2018 National Artist Fellow and Grammy Winner Kalani Pe’a tours the West Coast
NACF 2018 National Artist Fellow and singer/songwriter Kalani Pe’a calls himself a millennial Hawaiian who loves to write Hawaiian music with his own innovative twist.
Marques Hanalei Marzan
Fiber artist Marques Hanalei Marzan has dedicated his career to continual exploration, perpetuation, and innovation around Native Hawaiian arts.
Pōhaku Kaho`ohanohano
Pōhaku Hano Kaho`ohanohano, a practitioner and preservationist of traditional Native Hawaiian weaving, weaves and teaches from his studio on family land in Kahakuloa.
Ciara Leina`ala Lacy
Filmmaker Ciara Leina`ala Lacy (Kanaka Maoli) is driven by her commitment to social justice, representation, and Native Hawaiian culture.
Jeff Peterson
Jeff Peterson is a slack key guitarist, composer, and educator. He studies and shares the rich history of Hawaiian music across generations.
Kalani Pe’a
Kalani Pe’a is a songwriter and vocalist who celebrates his Native Hawaiian language and heritage through music and visual arts.
Deva Leinani Aiko Yamashiro, Governor’s Heritage Award Recipient 2017
NACF staff and board members honored the legacy of Deva Leinani Aiko Yamashiro who was one of the recipients of this year’s Washington State Governor’s Arts & Heritage Award. The award ceremony was held on November 14 at the Museum...
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The Story of Everything – A Provocative Multimedia Exploration of How We Came to Be
The Story of Everything -San Rafael, Ca. On October 22, the production of The Story of Everything was performed to a sold out house at the Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, Calif. The performance is an epic poem created by...
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The Story of Everything – Where Do We Go From Here?
The Story of Everything is the culmination of Hawaii Poet Laureate Kealoha’s lifetime work, as he puts it himself. It is an original creation story that starts with the Big Bang Theory (Kealoha graduate in Nuclear Physics from MIT) and...
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Native Artists Honored as 2017 Heritage Fellows by National Endowment for the Arts
Washington, DC— Across the United States there are traditional art forms that shape our culture and make our communities distinct, whether it’s conjunto music in Texas, old-time buckdancing in Tennessee, or Chilkat weaving in Alaska. For the past 35 years,...
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National Endowment for the Arts Announces Project Support for NACF
More Than $82 Million Awarded for Arts Projects Nationwide Includes $15,000 awarded to Native Arts and Cultures Foundation [Vancouver, WA]—National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $82 million to fund local arts projects across the...
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‘The Story of Everything’ In California
Updated August 31, 2017 With support through the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation's Community Inspiration Program, and our friends at the innovative non-profit Bioneers, Hawaii Poet Laureate Kealoha Wong will perform the full production of The Story of Everything with...
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NACF Fellows Honored as United States Artists Fellows
Each year, United States Artists (USA) awards $50,000 fellowships to the country’s most accomplished and innovative artists working in the fields of Architecture & Design, Crafts, Dance, Literature, Media, Music, Theater & Performance, Traditional Arts and Visual Arts. USA Fellows…
Mark Keali`i Ho`omalu
Mark Keali`i Ho`omalu creates groundbreaking dance and chant driven by his love and passion for hula.
Conversations on Hula
“Our people can’t live without hula and hula cannot live without our people.” 2015 NACF Fellow Vicky Takamine and Kahikina de Silva recently talked to Americans for the Arts about their deep commitment to keeping Hawaiian culture alive, and passing…
Aaron J. Sala
Composer and musician Aaron J. Salā is known for his exquisite melody and bel canto legato.
Where Do We Come From?
A fusion of talent and energy came together in the sold-out world premiere of The Story of Everything (TSOE) in Honolulu, Hawai`i on September 26, 2015. Kealoha, an award winning spoken word poet and a graduate of MIT with a degree in nuclear physics, led the effort. The theatre, filled with a community of mothers and babies, students, and young adults to elders of all ethnicities and professions, represented the vast diversity of communities Kealoha desires to work among. The performance was the culmination of a lifetime’s work for Kealoha and one of the pilot projects of NACF’s Community Inspiration Program.
Lehua Kalima
Singer Lehua Kalima says her music is rooted in her Native Hawaiian upbringing, but her musical passion has grown into pop and folk.
Starr Kalāhiki
Starr Kalāhikis early musical influence was gospel, jazz and bossa nova. Now inspired by the poetry and songs of Queen Lili’uokalani (Hawaii’s last queen), she recently launched a performance production entitled “The Lili’u Project.”
Abigail Romanchak
Visual artist Abigail Romanchak will create a new series of large-scale prints addressing climate change and sea levels rising due to global warming with support from NACF.