Local artists to tell stories of Oʻahu’s historical, cultural landmarks

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Native Hawaiian history told through art. The city and county of Honolulu announced a new initiative on Monday that will transform public spaces.
“Wahi Pana: Storied Places” will bring 11 art installations to culturally significant sites across Oʻahu. Each will focus on bringing a new perspective to Native Hawaiian history.
“The art will be expressed through various forms of storytelling, including sculpture, video, photography, poetry, painting, and mele,” said Kaʻili Trask O’Connell, executive director, Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts. “By deepening historical and cultural awareness with residents and visitors, the initiative encourages more meaningful engagement with Hawaiʻi’s ʻāina and its people.”
It is all thanks to a one-million dollar grant the city won from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge.
The project will be in 3 phases beginning next February
“First, artist Cory Kamehanaokalā Holt Taum will create vinyl bus wraps for selected city buses that will depict Hiʻiaka’s journey through the wahi pana of Hawaiʻi,” said Trask O’Connell.
Holt Taum is a mural artist and cultural practitioner whose previous canvases include moss-covered concrete and an invasive Albizia tree.
“This project is a chance for us as artists to connect with our communities and to bring the spirit of each wahi pana, each storied place to life,” he said.
Other installations will feature work by Hawaiʻi State Poet Laureate Brandy Nālani McDougall relating to the presence and perception of Lē‘ahi, or Diamond Head
Another installation by artist Carl F.K. Pao will feature tiled murals at Fort Street Mall that transform ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi into a visual language.
“The installations that all of the artists will create will really illuminate even more so this beautiful island and tell the story of unknown and suppressed indigenous stories, expressing the beautiful native heritage and ancestral knowledge of Hawaiʻi,” said Stephanie Dockery of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Arts Team.
“What we want to do for our local residents because, you know, there’s a lot of stories that people just don’t know. But certainly for the people who come to visit here, we want them to experience just how much we have to offer,” added Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi.
The art initiative will run through March 2028.
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