INhonolulu Magazine Issue #14 - February 2014 | Page 2

POW! WOW! 2014 Guide
Visiting Artists:

123Klan, Aaron De La Cruz, Apex, Andrew
Schoultz, Bask, Brendan Monroe, Cope2, Cyrcle,
Dabs Myla, Dave Kinsey, Defer, Gage Hamilton, Gaia, Glenn Barr, Hanasaurusrex, Hannah
Stouffer, Indie 184, INSA, Inti, Jeff Hamada, Jessie
Unterhalter, Katey Truhn, Know Hope, Kofie,
Lady Aiko, Madsteez, Meggs, Mimi Pond, Norm,
Nychos, Persue, Reach, Reka, Roids, Ron English,
Seth Globepainter, Skinner, Spencer Keeton
Cunningham, Tatiana Suarez, Tristan Eaton, Vhils,
Wayne White.

Local Artists:

Courtesy POW! WOW! Hawai‘i

POW! WOW! Hawai‘i:
Celebrating the process
01
Richard Melendez

I

met Christa Wittmier outside of
Lana Lane Studios, an unassuming
space located down a narrow path,
sandwiched between two warehouses.
Introductions are barely out of the way
when she’s already abuzz telling me
about her hectic schedule. We take a seat
at a picnic table outside the Kaka‘ako studio, and as the conversation turns more
specifically towards POW! WOW!, what
seemed initially to be someone overwhelmed by stress turns to someone
filled with an almost giddy excitement.
This was someone who enjoyed her job.
Christa is one of the board members
for POW! WOW! Hawai‘i, and also
works as a senior marketing director, a
writer and DJ, I learn (wearing multiple
hats seems to be commonplace in creative fields, this writer included). She’s
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About the cover photo:
Ikaika Hussey took
this great shot of a
mural-in-the-works
from 2013’s POW!
WOW! Hawai‘i event.
The purple goes
especially well with
the signature “INhon
orange” and the
“neon aqua” of this
year’s POW! WOW!
been involved with POW! WOW! Hawai‘i since the beginning, and was actually present, as a guest, at the very first
POW! WOW! in Hong Kong. She was
introduced to the organizer, award-winning artist Jasper Wong, a few months
earlier at The Manifest in Honolulu
through a mutual friend, and was immediately taken in by his plans for an artist
event he was organizing in Hong Kong.
It was a timely meeting, as Wittmier realized that she hadn’t taken a vacation

Alina Kawai, Beak, Bother, Buff Monster, Chris
Broy, Ckaweeks, Danny King, Davesaction,
Devour, Dmize, Dzine, East3, Ekundayo, ENDR,
Estria, Eukarezt, Evolve1, Gene, Graffricky, Jasper
Wong, Jeffrey Gress, Jesse Velasquez, Justin Park,
Kai Kaulukukui, Kamea Hadar, Katch, Lucky,
Lucky Olelo, Maek, Matthew Ortiz, Maui, Mr.
Destructo, Mung Monster, Oera, Ohana, Peonu,
Prime, Puff, Quest, Remi Mead, Roxanne Ortiz,
Soker, Slick, Solomon Enos, Tonk, TSG, Unomas,
Whomu, Woes Martin, Zhi Hao Situ.

Music Artists:

Aly Ishikuni, Anton Glamb, Deejay Packo, The
Green, Massfunk, Mr. JPatt, Osna, Paula Fuga.

Schedule:

Ikaika Hussey
in some time, and had a little money to
burn, so a few months later she was on a
plane to this mythical “fragrant harbor.”
One of the POW! WOW! Hong Kong
events that she attended was a “paint jam”
in a garage where Jasper and another artist, Wu Yue, were playing off of each other, creating large works of art on the walls
while onlookers watched and cheered
them on. At some point, the artists began
using a lot more black lines, and those
lines were getting thicker and thicker

“POW! WOW!: Exploring the New Contemporary Art Movement.”
Honolulu Museum of Art School, 111
Victoria St.
Sat., Feb. 8, 6–10pm
An exhibition curated by Andrew Hosner from
Thinkspace, on display through Saturday, Feb.
15. Featuring 2’ x 2’ works, some by this year’s
guest artists, such as Andrew Schoultz, Brendan
Monroe, Dabs Myla, Jeff Hamada, Know Hope,
Madsteez, Seth Globepainter, Spencer Keeton
Cunningham and Tatiana Suarez.
“Artists in Action”
Mon., Feb. 10,–Sat., Feb. 15
Beginning Monday afternoon, you can tour
Kaka‘ako and watch the artists painting their
murals. If you’re an art aficionado, we highly

recommend you walk through the neighborhood
and interact with them.
“The Legend of Cool ‘Disco’ Dan,’ presented
by executive producer Roger Gastman”
Doris Duke Theatre, Honolulu Museum of
Art, 900 S Beretania St.
Mon., Feb. 10, 7pm
$8–10
A screening of the documentary, about the
graffiti tagger who flourished during Washington, D.C.’s fervent cultural and political scenes of
the 1980s.
“Traktor Workshop with ENDO”
Fresh Café and Loft in Space, 831 Queen St.
Wed., Feb. 12, Noon–4pm
$30 (lunch included)
See “OMG it’s ENDO,” page 4 for details.
“Art and media lectures”
Fresh Café and Loft in Space
Wed., Feb. 12, 6–8pm
Free, all ages.
“Music lectures and panels”
Fresh Café and Loft in Space
Thurs., Feb. 13, 6–8pm
Free, all ages.
“1XRun and Pangea Seed print and toy
exhibition party”
Fresh Café and Loft in Space
Fri., Feb. 14, 6–10pm
Free, all ages.
Featuring rare and original prints from POW!
WOW! Hawaii artists. Runs through the 15th.
“POW! WOW! finale block party”
Auahi St.
Sat., Feb. 15, 6pm–midnight
Free, all ages.
POW! WOW! official afterparty
M Nightclub, 500 Ala Moana Blvd.
Sun., Feb. 16, Midnight–4am (right after the
block party)
21+

until they started covering up the works
they’d just spent hours working on. By the
end, everything was blacked out.
The crowd went wild.
At first Christa was confused, but the
minutes passed, the cheerin g continued
and she rode the vibe of the crowd. She
got it. Because as she puts it, POW!
WOW! is about highlighting the process of creation; not just the final result.
That was in February of 2010. After
that first POW! WOW!, Christa spent
some time trying to convince Jasper to
bring the event to Hawai‘i. He had just
moved to Hong Kong and wasn’t too
keen on coming back so soon, but she
pressed on, and eventually Jasper wrote
up a proposal for a Hawai‘i-centric version of POW! WOW! Christa shopped
it around to friends and people in the
artistic community to get their feedback.
Tiffany Tanaka, owner of Fresh Cafe,
and current POW! WOW! Hawai‘i
board member, was one the people that
Christa spoke to, and she was quickly supportive of the concept. Then one
night at The Manifest (apparently a great
place to meet people), Kamea Hadar, another artist and current POW! WOW!
board member, approached Christa,
having heard through the grapevine
that she was trying to organize an artistic venture. Before too long, Jasper flew
back to Hawai‘i, he met with Kamea and
others to build up support, and in Christa’s words, things fell into place. The second POW! WOW! event, and the first in
Hawai‘i, took place in February 2011.
Today, POW! WOW! Hawai‘i has, in
a sense, become the face of Kaka‘ako. Almost everybody has taken notice of the
colorful, and often surreal murals that
grace the once staid walls in the neighborhood, whether or not they’re tuned
into the local arts scene or have even
heard of POW! WOW! Hawai‘i. Beginning with the murals adorning the Fresh
Cafe on Queen Street, the crew knew
that it had to be bigger, and thus they
went door to door, got community buyin on the concept, and got permission
for artists to paint even more buildings
in the area. Students and community

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