KAUPA receives grant for Kalihi Stream mural

HONOLULU—Kalihi Ahupua‘a Ulu Pono Ahahui (KAUPA) has been awarded a $15,000 grant from the Hawai‘i Community Foundation to support the Public Art Kalihi – Art & ʻĀina program.  The grant will allow KAUPA to plant native Hawaiian edible and medicinal plants along the banks for continued streambank restoration work, and complete its first wall mural along Kalihi Stream, an effort that began last year.

KAUPA envisions the stream mural as a way to enhance community pride in the area, as well as create a conversation piece about our streams and how we should care for them.  Kalihi stream is one of the last urban streams on O‘ahu that has a native stream bed throughout the full length of the stream.  This has allowed four of the five native ‘o‘opu (gobies) to find a home here, along with native ‘opai (freshwater shrimp and prawns) and aholehole (mullet).  Funding will support KAUPA volunteers in removing trash from the stream and planting native plants along the streambanks, helping to reduce erosion.  Trash and excess sediment in the stream are threats to native life in the stream.

In 2010, 15 Kalihi youth, aged 14 to 30, attended four art workshops in preparation for painting of the wall mural along Kalihi stream.  Meleanna Meyer, John “Prime” Hina, Kahi Ching, and Solomon Enos are the talented master artists who directed the youth in the basics of line, form, color and proportion.  Funding at that time was not enough to complete the mural.  The new grant will provide the funds needed to make the mural reality.  An additional art workshop will take place again this year, culminating in the painting of the mural in July.

The Kalihi Waena wall mural will be the first of a series of murals to be painted along Kalihi stream.  KAUPA surveyed the community and held a public meeting in July 2010 to find out what residents would like to see in the mural.  Initial responses include scenes of nature and a representation of the various ethnicities of Kalihi. 

The volunteer artists, under the guidance of the master artists, studied the history of Kalihi and used the opinions of the community to create the draft design of the mural.  The initial sketch sets a scene from mauka to makai, and depicts symbols from the legends associated with Papa and Wakea, as well as Kalihi wildlife and people that represent the diverse cultures in Kalihi.

Spaces are available for artists over 14 who are interested in attending the workshops and painting the mural.  The remaining workshop will take place on July 9th, with painting of the mural in the last week of July.

For more information, visit www.kaupa4kalihi.org.