2023 Maui Strong Fundraiser
August 2023 - January 2024
On August 8, 2023, fires swept through and leveled my mom's childhood hometown of Lahaina, Maui. Heartbroken by the destruction and loss of life, I was incited into action and created a line of stickers, art prints, and original drawings to sell in my Etsy shop. All proceeds would go towards the Hawaii Community Foundation's Maui Strong Fund, which provides financial resources to support the immediate and long-term recovery needs for the people and places affected by the wildfires. A total of over $1500 was raised from sales and donated to the Maui Strong Fund, with the fundraiser running from August to January 2024.
Visual Inspiration
The phrase "Maui Nō Ka ʻOi", or "Maui is the best", dates back hundreds of years with the Hawaiian tradition of chants boasting about the island of Maui.
Maui's official flower, the lokelani rose, or "heavenly rose" in Hawaiian, represents the beauty, elegance, and soft yet enduring spirit of the island and its people.
The Lahaina Banyan Tree stands today as a poetic symbol of the town's resilience, having survived the fires and recovered its verdant green canopy.
Sketches
Stickers
Using the deep pink hue of the lokelani rose, I created 35 sticker designs. Stickers were the most popular item ordered, with some buyers buying in bulk, which challenged me to improve production efficiency, as I printed and cut them all at home.
Watercolor Painting and Art Print
The Lahaina Banyan Tree stands 60 feet tall in the Lahaina Banyan Court park, with 16 trunks and a canopy stretching over an area of 0.66 acres. While the tree was badly damaged in the wildfires, through its resilience and consistent restoration efforts it has recovered beautifully, a poetic parallel to the resilience and strength of Lahaina and its people.
In early 2022, I had the privilege of visiting Lahaina and walking under the shade of the tree's sprawling branches. After the fires, I was inspired to depict this memory of sunlight dancing through the tree's canopy in an 8"x10" watercolor illustration, which I subsequently sold as an art print to help raise funds.
Original Ink Drawings
In addition to the stickers and art print, I drew two original ink drawings on 5"x7" postcards depicting the lokelani rose.
Testimonials
Over $1500 was raised in total from selling stickers and artwork and donated directly to the Hawaii Community Foundation, with a few orders coming from Lahaina itself.
