Lahaina Voices
Following the August 2023 wildfires, several groups and individuals reached out to request our Hui Mo‘olelo workshop and story recording approach as a way to help process the experience. Through a collaborative effort with the Lahaina Restoration Foundation, Hui Mo‘olelo cohort members interviewed highly revered elders of Lahaina. Professional artists then submitted proposals to bring these stories to life as short, animated films. Upon selection by a community panel, artist Richard O'Connor entered a period of project development to infuse his proposal in Lahaina history, culture and sense of place -- ultimately resulting in a freely accessible work created through community engagement. The final animated shorts will be unveiled during a free 2025 Hui Mo‘olelo Film Festival at ProArts Playhouse in Kihei, HI, Feb 22 & 23, 2025.
Enjoy the stories that will provide the animation's audio track below:
Enjoy the stories that will provide the animation's audio track below:
About the Artist
Richard O'Connor has been involved in creating animation for nearly 30 years. In that time he has produced around 250 short films -both independent and on contract - dozens of commercials, a feature film, and sequences for at least 25 documentaries. These have included theatrical features (Frank Oz' "The Stepford Wives", Merchant/Ivory's "White Countess", Rebecca Miller's "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee"), documentaries ("Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns", "Chicago Ten", "Nursery University"), television (Nickelodeon's "Kablam!", Cartoon Network's "Big Bag", PBS' "Between the Lions") and commercials. Richard writes about things -usually animated things, but not always. He has taught at Parsons School of Design, NYU, University of the Arts, and Rhode Island School Design.
His small crew at Ace & Son Moving Picture Company has been creating animation together for a decade. The studio focuses on independent, educational and documentary animation. Headquartered in a 19th Century stable a stone's throw from the Gowanus Canal, the studio prioritizes traditional drawing and material-based animation processes mixed with contemporary graphics and cinematic sensibility. MORE: https://www.aceandson.com/ |
Sample Work
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See all of Richard's past work with our team on our Film Festivals project page HERE
Community Consultations
Is your class or group interested in an animation workshop or tutorial by Richard and his team? We have done these with Baldwin High School, UH Maui College and the Maui Public Art Youth Task Force, and would love to partner with you to keep going! Let us know.
Mahalo
- Hui Mo‘olelo: Lāhainā facilitators Anuhea Yagi and Kalapana Kollars
- Storytellers: Jennifer Freeland & her father Haines Burt Freeland, Louis Garcia III & Kaliko Storer, Teva Medeiros & his grandfather Timothy Medeiros Sr., Coach Earle Kukahiko & Kaliko Storer, Abraham "Snake" Ah Hee & Myrna Ah Hee, and Reverend Gensho Hara, Lāhainā Jodo Mission & his daughter, Yayoi Hara.
- Partners County of Maui, Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House/ Maui Historical Society and Lahaina Restoration Foundation
- Sponsors National Endowment for the Arts, HCF Maui Strong, Hawai'i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and private donors of Maui Public Art Corps
- Community Consultants & panelists
- ProArts Playhouse
Project Timeline
- 6/21/24: Hui Mo‘olelo: Lahaina workshop #1 of 3
- 6/28/24: Hui Mo‘olelo workshop #2 of 3
- 7/5/24: Hui Mo‘olelo workshop #3 of 3
- 7/12/24: Shannon I'i & Amy Petersen of Maui Behavioral Health Wildfire Response (MBHWR)/ Hawai’i State Department of Health coordinate psychological first aid workshop for cohort members led by Michele Navarro Ishiki
- 8/2/24: Hui Mo‘olelo intergenerational recordings deadline
- 8/8/24: Public art RFP is released
- 9/16/24: Community panel meeting
- 9/20/24: Contracts issued
- 10/3/24: Project Launch & ‘Ōlelo No‘eau meeting with Sissy Lake-Farm, Kalapana Kollars & MPAC (WATCH)
- 10/10/24: Community Consultation with storytellers Coach Earle Kukahiko, Louis Garcia III and Kaliko Storer (WATCH)
- 10/17/24: Community Consultation with storytellers Burt & Jennifer Freeland (WATCH)
- 10/30/24: Storyteller meeting with Yayoi Hara & Reverend Hara (WATCH)
- 11/7/24: Storyteller meeting with Medeiros Ohana (WATCH) BONUS: Please refer to this Community Consultation for Ah Hee Ohana Community Consultation
- 1/3/24: Animator check-in meeting
- 1/15/25: Animator check-in meeting
- 1/29/25: Animator check-in meeting
- 2/5/25: Animator check-in meeting
- 2/12/25: Animator check-in meeting
- 2/19/25: Film Fest prep meeting
- TBD: Community engagement activity/ activities
- 2/22 & 23/25: 2025 Hui Mo‘olelo Film Festival at ProArts Playhouse in Kihei / public unveiling of the film collection