KEALAKEHE — As kumu Keala Ching and students chanted “Ahupua‘a o Kealakehe,” a special oli written for the area, a mural honoring the traditional Hawaiian land division was unveiled May 13 at Kealakehe High School.
From cloud-shrouded Hualalai to the ulu belt on her flanks and down to the ocean at Alula, the mural depicts the ahupua‘a that is Kealakehe. It represents the stories of the mauka-makai land division, honoring Hualalai, the spiritual forces, ancestral values, cultural traditions and humanistic pride, to carry on through generations to come.
A collaborative educational effort resulted in the mural that graces the northern facade of Building I. Now, students at Kealakehe High know the ahupua‘a within which their school lies and is named after.
“Just learning the little things about the land we live on, where we call home, is kind of cool,” said sophomore Makayla O’Keefe. “All of it was a good learning experience overall.”
Spearheading the project were teacher Karen Sheff, Ching and Keep It Flowing, an organization that bridges the gap between government, for- and nonprofit agencies providing key messages such as drug prevention, anti-bullying and keiki empowerment via art.
Kenneth Nishimura, Keep It Flowing founder and creative director, said while the organization typically does murals to prevent the use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco, this project fit easily in the organization’s foundation of “awareness through art.”
“Awareness can cross all boundaries; this is just another way of getting the youth to be connected with culture,” Nishimura said. “Once you have identity for yourself and you can have a sense of belonging, that’s when everything starts to make a turn toward the right.”
Sheff said it’s been her dream for a decade to have a mural on the side of the building that contains her classroom. But this project brought so much more than she thought it would.
“… it’s beyond what I dreamt,” she said. “It’s beyond what I dreamt because of all the collaboration that went into it.”
In addition to the work by Ching, Sheff and Keep It Flowing, the mural was made possible through a state Department of Education Hawaii Innovation Grant and Kealakehe High School administration. Supporting the project were Kealakehe students and teachers, the Sheraton Kona Resort and Spa at Keauhou Bay, Kona Town Brand, Akamai Art Supply and Kellee Kubota.
The mural is the third of its kind by Keep It Flowing at the school.
Email Chelsea Jensen at cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com.
