Animated films preserve Lahaina memories at Queen Kaʻahumanu Center
A still image from an animated film features the voices and memories of Noelle Storer, Kyla Nahoʻoikaika, Trinity Scanlan and Nayah Smith. PC: Maui Public Arts Corps- Trinity Scanlan, (clockwise from upper left) Kyla Nahoʻoikaika, Noelle Storer and Nayah Smith. PC: Maui Public Arts Corps
- An animated film image features Tom Fujita and Dean Tokishi. PC: Maui Public Arts Corps
- Tom Fujita and Dean Tokishi. PC: Maui Public Arts Corp
- An image from one of four animated films with the voice and memories of Uncle Cornelio Bancaco Jr. PC: Maui Public Arts Corps
Maui Public Art Corps in collaboration with Maui County’s Public Art Program will unveil four animated short films preserving Lahaina memories on Aug. 27 at Queen Kaʻahumanu Center to support long-term community recovery following the 2023 wildfires.
Award-winning artist Richard O’Connor created the “Perfect Days” collection. The short films feature the voices of nine Lahaina storytellers sharing family traditions and community relationships.
“Visualizing moments from their lives has been a community endeavor, with families, neighbors and experts contributing fragments which we’ve pieced together like a moving mosaic of Lahaina,” O’Connor said.
The project emerged from Hui Moʻolelo: Lahaina. The Lahaina Restoration Foundation helped develop the community storytelling initiative in response to the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires.
The project was supported by community consultants whose expertise grounded the artwork in cultural knowledge, environmental understanding and a true sense of place.
Kaliko Storer, Hui Moʻolelo mentor, supported the cohort’s focus on how community values and behaviors shape Lahaina’s future. Cultural consultant Sissy Lake-Farm guided the integration of ʻŌlelo Noʻeau and Hawaiian knowledge systems. Isaac Bancaco ensured visual accuracy in the representation of Lahaina’s landscape, while hydrologist Chris Shuler connected the stories to the watershed systems that sustain the community.
“Science and art are both vehicles for storytelling,” Shuler said. “By looking at our water systems, we see how everything is connected from the mountains to the sea – mauka to makai, and how our actions on the land impact the health of our reefs.”
The Lahaina Think Space will host the films on individual screens with dedicated headphones. Organizers extended the traveling installation’s run at Queen Kaʻahumanu Center through September.
Maui artist Jana Ireijo will lead an Artist in Residence program at the space during August and September. Her work, “Reverse Vanishing Mural,” is inspired by Louis Garcia III’s story about catching a 92-pound ulua off Wahikuli Beach. She plans to create a large ulua mural covered by an ephemeral chalk-and-pastel wave that visitors will gradually reveal through a participatory process.
Maui Public Art Corps will take the Lahaina Think Space to New York University in September 2026. A public program there will explore memorialization and coincide with the 25-year anniversary of 9/11.
Hui Moʻolelo: Lahaina responds to the mental health and wellness impacts of the wildfires through culturally grounded, trauma-informed storytelling. The initiative trains community story gatherers in psychological first aid and ethical story-gathering practices, creating opportunities for residents to share memories, grief, knowledge and hopes for the future.
The program is provided through additional support by the Maui Recovery Funders Collaborative, including the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund and Maui United Way.
The public can visit the installation in Kahului on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Sept. 10. Organizers scheduled additional hours from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays between Aug. 27 and Sept. 7.
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