community triumph mirrors the ʻohana spirit described by Iokepa and Tina, showing that passion and belonging grow strongest when pursued together.

These mo‘olelo show that for many, love for Maui and nature is inseparable from the call to serve, protect, and connect. They remind us that each story is a thread in the larger fabric of community, helping us see the richness of where we come from and the responsibilities we carry forward.

Learn more at mauipublicart.org/cohort25.

Maui Public Art Corps, in partnership with the County of Maui, is proud to welcome the sixth annual cohort of Hui Mo‘olelo:

• Andrea Kealoha, Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
  
• Kia’i Collier, Waihee Manager, Hawaii Land Trust
  
• Nalani Kalama-Kaikala, Registered Nurse, MMMC
• Tina Kailiponi, Maui Food Bank
• Kepa Cabanilla-Aricayos, King’s Maui Experience Director
• Naomi Tokishi, Maui High Student
• Francis Taua, Maui Performing Artist & Teaching Artist
• Liana Horovitz, Assistant Professor, History, University of Hawaiʻi Maui College.

The cohort will be guided by Sissy Lake-Farm, Maui Public Art Corps’ Cultural Director and kumu hula of Hālau Makana Aloha O Ka Lauaʻe.

For six years now, Hui Mo‘olelo has brought together people from across the county to record intergenerational talk-stories. These conversations, rooted in place, capture the spirit, memories, and identity of Maui County in ways that can be passed on to future generations. They also become the foundation for new works of public art. Later this year, artists will be invited to interpret selected stories into performances, murals and other creative expressions, creating a cycle of storytelling and art that begins with the community itself. As Sissy Lake-Farm put it, “The artists come. But we provide them with the tools. They have expertise and ideas. But it’s about us here and it’s about the stories that we provide… It’s rooted in us and that’s the difference.”

The new cohort gathered for its first training session this week, and the energy in the space was joyful. Participants shared personal journeys that ranged from ocean science to health care, food security, teaching, and the performing arts. Maui Food Bank’s Tina Kailiponi, who also directs youth theater, admitted she had been waiting for this moment: “Maybe one day, one day they’re going to ask me. And then—Yay. Thank you for having me. I am super excited for this opportunity.” Performer and teaching artist Francis Taua shared a similar feeling: “I’m so happy to be part of things like this where we get to actually be part of or give back to our community.”

Every talk-story recording made through Hui Mo‘olelo is archived through StoryCorps at the Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center, adding Maui County voices to a growing national collection of oral histories. The program’s impact has been recognized with national support from the National Endowment for the Arts, and Mayor Richard Bissen has noted how it reflects the generosity of our kūpuna, saying, “These grants are a testament to the dedication and creativity of our community, as well as the generosity shown by our kūpuna to share precious memories and knowledge about Maui County places, customs, natural resources, and events.”

As this sixth cohort begins its journey, the purpose of Hui Mo‘olelo remains beautifully simple: to honor the voices of our community, preserve them with care, and carry them forward through the power of art.

Learn more about Hui Mo‘olelo at mauipublicart.org/hui-moolelo.

Meet this cohort at mauipublicart.org/cohort25.