The Maui News

Maui Public Art Corps on Friday will begin a two-week process of installing a large-scale mural on the exterior of Queen Ka’ahumanu Center’s west wing where Sears once stood.

The artist who will lead the work, Fathima Mohiuddin, was selected by a community panel from a pool of 23 applicants. Mohiuddin, an Indian, United Arab Emirates-born-and-raised, Canadian immigrant artist, spent six weeks working with Kahului community members to co-design the mural under the leadership of the Maui Public Art Corps and Hale Ho’ike’ike at the Bailey House/Maui Historical Society.

Projects talks began in July 2021, soon after Maui Public Art Corps was first established to expand the work of Wailuku town’s Small Town Big Art initiative into new neighborhoods countywide.

“Because ST*BA is, and will always be, a Wailuku initiative, we needed to identify a more inclusive organizational name to meet the demand of piloting this work in other, distinct parts of Maui,” ST*BA lead and Maui Public Art Corps Chairperson Kelly McHugh-White said in a news release Monday. “The invitation to partner with Queen Ka’ahumanu Center for our first mural beyond Wailuku came at the perfect moment, as we were just pivoting to a new approach for our public art projects that could engage their team in a deeply meaningful way.”

That approach begins with a series of virtual storytelling workshops led by kumu hula Leilehua Yuen. Hale Ho’ike’ike Executive Director Sissy Lake-Farm then pairs workshop students with kupuna to share their stories. Once the workshops and talk-story recording sessions are complete, the resulting audio excerpts become the basis for annual requests for artist proposals. After an artist is selected by a community panel, they begin an intensive learning and cultural exchange that results in a revised artist proposal, or blueprint, that is steeped in the sense of place where the art will be unveiled.

Queen Ka’ahumanu Center General Manager Kauwela Bisquera participated in the workshop series in April, and in June she was paired with Aunty Kekoa Enomoto of ‘Ahahui Ka’ahumanu and chairwoman of the Pa’upena Community Development, for a recorded talk-story session. After two rounds of applications proposing how to interpret the story in mural form, Mohiuddin was selected by the panel.

“What grabbed me the most reading about the past work of SMALL TOWN * BIG ART was this idea of public art creating an intersection between the past, present and future,” Mohiuddin said. “I really enjoyed listening to the dialogue between Kekoa Enomoto and Kauwela Bisquera: Intriguing stories about brave women and themes of identity, journey, love, migration, honoring history and celebration of the human spirit. I thought about women warriors; the resilience and ambition of women who persevere through adversity, stand for what they believe, act as vessels of love and kindness and move the world forward. Community engagement will be key to really bringing to the surface stories and messages important to the people of Kahului.”

The mural is set to be unveiled in mid-December.

For more information on the project, visit mauipublicart.org/fathima.