Hui Mo‘olelo 2025
Hui Mo‘olelo workshop #1 (9/3/25)
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Hui Mo‘olelo workshop #2 (9/12/25)
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Hui Mo‘olelo workshop #3 (9/19/25)
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Hui Mo‘olelo (“gathering of stories”) is a community storytelling and public art program of Maui Public Art Corps in partnership with the County of Maui and Cultural Consultant Sissy Lake-Farm. Now entering its sixth cohort, the program invites participants from across the county to capture stories rooted in special places within their communities. Following a period of collaborative training, each participant partners with an intergenerational companion of their choice to record meaningful talk-stories that reflect the spirit, memories, and identity of Maui County. These authentic accounts deepen connections between residents and visitors while ensuring that accurate narratives of Maui’s history and culture are recorded, preserved, and passed down — helping to foster identity and belonging.
Audio excerpts from these recordings become the foundation for an annual public art call, in which professional artists collaborate with community members to interpret a story as a work of public art rooted in place. Proposals are reviewed by a community panel, followed by a process of cultural exchange and learning throughout Maui County.
Audio excerpts from these recordings become the foundation for an annual public art call, in which professional artists collaborate with community members to interpret a story as a work of public art rooted in place. Proposals are reviewed by a community panel, followed by a process of cultural exchange and learning throughout Maui County.
2025 Cohort
Cohort Lead: Sissy Lake-Farm, Cultural Consultant (STORY)
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Andrea Kealoha, Department of Oceanography, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa • Talk-story with Sheldon Kealoha
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Nalani Kalama-Kaikala, Registered Nurse, MMMC • Talk-story with Ben Helekahi Jr. | • Talk-story with Randy Medeiros
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Francis Taua, Maui Performing Artist & Teaching Artist (STORY) • Talk-story with Marjorie Kahalaomapuana | • Talk-story with Eugene Kahoʻohanohano
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Liana Horovitz, Assistant Professor, History, University of Hawaiʻi Maui College (STORY) • Talk-story with Paul Mancini
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Cohort Practice: Self-Recorded Stories
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Project Timeline
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Public Art Process (Detailed)
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1. Hui Mo‘olelo Training (Weeks 1–4)
The process begins with Hui Mo‘olelo, where a cohort of participants meets on Zoom to explore the role of storytelling in public art. Together, they practice story prompts, share personal experiences, and build an understanding of how stories connect generations, preserve Maui’s history and culture, and nurture a sense of belonging. Meetings are recorded and shared publicly. |
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2. Intergenerational Story Recordings (Up to 1 month)
After training, each participant records a forty-minute talk-story rooted in a meaningful Maui place. Partners are ideally from a different generation, fostering intergenerational exchange. These recordings are archived publicly and preserved in the StoryCorps archive at the Library of Congress. |
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3. Goals & Roles (Simultaneous with above)
Using the stories as inspiration, collaborators define the vision for potential public art projects. This stage involves exploring potential sites—such as open spaces, public buildings, and privately owned public spaces (POPS)—as well as clarifying partner commitments, community access, and funding needs. |
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4. Call to Artists (4–6 weeks)
Artists are invited to listen to Hui Mo‘olelo recordings and interpret a story of their choosing as a possible public artwork. Proposals are submitted through CaFÉ, and a community panel reviews them to recommend projects that resonate most strongly. |
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5. Early Stage Project Development (2–3 weeks)
The strongest proposals are further developed with guidance from mentors and collaborators. Maui Public Art Corps contracts selected artist commissions, works with each artist to refine, and connects them with the team to shape project activities, engagement opportunities, and cultural grounding. |
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6. Community Engagement (2–12+ weeks)
Artists and partners bring their developing projects into conversation with the community. This can include workshops, live paint days, storytelling events, community consultations, performances, or other interactive formats that foster dialogue and participation. This work actively revises each public art project; integrating community feedback into a final blueprint—whether the artwork is a mural, performance, experience, or other medium. |
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7. Proverb Identification
With the support of Cultural Consultant Sissy Lake-Farm, artists connect community feedback with a unique Hawaiian proverb from Mary Kawena Pūkuʻi’s ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetical Sayings, ensuring cultural grounding and resonance. |
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8. Presentation
The final artwork is unveiled and shared with the community through a blessing (where appropriate), performance, or gathering. This moment honors the many hands and voices that contributed to the work and invites the public to experience it together. |
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9. Exchange
A project webpage documents the journey with images, recordings, press, and artist reflections. When possible, projects are added to the Hoʻokamaʻāina app and included in public art tours, extending the dialogue and connection beyond the unveiling. Classroom visits, study, and public inquiry proceed to feed into the project. |
Talk-Story Format
Our process was designed with the help of StoryCorps DIY best practices and further guided by long-standing cultural practitioners, historians, and community leaders including oral historians Kepā and Onaona Maly, artist Leilehua Yuen, and past Hui Mo‘olelo facilitators Kalapana Kollars, Anuhea Yagi and Sissy Lake-Farm.
NOTE: If you opt to work with Hōkū as the recording technician, you only need to show up with your questions/ prompts and perhaps a small makana for your partner, if you feel compelled to bring one. If you opt to DIY, you'll additionally need to follow each step listed in the "interview day" pdf below (READ). Let us know how you and your partner feel most comfortable!
TIPS
SAMPLE QUESTIONS + PROMPTS
- Complete Hui Mo‘olelo workshop series, through which participants create their own micro-storytelling presentation (Past samples)
- Work with Hōkū to schedule the best date & time to meet with her and your intergenerational talk-story partner at Lokahi Pacific, located at 1935 Main Street in Wailuku on the second floor (elevator on site/ guest parking in the rear), which is available Tues - Fri between 10 AM - 4 PM through Oct 17, 2025. If you prefer to DIY at home, we can lend you our sound equipment with instructions as an alternative.
- Select 4-5 of the "Sample Questions & Prompts" below, or create your own prior to your scheduled recording. Feel free to go “off-script” and ask follow-up questions. Our goal is to gather, honor, and amplify stories rooted in Maui sense of place — connecting past, present, and future through deep listening, intergenerational dialogue, and community trust. You can tell jokes, stories, share photos, objects, memories or choose another way to help you get there.
- Once settled into the recording space, note your starting time. In consideration of "bio breaks" and continuity, we have learned that 40-minutes is an ideal length of time to aim for. Please silence all phones. Now we'll/ you'll click record. Start by stating your name, age, the date, and the place where you are - and let your match do the same. Then begin with your list of prompts.
- When pau, sign the consent forms & be sure to capture a photo of the two of you together to send to us with your recording.
NOTE: If you opt to work with Hōkū as the recording technician, you only need to show up with your questions/ prompts and perhaps a small makana for your partner, if you feel compelled to bring one. If you opt to DIY, you'll additionally need to follow each step listed in the "interview day" pdf below (READ). Let us know how you and your partner feel most comfortable!
TIPS
- Let silence work—give time for reflection.
- Ask follow-up questions when something sparks curiosity.
- Keep focus on place + person + cultural context.
- Thank your partner sincerely at the end, and share how their story will be preserved.
- Engaging participants with respect (READ)
- The interview day (READ)
SAMPLE QUESTIONS + PROMPTS
- Is there a place in Maui County where you feel most grounded? Why?
- Can you describe a place here that holds a strong memory for you?
- What is your earliest memory of this place?
- Has this place changed over time? What has stayed the same?
- Are there important traditions, practices, or community gatherings tied to this place?
- What’s the story behind your name?
- Describe your childhood home and neighborhood.
- How did your parents meet, and what did they do for a living?
- Growing up, what did your community look like outside of your family?
- What languages did your parents and grandparents speak?
- What games or activities did you enjoy as a child? Where did you play them?
- What were mealtimes like in your family? What foods did you eat? Who prepared them?
- How did your family get around the island?
- What music, stories, or teachings do you remember from growing up?
- Were there home remedies, protocols, or teachings you were taught to care for health and well-being?
- Describe your school years. Did you have an influential teacher or mentor?
- What was your first job? What did you learn from it?
- Did you pursue higher education or vocational training? What guided your choice?
- How have major events—storms, wars, natural disasters, or other milestones—affected you or your community?
- Are there stories about your neighborhood that are often misunderstood or not widely known?
- What lessons or values from your life do you most want future generations to know?
- What’s your most treasured memory from your time in Maui County?
- If you could pass down one story about this place, what would it be?
- How would you like to be remembered?
- What is one thing you want me—and anyone hearing this story—to promise to remember and share?