Still Becoming

Rooted in ‘Ōlelo No‘eau TBD (currently under development with our cultural director, Sissy Lake-Farm) 
​In 2026, musician and composer Leilani Patao was invited by our team to create an original musical performance inspired by the Hui Moʻolelo talk-story recording of Lāhainā's Rae Kahaialiʻi. Developed through an extended process of listening, cultural consultation, and creative exchange, the work will premiere as part of the Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā Think Space at New York University on September 18, 2026, where it will serve as a live artistic response to the stories, films, and community dialogue surrounding the evolving Lāhainā Memorial Project. Unlike a performance built around an artist's own experiences, this work asks how careful listening can become a shared artistic experience. 
In January 2026, Rae Kahaialiʻi shared a Hui Moʻolelo talk-story recording reflecting on family, place, memory, and Lāhainā. Upon an April 2026 nomination through our NYU Think Space effort, Leilani reviewed all Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā recordings and selected Rae's to interpret as a musical performance for the scheduled September 18, 2026 event. Leilani then entered a collaborative period of listening and research. Together with Rae, the team began exploring what was said during the recording as well as the histories, relationships, emotions, and cultural knowledge surrounding it. This process mirrors the broader Hui Moʻolelo methodology, where artists first become listeners before becoming makers.
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Listen to the words inspiring this artwork:
Full Recording HERE | Excerpt HERE

About the Artist

Leilani Patao is a Brooklyn-based Native Hawaiian singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist whose work bridges indie pop, dream pop, and electronica with deep cultural continuity. A graduate of NYU’s recorded music program with deep family roots in Mililani and Hilo, Patao blends experimental production with a dedication to preserving indigenous stories, informed by their research into the 1970s Hawaiian Renaissance and experience hosting a Hawaiian music show on college radio. Writing, producing, and engineering their own work, they serve as a member of the County of Maui + Maui Public Art Corps' 9th Hui Moʻolelo cohort, adopting the role of "artist-as-vessel" to translate intergenerational community talk-stories into original compositions. Grounded in deep listening, physical media, and live performance, Patao’s practice uses music as a tool to connect people, place, and heritage across oceans, creating inclusive spaces for collective healing and storytelling.

Community Engagement

Through a structured process of community consultation and participation, Maui Public Art Corps guides each artist’s proposal as it evolves into a public artwork co-authored by community voices and rooted in the stories of place.
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Rae Kahaialiʻi consultation
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Kamaunu Kahaiali'i consultation
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Amy Hānaiali'i consultation
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Cohort session 1 of 3
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Cohort session 2 of 3
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Cohort session 3 of 3

Project Timeline

  • 8/12/25: Kelly White meets with the 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s Senior Curator of Oral History & Vice President of Collections, Amy Weinstein >> memorialization as a multi-decadal process requiring extreme patience, as many survivors and families may not be emotionally ready to share their stories for several years or even decades.
  • 2/10/26: MPAC's Kelly meets with Matty Motylenski, Program Administrator for Center CIRCL/ NYU Center for Indigenous Studies + Pua Farm, who Chairs NYU’s Hawai‘i Club to determine partnership goals & roles
  • 2/28/26: MPAC, NYU and cultural consultant Sissy Lake-Farm come together to envision a Hui Mo'olelo/ Think Space program, to be facilitated by Pua Farm
  • 3/19/26: Kelly reconvenes with Amy Weinstein at 9/11 Memorial & Museum >> the entire Lāhainā community should be recognized as survivors, as their experiences overlap so deeply with those of the victim families that an inclusive approach is essential for authentic communal healing.
  • 3/31/26: The team meets with Amita Manghnani, Associate Director of the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at New York University (A/P/A Institute at NYU), identifying potential sites for a panel and film fest 
  • 4/26/26: Kelly, Sissy and Pua welcome performance artist Leilani Patao, who agrees to select + interpret a Hui Mo'olelo recording as a 15-minute musical set during the film fest. The team agrees to develop and lead a new Hui Mo'olelo cohort to support this effort. 
  • 6/05/26: What We're Building Together: June Updates from Maui Public Art Corps (eNewsletter)
  • 6/17/26: Hui Mo'olelo: Think Space NYU session #1 (WATCH)
  • 6/18/26: Kelly reconvenes with the 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s Senior Curator of Oral History & Vice President of Collections, Amy Weinstein, who leads the oral history team and oversees the museum’s long‑term oral history narrative work + Jan Ramirez, the founding Chief Curator and Executive Vice President of Collections >> shared grief is a humanizing, unifying force that should be collectively supported rather than prematurely rushed toward a marketing narrative of "resilience".
  • 6/24/26: Hui Mo'olelo: Think Space NYU session #2 (WATCH)
  • 7/1/26: Hui Mo'olelo: Think Space NYU session #3 (WATCH)
  • 7/13/26: Stories Become Public Art: July Updates & Invitations from Maui Public Art Corps (eNewsletter)
  • 7/22/26: Team meeting + Film Festival performance artist Leilani Patao meets their Hui Mo'olelo storyteller, Rae Kahaiali'i (Listen to Rae's full talk-story HERE | short excerpt HERE) | WATCH today's consultation
  • 7/28/26: Community consultation with Kamaunu Kahaiali'i for Leilani's Hui Mo'olelo project (WATCH)
  • 8/5/26: Happy August! Maui Public Art unveilings, cultural guides & upcoming events (eNewsletter)
  • 8/6/26: Community consultation with Amy Hānaiali'i for Leilani's Hui Mo'olelo project (WATCH)
  • 8/12/26: Team meeting re space, roles, promo, education
  • 9/18/26: 11 am Think Space panel; 6 pm Hui Mo'olelo: Lahaina Film Fest at 20 Cooper
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Click for Leilani's self-recorded mo'olelo

Workbook

Here, public art administrator Kelly McHugh-White sits down with Lahaina's Rae Kahaialiʻi to reflect on the vision and responsibility of memorializing the Maui wildfires. Grounded in an initial consultation with Nā Kūpuna o Lahaina, who have emphasized that the Memorial must be a place of remembering and not recreation, and must be led by the land and informed by direct engagement with families, the dialogue explores how a memorial can honor those who perished while acknowledging the unrecorded grief carried by the wider community. Together, they consider how a memorial might move beyond monumentality to become a space of humility, inclusion, and shared healing that resists division and supports Lahaina’s collective identity as the community shapes the next chapter of its history with care for future generations. Listen to a 5-min excerpt HERE.