The Public Art Podcast

This recording is part of Hui Mo‘olelo: Lahaina, our 2025–2026 gathering of richly detailed talk-story recordings created to inform future public artwork, support collective healing, and provide trusted, community-informed guidance for the Lahaina Memorial Project. Here, public art administrator Kelly McHugh-White sits down with Lahaina native Rae Kahaialiʻi to reflect on the vision and responsibility of memorializing the devastating Maui wildfires. Grounded in an initial consultation with Nā Kūpuna o Lahaina, who have emphasized that the Memorial must be a place of remembering and not recreation, and must be led by the land and informed by direct engagement with families, the dialogue explores how a memorial can honor those who perished while acknowledging the unrecorded grief carried by the wider community. Together, they consider how a memorial might move beyond monumentality to become a space of humility, inclusion, and shared healing that resists division and supports Lahaina’s collective identity as the community shapes the next chapter of its history with care for future generations.

Recorded 10/13/25 in Wailuku, HI
The goal of the Hui Mo‘olelo program is to capture an authentic moment of connection through stories that are embedded in a Hawai‘i sense of place. As participants complete our immersive storytelling workshop, each identify a partner to engage in an audio-recorded talk-story that captures these connective moments. These recordings become the basis for annual requests for proposals to interpret as a work of public art in collaboration with community members. Proposals are selected by a community panel, followed by an intensive learning and cultural exchange that is rooted in specific places throughout Maui County.
Representing a wide range of special places and stories, the collection is available for your research, enjoyment, memory or inspiration at https://www.mauipublicart.org/hui-moolelo.html.

Recorded 10/16/25 at the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission government office in Wailuku 
The goal of the Hui Mo‘olelo program is to capture an authentic moment of connection through stories that are embedded in a Hawai‘i sense of place. As participants complete our immersive storytelling workshop, each identify a partner to engage in an audio-recorded talk-story that captures these connective moments. These recordings become the basis for annual requests for proposals to interpret as a work of public art in collaboration with community members. Proposals are selected by a community panel, followed by an intensive learning and cultural exchange that is rooted in specific places throughout Maui County.
Representing a wide range of special places and stories, the collection is available for your research, enjoyment, memory or inspiration at https://www.mauipublicart.org/hui-moolelo.html.

Recorded 10/7/25 in Wailuku
The goal of the Hui Mo‘olelo program is to capture an authentic moment of connection through stories that are embedded in a Hawai‘i sense of place. As participants complete our immersive storytelling workshop, each identify a partner to engage in an audio-recorded talk-story that captures these connective moments. These recordings become the basis for annual requests for proposals to interpret as a work of public art in collaboration with community members. Proposals are selected by a community panel, followed by an intensive learning and cultural exchange that is rooted in specific places throughout Maui County.
Representing a wide range of special places and stories, the collection is available for your research, enjoyment, memory or inspiration at https://www.mauipublicart.org/hui-moolelo.html.

Recorded 10/6/25 in Wailuku
The goal of the Hui Mo‘olelo program is to capture an authentic moment of connection through stories that are embedded in a Hawai‘i sense of place. As participants complete our immersive storytelling workshop, each identify a partner to engage in an audio-recorded talk-story that captures these connective moments. These recordings become the basis for annual requests for proposals to interpret as a work of public art in collaboration with community members. Proposals are selected by a community panel, followed by an intensive learning and cultural exchange that is rooted in specific places throughout Maui County.
Representing a wide range of special places and stories, the collection is available for your research, enjoyment, memory or inspiration at https://www.mauipublicart.org/hui-moolelo.html.

Recorded 10/3/25 in Pāʻia
The goal of the Hui Mo‘olelo program is to capture an authentic moment of connection through stories that are embedded in a Hawai‘i sense of place. As participants complete our immersive storytelling workshop, each identify a partner to engage in an audio-recorded talk-story that captures these connective moments. These recordings become the basis for annual requests for proposals to interpret as a work of public art in collaboration with community members. Proposals are selected by a community panel, followed by an intensive learning and cultural exchange that is rooted in specific places throughout Maui County.
Representing a wide range of special places and stories, the collection is available for your research, enjoyment, memory or inspiration at https://www.mauipublicart.org/hui-moolelo.html.

Recorded 10/4/25 at Akule Hale in Hana
The goal of the Hui Mo‘olelo program is to capture an authentic moment of connection through stories that are embedded in a Hawai‘i sense of place. As participants complete our immersive storytelling workshop, each identify a partner to engage in an audio-recorded talk-story that captures these connective moments. These recordings become the basis for annual requests for proposals to interpret as a work of public art in collaboration with community members. Proposals are selected by a community panel, followed by an intensive learning and cultural exchange that is rooted in specific places throughout Maui County.
Representing a wide range of special places and stories, the collection is available for your research, enjoyment, memory or inspiration at https://www.mauipublicart.org/hui-moolelo.html.

Recorded 10/4/25 at Akule Hale in Hana
The goal of the Hui Mo‘olelo program is to capture an authentic moment of connection through stories that are embedded in a Hawai‘i sense of place. As participants complete our immersive storytelling workshop, each identify a partner to engage in an audio-recorded talk-story that captures these connective moments. These recordings become the basis for annual requests for proposals to interpret as a work of public art in collaboration with community members. Proposals are selected by a community panel, followed by an intensive learning and cultural exchange that is rooted in specific places throughout Maui County.
Representing a wide range of special places and stories, the collection is available for your research, enjoyment, memory or inspiration at https://www.mauipublicart.org/hui-moolelo.html.