Background
In 1984, Maui OnStage lost their home at the Old Kahului Fairgrounds Territorial Building to an act of arson and moved into Wailuku Town’s ʻĪao Theater. The historic theater was purchased by the County of Maui in 1994, significantly renovated, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
Over the next 30 years, numerous arts and community organizations have called this Wailuku space their performance and gathering home, including Maui Chamber Orchestra, Maui Choral Arts Association, Maui Pops Orchestra, Maui Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and many others.
In the year 2000, the Maui County Planning Department prepared the Wailuku Redevelopment Plan: The Economic Revitalization of Maui County’s Civic Center report for the Maui Redevelopment Agency. It noted an exciting time in Wailuku Town’s history as new investments, regulatory reform and the renovation of historic buildings were planned, which cumulatively presented significant opportunity for the Town’s revitalization. Providing specific actions to foster an economic renaissance throughout the 68-acre Wailuku Redevelopment Area, the plan emphasized streetscape beautification, infrastructure and parking upgrades, regulatory reform and targeted tax incentives with key elements that included street lighting, expanded parking capacity and developing new visitor attractions.
As plans progressed over time, community members pushed for further detail regarding the creation of new economic drivers, preserving open space and highlighting the cultural history of the community, as highlighted in the 2012 reWailuku workshop summary report. These needs were aligned with the original vision set forth in the 2000 Wailuku Redevelopment Plan, which reads:
“Wailuku’s commercial core will have an abundance of life, color and vitality that reflect the Town’s history and culture. The Town will be alive with local music, hula, arts and crafts. A variety of ethnic cuisine, bentos and pupu will be available. Seasonal vendors, outdoor exhibits, flower and produce markets, artists and musicians will provide a roster of events that draw local residents and visitors throughout the day and evening. Community festivals and special events will promote the area’s traditions. Wailuku will be a comfortable place to “talk story” with friends, neighbors, and visitors.”
In 2017, seven of Waluku Town’s core performing arts entities – including the now 48-year old Maui Academy of Performing Arts – organized as the Wailuku Performing Arts Alliance with a goal to enrich the lives of Maui residents and visitors in partnership with the Wailuku Community Association and the County of Maui. A key objective of this collective effort became coordinating annual events and programs with one another in order to avoid duplication as well as participation ebbs and flows as Wailuku capital improvement projects began implementation.
That same year, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded one of 60 national Our Town grants to the County of Maui in partnership with Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House/ Maui Historical Society to design and test a pilot public art initiative that would help determine Wailuku’s capacity for and interest in becoming an arts district – which is defined as “a mixed use area in a community with high concentration of cultural facilities and operations aimed to promote cultural activity and economic growth.”
As the town was set to implement its three-phase Wailuku Town Improvement Project, this prestigious grant partnership was timely.
The outcomes of that initiative, known today as SMALL TOWN * BIG ART, (named for the Wailuku Town motto: Small Town, Big Heart), have included active collaboration by each aforementioned entity; outdoor public and private space activation through dozens of participatory art installations; remarkable community engagement to ensure all public artworks represent the history, culture and sense of place of Wailuku; a new 501c3 – Maui Public Art Corps – that is working to establish a countywide percent for art program; and new grant funds by the National Endowment for the Arts to develop this Wailuku Arts District Management Plan.
Through 2022 monthly convenings of Wailuku-based arts programs, businesses and cultural practitioner representatives; a community driven situational analysis and needs assessment; and ongoing research, development and consultation by nationwide arts district resources, the Wailuku Arts District Management Plan will provide a Wailuku Arts District asset map, goals and objectives, management structure, budget and funding recommendations for review by the County of Maui in December 2022.
This massive effort to coordinate facility and public space planning, management, maintenance and collaborative programming will result in an interconnected destination that maximizes the public’s opportunities to experience, learn and celebrate the arts.
As a dynamic center of arts innovation for Maui County and beyond, the Wailuku Arts District is a vibrant environment – a place to inspire and be inspired, to experience the creative process, and to appreciate artists of every medium. The Wailuku Arts District reflects a colorful, artist-centered community that touts the highest concentration of working artists in the County, where everyone can feel creativity flow throughout its businesses, restaurants, artist studios, and re-imagined, underused spaces. As a County-appointed arts district, it is home to spaces for local artists, designers, cultural practitioners and makers where each person can experience firsthand how art happens; experience art and architecture reflecting Wailuku’s multicultural and historical roots; engage with fellow community members and visitors at any number of shops, restaurants, or lounges; participate in a class at any level of experience; take in the expansive and continually evolving public art collection through SMALL TOWN * BIG ART or enjoy a performance by Maui OnStage, Maui Academy of Performing Arts, Maui Chamber Orchestra, Maui Choral Arts Association, Maui Pops Orchestra, Maui Youth Philharmonic Orchestra – or any number of partnering groups that come to Wailuku to share their work. With the establishment of Wailuku Arts District, the world will come to know that this is the place where art lives.
Over the next 30 years, numerous arts and community organizations have called this Wailuku space their performance and gathering home, including Maui Chamber Orchestra, Maui Choral Arts Association, Maui Pops Orchestra, Maui Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and many others.
In the year 2000, the Maui County Planning Department prepared the Wailuku Redevelopment Plan: The Economic Revitalization of Maui County’s Civic Center report for the Maui Redevelopment Agency. It noted an exciting time in Wailuku Town’s history as new investments, regulatory reform and the renovation of historic buildings were planned, which cumulatively presented significant opportunity for the Town’s revitalization. Providing specific actions to foster an economic renaissance throughout the 68-acre Wailuku Redevelopment Area, the plan emphasized streetscape beautification, infrastructure and parking upgrades, regulatory reform and targeted tax incentives with key elements that included street lighting, expanded parking capacity and developing new visitor attractions.
As plans progressed over time, community members pushed for further detail regarding the creation of new economic drivers, preserving open space and highlighting the cultural history of the community, as highlighted in the 2012 reWailuku workshop summary report. These needs were aligned with the original vision set forth in the 2000 Wailuku Redevelopment Plan, which reads:
“Wailuku’s commercial core will have an abundance of life, color and vitality that reflect the Town’s history and culture. The Town will be alive with local music, hula, arts and crafts. A variety of ethnic cuisine, bentos and pupu will be available. Seasonal vendors, outdoor exhibits, flower and produce markets, artists and musicians will provide a roster of events that draw local residents and visitors throughout the day and evening. Community festivals and special events will promote the area’s traditions. Wailuku will be a comfortable place to “talk story” with friends, neighbors, and visitors.”
In 2017, seven of Waluku Town’s core performing arts entities – including the now 48-year old Maui Academy of Performing Arts – organized as the Wailuku Performing Arts Alliance with a goal to enrich the lives of Maui residents and visitors in partnership with the Wailuku Community Association and the County of Maui. A key objective of this collective effort became coordinating annual events and programs with one another in order to avoid duplication as well as participation ebbs and flows as Wailuku capital improvement projects began implementation.
That same year, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded one of 60 national Our Town grants to the County of Maui in partnership with Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House/ Maui Historical Society to design and test a pilot public art initiative that would help determine Wailuku’s capacity for and interest in becoming an arts district – which is defined as “a mixed use area in a community with high concentration of cultural facilities and operations aimed to promote cultural activity and economic growth.”
As the town was set to implement its three-phase Wailuku Town Improvement Project, this prestigious grant partnership was timely.
The outcomes of that initiative, known today as SMALL TOWN * BIG ART, (named for the Wailuku Town motto: Small Town, Big Heart), have included active collaboration by each aforementioned entity; outdoor public and private space activation through dozens of participatory art installations; remarkable community engagement to ensure all public artworks represent the history, culture and sense of place of Wailuku; a new 501c3 – Maui Public Art Corps – that is working to establish a countywide percent for art program; and new grant funds by the National Endowment for the Arts to develop this Wailuku Arts District Management Plan.
Through 2022 monthly convenings of Wailuku-based arts programs, businesses and cultural practitioner representatives; a community driven situational analysis and needs assessment; and ongoing research, development and consultation by nationwide arts district resources, the Wailuku Arts District Management Plan will provide a Wailuku Arts District asset map, goals and objectives, management structure, budget and funding recommendations for review by the County of Maui in December 2022.
This massive effort to coordinate facility and public space planning, management, maintenance and collaborative programming will result in an interconnected destination that maximizes the public’s opportunities to experience, learn and celebrate the arts.
As a dynamic center of arts innovation for Maui County and beyond, the Wailuku Arts District is a vibrant environment – a place to inspire and be inspired, to experience the creative process, and to appreciate artists of every medium. The Wailuku Arts District reflects a colorful, artist-centered community that touts the highest concentration of working artists in the County, where everyone can feel creativity flow throughout its businesses, restaurants, artist studios, and re-imagined, underused spaces. As a County-appointed arts district, it is home to spaces for local artists, designers, cultural practitioners and makers where each person can experience firsthand how art happens; experience art and architecture reflecting Wailuku’s multicultural and historical roots; engage with fellow community members and visitors at any number of shops, restaurants, or lounges; participate in a class at any level of experience; take in the expansive and continually evolving public art collection through SMALL TOWN * BIG ART or enjoy a performance by Maui OnStage, Maui Academy of Performing Arts, Maui Chamber Orchestra, Maui Choral Arts Association, Maui Pops Orchestra, Maui Youth Philharmonic Orchestra – or any number of partnering groups that come to Wailuku to share their work. With the establishment of Wailuku Arts District, the world will come to know that this is the place where art lives.
