Summer is over and everyone in Wahi Pana has been very busy! I’ve seen some of the beautiful artwork in other shows around the island, and our Wahi Pana artists have been busy in their communities. It is heartwarming to see the art spread out there.
Wahi Pana will continue as a blog and email newsletter. This channel will share mo’olelo about those of us who love art, who want to connect to wahi pana through shared stories.
Chemistry of Water, Hawaii Watercolor Society’s Open Juried Show features paintings selected by juror Paul Jackson, a nationally acclaimed watercolorist and teacher. The concept was to create a space where art and science meet in the same space. To spark dialogue between creatives and scientists about color and water. The exhibit is open through November 22. There are four lectures free to the public by scientists leading in their fields held in the gallery. For more information visit eventbrite.
The exhibition at Honolulu Musuem of Art School’s Main Gallery wrapped up on July 5th. This blog will continue to discuss wahi pana and offer opportunities to visit and learn about other wahi pana. Send me an email or comment here if you have suggestions, tips or share your experiences of wahi pana.
The exhibition displayed 73 works of art by 46 local artists. Eight wahi pana were represented: Thomas Square Park, Kea’iwa Heiau, Kawainui Wetlands, Waikiki from the zoo to Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, Makaha to Ka’ena, Pu’u Honua Honaunau, Hilo, I’ao Valley.
The opening drew over 250 guests but during the 30 days it was open, there was an average of 30 visitors each day with over 1000 who came to see the show. There were at least nine works sold as a result of collectors seeing the work and other artists have reported other opportunities to participate in other shows or gain exposure for their work. The dialogue and learning about wahi pana, and the locations engaged teachers, students, artists, Hawaiian Cultural Practitioners and activists in discussing the importance of how one makes connection to your home.
As a result of this experience and with encouragement from ‘ohana, I’ve decided to continue wahi pana as a way to help malihini, kama’aina and kanaka maoli make connection with our ‘aina and a way to spread and share aloha internationally through spreading the knowledge and experience of wahi pana. Keep an eye out for opportunities for huaka’i (walking tours) and paintouts and other activities to open our eyes and hearts to the places we call home.
Mokapu was a known burial area and today the Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station has protected areas of cultural significance but also provides habitat to endemic birds species such as the a’eo, ‘auku’u, ‘iwa and kolea
Mahalo e to all those who helped make this project a success! Makaho ke akua for guiding and protecting us.
Wahi Pana Participants at Honolulu Tour Part 1: You can go to Tour part 2 even if you did not attend part 1
News from Dawn Yoshimura:
Aloha e!
There will be a second Waikiki huakai with Uncle Joe Wednesday May 22.. For those of you who went on the first one, this will start where we ended, at the Royal Hawaiian Niu Grove. Here is the link on Eventbrite to signup. It is a rich experience as Kumu Recca shares the history of Waikiki. It ends at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
TIP1: Parking is validated at the Royal Hawaiian with a purchase in the shopping center, so it is going to cost you $10 either way, but I recommend parking at the Hilton end in the municipal parking lot at the marina and walking back to the meeting point so you can leave directly afterwards.
TIP2: When you sign up, if you have an art business (GE licence) then you can answer YES you work with the visitor industry and your fee will be waived. Otherwise the tour costs $30, still well worth the money.
TIP3: Bring water to drink, wear sunscreen and comfortable shoes.
Kawainui Marsh at Sunset; photo by Wendy Roberts; Access to this area of Kawainui is via Kaha Park
Aloha artists! We recently completed the editing and posting of videos from the tour of Kawainui Marsh with Dr. Paul Brennan. It was initially planned to be on-site, but only the first clip displays the rainy day outdoors that sent us scurrying inside. We moved over to Sherree’s home (thank you Sherree!) and continued to listen to the history of the area. After reviewing the videos, I felt there were 5 main topics that could each have a well-organized clip:
Kawainui Tour on a rainy day; photo by Spencer Chang
Ulupo Heiau has a Hawaiian Garden full of beautiful loi and plants that were useful to Hawaiians. It is amazing! Photo by Joel BradshawNa Pohaku o Hauwahine has a beautiful trail of endemic, native, and canoe plants overlooking the Kawainui wetlands. At the top of the promontory is a wahi pana: the boulders where Hauwahine, powerful mo’o guardian of Kawainui primarily spent her time.
Together, these clips are more than half the tour. The remainder will be edited and published later. The other segments of the tour grew organically out of these primary topics and largely discuss Maunawili, Kailua town, and Coconut Grove, all areas we are not covering in the Wahi Pana Exhibit, but excellent information that ought to be shared online (and I will!).
I promised to drop the coordinates for the beginning of Na Pohaku o Hauwahine Trail as well. Please click this link to view the entry to Na Pohaku o Hauwahine. Note, this is a place that will be a little harder to work than most Wahi Pana sites. The nearest bathrooms are at Kaha/ Kawainui Neighborhood Park, a 5-minute drive once you have hiked out of your work area. The third site is also easier: YMCA will usually let you use the bathroom there as you visit Ulupo Heiau if you are polite about it.
No matter which bathrooms you use, please do not leave any trace of paints or other inconvenient art materials in the bathroom sinks or floors, and plan to clean anything that can clog drains at home. I usually clean my water-based media brushes as well as I can, then wrap with wet paper towels to keep them pliable until I can get home and clean them more thoroughly with soap. I clean oil paint brushes either with small amounts of carefully controlled oils or spirits, or I wrap them in a paper towel until I can go home and wash them well the moment I get there. There are ways of containing and preventing creative materials from dirtying communal areas. Please be aware of this and pack carefully. We will soon have guides up for working outdoors for several media posted on the site. These guides will help you be ready if you have never painted on-site before.
February 20 @ 9:00 am – 12:00 pm Wednesday, February 20, from 9 am to noon, Kumu Glen Kila of Marae Ha’a Koa Hawaiian Cultural Center will share the mo’olelo of wahi pana and Moku o Waianae. Please bring a hat, sunscreen and water. Wear comfortable walking shoes. Hawaiian culture is transferred from kumu to student by listening to mo’olelo and first-hand observation of practices. Kumu Kila is generously offering to share the mo’olelo of Waianae.
Video is not available of this event. Out of respect for cultural practices, and at Kumu Glen’s request we did not document the event except in snapshots, but we can share and discuss this mo’olelo at the Wahi Pana Talk Story Panel.
