Placemaking is the practice of designing public spaces to foster a sense of community and strengthen the connection between people and places. MKThink incorporates placemaking in their mission to create intelligent places, contributing to people's health, happiness, and well being. See some examples of MKThink’s work here.
Artwork is a placemaking tool for storytelling, inclusion, community engagement, and celebration. In places of learning, the impacts of incorporating community and local artworks such as murals and sculptures reach past aesthetics, reinforcing school values, engaging students and the community, and celebrating different cultures. Hawaii Public Schools are a prime example of how artwork expands education beyond the walls of a classroom and instills a sense of culture and identity in those who use the space.
The Hawaii Department of Education has partnered with the Art in Public Places program and Estria Foundation-funded Mele Murals program to connect local artists and artworks with schools. These projects create spaces that are deeply connected to the history of Hawai’i and serve as a source of pride for youth and the community.
Here are some examples of artworks at Hawai’i Schools:
Jarret Middle School Mural
This mural depicts the rainbow goddess Keānuenue, sister to Kāne and Kanaloa. The students' meditation message presented in the mural is that they have the kuleana (responsibility) to protect and care for their ʻāina and wai (land and water). Keānuenue's thoughtful gaze at our world of lava and sprouting koa (Hawaiian tree) and kalo (a staple plant in Hawaiian culture also known as Taro) shows that everything runs in cycles. Despite past destruction or mismanagement, positive change and new growth are always possible if we embrace our kuleana.
Ali’iolani Elementary School
One of Mele Mural’s largest installations, “Kūkulu Kumuhana”, centers on the theme of “mauka to makai” (mountain to ocean). It highlights the vital role of water flow for life on Oahu and illustrates how ancient Hawaiian farmers in the mountains and fishermen in old Waikiki worked together to support their ecosystem, taking us back to a time before overdevelopment.
The mural's title, “Kūkulu Kumuhana,” means “the pooling of strengths, emotional, psychological, and spiritual, for a shared purpose.” Kūkulu means to build or pile up, kumu is the source or main root, and hana means to work or have an activity.
Kalaheo Elementary School “Talk to Me Sculpture”
The "Talk to ME" sculpture by artist Wayne Zebzda, part of the Art in Public Places program, is located on Kalaheo Elementary School’s campus. Students interact with it daily but rarely contemplate its meaning. "Talk to ME" was created from drawings by Kalaheo Elementary School children. They developed a language of symbols–some obvious and others more personal, like a secret code based on petro-glyphs and other abstract shapes. These symbols were combined into a sculptural collage that, as the artist remarks, “has a meaning that may be known only to its creator.”
Want to know how you can incorporate placemaking into your school to optimize student and community engagement? Contact us here.
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