Hawaiian Images
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Object numberC0034
TitleHawaiian Images
CreatorSayoko Kay Mura
Descriptionceramic mural
Date1972
Material630-ceramic tile murals
Acquired fromHawaii School for the Deaf and Blind - Library
Credit lineState Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Art in Public Places Collection
Accompanying textTo create her ceramic mural "Hawaiian Images," artist Sayoko Kay Mura visited the Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind almost daily. Mura trained the students to make small ceramic animals. Each of 180 children contributed one clay figure to the mural. Figures were then fitted into the mural on the school's main classroom building. The figures include grass huts, airplanes, seashells, pineapples, crabs, lobsters, King Kamehameha and a ukulele player. "The theme is Hawaiiana, so I tried to pick subjects that were immediate," the artist explains, "We used the outdoors, natural things in the kids' environment. I tried to focus on the subject matter - canoes, fish, birds, flowers - and I encouraged the kids to make tactile things." Mura and potter Duane Caringer then created an ocean and mountain background for the pieces, and installed the mural with advice from tilers at Honolulu Roofing Company. The background weighed about 750 pounds; the students' pieces an additional 100 pounds. The mural delights all children at the school, despite their handicaps. Deaf children enjoy the bright colors. Meanwhile, blind children get a kick out of the texture of the mural, over which they can run their fingers. The Royal Hawaiian Band serenaded the children during the mural's dedication ceremony.