Mākena Golf & Beach Club to host Ua Ikea fundraising dinner, May 24, 2025

Mākena Golf & Beach Club is proud to announce “‘Ua Ikea: The Revelatory Power of Art and Native Species,” an exclusive fundraising farm dinner on Saturday, May 24, 2025.

This special dinner aims to celebrate and support two organizations: Maui Nui Botanical Gardens and Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Center. Each will be recognized for their efforts in nurturing connections to Hawaiʻi’s natural ecosystems through artistic expression and stewardship of native species.

Fundraiser registrations are now open at MākenaInfo.com and the respective websites of Maui Nui Botanical Gardens and Hui No’eau with limited seating available.  

Guests will enjoy a memorable evening featuring exquisite local cuisine, refreshments, and live performances by Marja Lehua Apisaloma, singer and musician, as well as producer and musician, Wailau Ryder, amidst breathtaking views of Puʻu Ōlaʻi and Kahoʻolawe.  

“Ua Ikea can be interpreted as something is known, seen, or has appeared. A phrase that can be found closing particular Hawaiʻi chants, use of ua ikea affirms that all that has been chanted about is already manifested,” said Leahi Hall, Mākena Golf & Beach Club’s Community Engagement Director. “We are greatly inspired by the work of Maui Nui Botanical Gardens, Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Center, and our Mākena ʻŌiwi Resources & Stewardship Department to bring our native plants back into spaces where we can see and know them again, where we can exclaim ʻua ikea.ʻ We invite our community to celebrate and further support these important community organizations in restoring and expressing ecosystem wellbeing.” 

“Mākena Golf & Beach Club has long been a supporter of organizations working to protect and promote native Hawaiian plants. Maui Nui Botanical Gardens is excited to be a part of the Ua Ikea benefit dinner celebrating the intersection of art and native species; Hawaiian ethnobotany is a core focus for everything we do,” said Executive Director of Maui Nui Botanical Gardens, Tamara Sherrill. 

“We are deeply grateful to Mākena Golf & Beach Club for including Hui Noʻeau in the Ua Ikea benefit dinner, celebrating the revelatory power of art and native species. At Hui Noʻeau, we believe art is the soul of our community—preserving culture, telling our stories, and uniting us in ways that inspire, heal, and strengthen our connection to each other and the world around us,” said Executive Director of Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Center, Anne-Marie Forsythe. 

For more information and to register, visit: MakenaInfo.com, Maui Nui Botanical Gardens, or Hui Noʻeau .