Kapa‘a High School Art Club refreshes market mural in Kapahi

The Kapa‘a High School Art Club recently refreshed a mural located at Aloha Island Mart Kapahi.

About a dozen students spent five days creating new pieces to complement the existing mural that was done by the middle and high school in 2013.

The project was conducted in a partnership with Aloha Petroleum.

“We’re so appreciative of the Kapa‘a High School Art Club and their efforts to help us beautify our Aloha Island Mart in Kapahi,” said Casie Bui, director, sales operations and marketing for Aloha Petroleum. “The kids did amazing.”

The purpose of the original mural was to bring a more family-friendly vibe to the market and to invite middle and high school students to make a pledge not to drink or smoke underage. The middle school students painted imagery within circular areas and the high school students made their pledges by creating a handprint in the center and signing their names.

“It was awesome for our students to have the opportunity to showcase their talents and reflect our community in this mural,” said Vanessa Owens, Kapa‘a High School art instructor. “This was a great experience for them.”

With the refresh, the design direction was to add elements representative of the location: Kealia, King Kong, and Sleeping Giant, among other local landmarks. The background is painted purple to represent Kauai’s color. The mountain on the right is King Kong, in the center is Makaleha (Kapahi’s most important landmark), and Sleeping Giant is on the right. In the center is the sunrise at Kealia beach framed by a rainbow. The sun and rainbow in the center were inspired by illustrations in the 2013 mural.

The patterns of waves and triangles have layered meaning. Both symbols appear in the 2013 mural. The waves are a symbol of makai (water) but also the waves are inspired by the patterns on the Aloha Island Mart team members’ shirts. The triangles symbolize mauka (mountain) but are also a symbol of Kapa, like Kapa cloth, which is a community activity and symbol of working together. The pineapples represent the plantation days of what used to be in this area. Ti, kalo, and banana are included as a reflection of important traditional or native plants. They also juxtaposed the state bird, the nene, with the beloved rooster.

Aloha Petroleum provided the students with snacks and refreshments. The company also primed the wall and will apply a protective coating layer.