Art@KCC’s members gather together around a bench located at the bottom of ‘Ilima ramp to bring Kay Yogi’s design to life for the bench painting event. (Photo by Bowen Wang)
By Bowen Wang | Staff Writer
Art@KCC, the rebrand of Kapi’olani Community College’s former art club, works to develop a community of artists within KCC. Actively facilitating opportunities for both current and prospective New Media Arts students within the major to connect with one another as written in their mission statement.
One of the past events held by Art@KCC this academic year was the bench painting event. The event, which was held every two weeks on Mondays from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. and started in September and ended in March, was located by ʻIlima ramp next to the cactus garden. The idea behind the bench painting event was drafted during a meeting at Student Congress. The topic of the meeting centered around campus beautification and student engagement within the campus. Fourteen benches located around campus were a point of discussion within the meeting, as they had plans to eventually either renovate or refurbish them.
“Being able to bench paint at KCC has been such a fun and collaborative effort with the art club,” said Keaolani Yogi, a native Hawaiian and Okinawan Student, who painted one bench. “The beautification and student input and individuality into the KCC campus is beneficial not only to student but to the school itself. ”
Some of the first few designs drafted up for the bench painting included an ʻiʻiwi bird (commonly known as the scarlet honeycreeper) designed by Yogi, who is working towards a Bachelor of Arts in Cinematic Arts-Animation at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Yogi is employed as a graphic designer for the University of Hawai‘i and hopes to work in the 2D animation industry with a focus on character design and digital illustration.
Yogi created the design digitally at first with consideration for the bird to be the focal point of its composition.
“Compiling different images from Pinterest, DLNR, and the Maui Forest bird recovery project, I desired to couple the bird with the ʻŌhiʻa lehua branch since both of these beings are intertwined,” said Yogi. “For this bench design, I first wanted to create a design that directly correlated to the islands. Rather than a visually aesthetic piece, I wanted the purpose of the design to serve both as a both a reminder and a symbol.”
Bautista’s design for the bench painting event depicted on a bench, it was created to be the polar opposite of the I ‘iwi bird design depicting a seabird and an ocean view. (Photo by Bowen Wang)
The other designs that were created for the bench painting included a Manu O Kū bird alongside an oceanside view designed by the club president Maya Bautista as well as an iteration of Van Gogh’s famed painting Starry Night. Bautista decided to create the design to continue on Yogi’s theme of Hawaiian endemic birds and on the request of the Pasefika Club, which inspired her to continue on the trend of representing endemic native Hawaiian fauna. The design featured would be the opposite of Yogi’s design as it depicted an ocean scene and seabird.
Yogi saw her ʻiʻiwi bird on the bench as a connection to the struggles of the Native Hawaiians here in Hawaiʻi with more Native Hawaiians living on the mainland than in their home state.
“As a Native Hawaiian, these birds matter and represent not only the struggles of extinction, they face but also the similarities between the dwindling population of Native Hawaiians on island,” Yogi said.
Late into the day Art@KCC work on the bench depicting the ʻiʻiwi bird alongside snacks and brushes provided by members. (Photo by Bowen Wang)
“When people see this bench, I want people to remember that our ʻāina’s native species still need our kōkua to live and prosper,” Yogi said. “I hope this bench will also bring awareness to people who aren’t familiar with the threats the ʻiʻiwi and the ʻōhiʻa lehua (native trees) face.”
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