FITNESS COURTS: Kahului Community Center Park
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Through a new partnership with the Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) and the National Fitness Campaign, whose mission is to build healthy communities, two outdoor Fitness Court installations are coming to the County of Maui in the fall of 2023. With a 224 square foot sheer wall backing the structures, each Fitness Court presents an opportunity for a public artwork that enhances and enriches the site while also addressing the public input received in our recent Maui County Public Art Community Survey to produce art that preserves local stories, environment and history.
Artist James Dinh has been selected to design a work of public art at the Kahului Community Center Park site that engages a diverse public audience and celebrates the site’s history, culture and sense of place. Bookmark this page for ongoing updates! |
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James Dinh | www.studiofolia.com
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Designing public art spaces that connect people to memory and place. This is the foundation of the work of Studiofolia, a flexible collaborative public art practice that James Dinh founded in 2010 in Los Angeles. With a background in landscape architecture and public health, James has completed projects in diverse communities across the U.S. Because the context and requirements of each project are different, his design process is based on an approach rather than a singular style.
For the Kahului Community Center Park project, James is collaborating with Thinh Nguyen, an illustrator and textile/surface pattern designer. Thinh emphasizes sustainability, craftsmanship, and community in this creative work. James and Thinh believe it is important to create art that welcomes people of all backgrounds and ages and, importantly, tells local stories. Both their families came to this country as refugees in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. From these experiences, James and Thinh have learned about the power of resilience and the importance of telling unsung stories that, importantly, enrich the larger American narrative. |
Proposed Concept
I am interested in this project for two major reasons. One is that I believe public art has the power to inspire and uplift people and communities. The second reason is that the National Fitness Campaign project aligns with my background in public health, the mission of which is to improve community overall well-being, not simply by reducing the absence of disease.
Each time that I have gone to the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, and Kauai, I have noticed how Hawaiians' lives are intimately connected to the landscape of lush mountains, valleys, rivers, and oceans. This connection sustains health both physically and spiritually. The proposed concept design illustrates these connections to the natural world. Colors and patterns weave together like waves and landscape forms. One can see birds flying, fish swimming, and flowers blooming. I envision that the community can provide input in the patterns of flowers, plants, and other elements that are representative of Hawaii and the local community. Text could also be incorporated.
Each time that I have gone to the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, and Kauai, I have noticed how Hawaiians' lives are intimately connected to the landscape of lush mountains, valleys, rivers, and oceans. This connection sustains health both physically and spiritually. The proposed concept design illustrates these connections to the natural world. Colors and patterns weave together like waves and landscape forms. One can see birds flying, fish swimming, and flowers blooming. I envision that the community can provide input in the patterns of flowers, plants, and other elements that are representative of Hawaii and the local community. Text could also be incorporated.
Community consultation with Mary Kielty
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Community Consultation with Art Vento
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Community Consultation with Kauwela Bisquera
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Community Consultation with Aunty Kekoa Enomoto
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‘Ōlelo No‘eau meeting with Sissy Lake-Farm
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Project Timeline
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