Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 5, 1 May 2014 — CREATIVE Callings [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CREATIVE Callings

Native arts foundation names its 2014 fellows

By Lynn Cook Four Hawaiian artists were honored for demonstrating excellence in their work. The honor eame with an award that allowed them to create, continue and expand their work within the disciplines of dance, film, literature, music and traditional and visual arts. The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, or NACF, named Keola Beamer, Kaili Chun, Mieah Kamohoali'i and Patrick Makuakāne as 2014 fellows. The four Native Hawaiian artists were among 16AmericanIndian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiians to receive the 2014 award. According to Lulani Arquette, NACF president and CEO, "Since 2010 the foundation has supported 85 Native artists and organizations in 22 states with $1,602,000 in assistance, and we are thrilled with the resulting creativity of the recipients." The fruits of the award and grant nourish not only the artists but the greater community of Hawai'i and those worldwide who are learning to treasure Hawaiian arts. For immediate satisfaction, Patrick Makuakāne brings his San Francis-co-based hālau, Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu, to Hawai'i Theatre, May 9 and 10, presenting Ka Leo Kānaka (Voice ofthe People). He says the combination of his time at home in the islands and the dedication of his hālau, translating over 1,200 pages of Hawaiian language newspapers, inspired his new show. The NACF grant allowed Makuakāne to "eome home, to reconnect with my hula roots and with the land." He made a trip to visit Ke Ahu A Laka, the sacred

heiau, nestled on the northern cliffs of Kaua'i, with a vista of the crashing waves at Kē'ē. The inspiring site is dedicated to Laka, the patron deity of the hula. He had time to be haumana, student, again with his kumu, Robert Cazimero, and to see and enjoy what hālau in the islands were doing. Staying on a high floor of a building gave him what he calls "the physicality of looking a the Ko'olaus and really connecting." Keola Beamer was awarded a

grant that took his music to New Zealand, California, Idaho and Washington state as part of his Mālama KoAloha ( Keep Your Love) concert tour. Beamer and his wife, kumu hula Moanalani Beamer, are known for making friends of their fans, worldwide. Beamer says, "In a world that is increasingly violent, fractious and unforgiving, it is important to try to urge human beings to move in the opposite direction - the way of aloha. Music has the power to do this; to move hearts, to help people think about their behavior." He is known for slack key guitar music that is sweet and soulful, drawn from the heart and soul, through the fingers on the guitar strings. Hānau Ke Ali'i (Born is the Chief) is the hula-drama presenta-

tion that will travel all the Hawaiian Islands and the world, created by kumu hula Mieah Kamohoali'i from Waimea, Hawai'i Island. His NACF grant will allow concerts and presentations in many locations. Kamohoali'i's hālau members are eaeh responsible for making their own kapa. "If they don't make kapa, they don't dance," says the kumu. "When one commits and dedicates oneself to hula, it becomes an enlightened journey of deep understanding into culture and traditions, tapping into ancestral memories." He says the practices heeome part of the dancer and the hālau. The visual artist Kaili Chun is creating a new aesthetic terrain with her mind-bending work. What she says about the grants is, "The support of the NACF is vital

to the growth of indigenous art and the advancement of Native vision." Chun rocked the art community with her installation of structures that transform and bend conventional thought processes. Chun occupied Waimānalo Beach with 8-foot-tall welded sculpture, titled Veritas II, bending light, oeean, sand and the minds of the viewer. None of the work was "permitted" in the Western sense, but made perfect sense in the art world. Her occupation moved from the heaeh to the ii Gallery in Kaka'ako and into the thought process of the eommunity. With the grant, she is experimenting with new materials and working on what she calls more "strong and meaningful works." Chun suggests her audience is ready to participate. The ongoing grant program will offer more regional awards. Arquette, the NACF president, says, "As a continuation of our individual artist fellowships, we are pleased at the support of the Kallipea Foundation, Margaret A. Cargill Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust and others who stepped forward to move the program forward." For information on the programs and grants, visit www.nativeartgrants.org. ■ Lynn Cook i.s a loeal freelance journalist sharing the arts and culture ofHawai 'i with a glohal auāienee.

Patrick Makuakāne, 201 4 NACF Dance Fellow. - Photos: Courtesy ofthe artists

Keola Beamer, 2014 NACF Music Fellow.

201 4 NACF Dance Fellow Mieah Kamohoali'i, seated, and Hālau Na Kīpu'upu'u will launeh their Hānau Ke Ali'i (Born is the Chief) hula drama tour on May 1 6 at Aloha Theatre in Kainaliu Kona. - Courtesy photo byAniku Chong

Veritas II by Kaili Chun, 201 4 NACF Visual Arts Fellow.