Maui Public Art Corps

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Maui Public Art Corps Maui Public Art Corps is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization founded in 2020 to connect peo

Last month, the Lāhainā Think Space traveled to New York City following the 25th anniversary of September 11, joining pa...
10/14/2026

Last month, the Lāhainā Think Space traveled to New York City following the 25th anniversary of September 11, joining partners whose work around remembrance, storytelling, and community has had a lasting impact on our own. At NYU and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), three activities anchored our activation: intergenerational talk-story through Hui Moʻolelo, a film showcase and talk-story that opened pathways for reflection, and a panel discussion about how communities remember, honor, and carry stories forward. We went because we were invited, and because these exchanges offer new ways to learn from one another as we help shape the vision for the Lāhainā Memorial Project.

The Think Space evolves with every iteration. We listen, learn, and pivot when shared ideas and meaningful consensus point toward new possibilities. Bringing this particular activation to life took the talent, care, professionalism, wonder, time, and cooperation of many, many people across Maui and New York. From the partners who opened their doors to the people who shaped the program and welcomed participants, this was a collective effort in every sense. Mahalo to everyone who made it possible and continues to help us understand what community-centered remembrance can become.

Six years ago this month, “Ma kāhi o ka hana he ola malaila” came to life in Wailuku, thanks to an extraordinary team of...
10/14/2026

Six years ago this month, “Ma kāhi o ka hana he ola malaila” came to life in Wailuku, thanks to an extraordinary team of community consultants, cultural practitioners, local voices, and creative collaborators who helped shape the project from the ground up.

This mural was Eric Okdeh Eric Okdeh’s second project with us, and his influence on our work continues to this day. Eric brought great lessons from the City of Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program, sharing a community engagement process that helped shape how we approach public art in Maui County: listening first, building relationships, and creating work rooted in the people and places it represents.

We’re especially grateful for the relationships that grow beyond any one project. Just recently, Eric brought his entire family from Philadelphia to New York City to spend time with our team while we were at MoMA sharing the Lāhainā Think Space project. Six years, many miles, and so much shared work later, that connection means the world to us.

Mahalo to Eric and the many community consultants and collaborators who made this mural possible, and to everyone who continues to remind us that the process of making public art can be just as lasting as the work itself.

Maui Academy of Performing Arts Sean Michael Hower SMALL TOWN * BIG ART
96793

Listening Across Oceans: Story, Memory, and the Making of MemorialsSeptember 18 | 11:00 a.m.NYU's building at 20 Cooper ...
09/16/2026

Listening Across Oceans: Story, Memory, and the Making of Memorials
September 18 | 11:00 a.m.
NYU's building at 20 Cooper Square, New York, NY 10003.

How do communities remember after tragedy? Who gets to tell the story? And how can public art and community dialogue shape memorials that honor both loss and resilience?

Join cultural practitioners, artists, students, government leaders, and memorial professionals for a conversation exploring how memory travels across generations, geographies, and communities. Featuring perspectives from Hawaiʻi, New York, and the evolving Lāhainā Memorial Project, this discussion examines how listening deeply to community voices can help create memorials rooted in truth, belonging, and collective care.

Ideal for students and professionals interested in public history, museums, oral history, Indigenous studies, public art, architecture, design, planning, storytelling, community engagement, and social practice.

09/15/2026

Lost & Found

Following four months of project development, Maui artist Andy Behrle Andy Behrle (artist) worked with dozens of community members to research, re-imagine and refine a light installation depicting a stained glass window from St. Anthony Church before it was lost to a devastating fire in 1977. Through hours of footage collected at different points of the Wailuku River, panes of glass were replaced with visions of water. Inspired by ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: Ma ka hana ka ‘ike (in working, one learns), the piece was on view for one night only, projected onto ʻĪao Theater during the  September 2019 Wailuku First Friday event. 

Learn more: https://www.smalltownbig.org/behrle.html

09/14/2026

Join us for Lāhainā Think Space: NYC, a day of storytelling, dialogue, and film exploring how communities heal, remember, and rebuild.

🎙 11 AM: “Listening Across Oceans: Story, Memory, and the Making of Memorials” panel discussion | NYU’s building at 20 Cooper Square, New York, NY 10003

🎬 6 PM: Hui Mo‘olelo: Lāhainā Film Showcase (featuring a live performance by Leilani Patao) | The Museum of Modern Art’s Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2 at 11 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019

Presented by the County of Maui, Maui Public Art Corps, NYU, and partners as part of the community engagement process informing the future Lāhainā Memorial.

All are welcome. RSVP required: mauipublicart.org/nyu

09/14/2026

In Perfect Days: Lineage & Landscape, Tom Fujita (Lahainaluna High School Class of 1962) and Dean Tokishi share a story of Lāhainā; their voices transformed into animation by artist Richard O’Connor and his team.

It’s one of four short films created from Hui Moʻolelo: Lāhainā recordings, bringing stories of place, memory, and lived experience to life through animation and sound.

Watch Tom and Dean’s story. Then share it with someone who loves Lāhainā.

09/11/2026

Flashback Friday.

In June 2023, Anthony Pfluke brought an extraordinary body of original music to Kīpuka Square in Wailuku — inspired by Kahoʻolawe and Wailuku, and shaped through time spent on the land and with the people who hold deep connections to these places.

The result was a one-time-only pop-up performance featuring original songs, the majority performed in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, celebrating the distinctive sense of place, history and culture of two very special Maui places.

Anthony’s work was incredible, and we were honored to help create the connections and context that made it possible.

Four minutes. Worth the watch.

Mahalo nui, Anthony Anthony Pfluke

09/11/2026

Listening Across Oceans: Story, Memory, and the Making of Memorials
September 18 | 11:00 a.m.
NYU’s building at 20 Cooper Square, New York, NY 10003.

How do communities remember after tragedy? Who gets to tell the story? And how can public art and community dialogue shape memorials that honor both loss and resilience?

Join cultural practitioners, artists, students, government leaders, and memorial professionals for a conversation exploring how memory travels across generations, geographies, and communities. Featuring perspectives from Hawaiʻi, New York, and the evolving Lāhainā Memorial Project, this discussion examines how listening deeply to community voices can help create memorials rooted in truth, belonging, and collective care.

Ideal for students and professionals interested in public history, museums, oral history, Indigenous studies, public art, architecture, design, planning, storytelling, community engagement, and social practice.

All are welcome. RSVP required: mauipublicart.org/nyu

09/10/2026

Details and RSVP at mauipublicart.org/nyu (and bio!)

🎙 11 AM: “Listening Across Oceans: Story, Memory, and the Making of Memorials” panel discussion | NYU’s building at 20 Cooper Square, New York, NY 10003

🎬 6 PM: Hui Mo‘olelo: Lāhainā Film Showcase (featuring a live performance by Leilani Patao) | The Museum of Modern Art’s Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2 at 11 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019

09/09/2026

Details and RSVP at mauipublicart.org/nyu 🤙

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Wailuku, HI
96793

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