Partnerships fund more public art on Maui

A nonprofit organization helping to revive Wailuku Town through a grant by the National Endowment for the Arts has announced a request to artists for proposals and is expanding on its “Small Town*Big Art” initiative.

Through the support of new grant partnerships made in connection with Maui Public Art Corps, a collective is now expanding work into additional neighborhoods throughout the county, which includes the islands of Maui, Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi and Kahoʻolawe.

Details regarding the initiative’s process, application criteria, budget and more are available at www.smalltownbig.org/rfp. Applications close at 7:59 p.m. HST (11:59 p.m. in mountain time zone in Denver, Colorado) on Aug. 15, 2022.

Upon panel selection, artists will be invited to create a collaborative work of public art, including performance, visual or experiential works, with community members that aligns with ‘ōlelo from Mary Kawena Pukui’s ‘Ōlelo No‘eau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Political Sayings.

This year, the collective is seeking artists to bring a collection of pre-recorded Maui stories to life through a work of public art.

There are three separate categories from which applicants may choose:

• Performances & Public Art Inspired by Maui Storytellers, in which applicants select from a menu of audio recording excerpts and describe how they will bring it to life as a work of performance, visual or experiential public art. Up to six artists will be selected to participate in this category, which was inspired by previous work with Leilehua Yuen, StoryCorps DIY and Ball State University.
• Kahului Mural, in which applicants describe how they will translate one or more stories into a large-scale mural that is rooted in a Kahului sense of place.
• Lānaʻi Story Animations, in which applicants will interpret one-to-three Lānaʻi-recorded stories into short, animated films that utilize the recordings as a soundtrack.