‘Labor of love:’ Artist enters 5th year creating stained glass mosaic mural for Kona airport

In a studio tucked away on a quiet street in Waimea, artist Calley O’Neill is working on a 7-foot by 7-foot stained glass mosaic of native Hawaiian kukui and māmane trees.

She has completed a variety of other stained glass mosaics, including a pueo (Hawaiian owl), which was sketched out on paper and brought to life like a puzzle, one glass piece at a time.

The pueo and tree arch are just two of the elements included in a multimedia art mural that will be installed across eight 12-foot walls that span 300 feet at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport.

In 2018, the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts commissioned O’Neill to create this mural with a theme of “Mālama Aina.” The Big Island artist applied for the commission and was chosen unanimously from more than 300 applicants.

This will be the O’Neill’s third state project. She also created stained glass mosaics at Pukalani Elementary School on Maui and Kipapa Elementary School on O‘ahu.

Karen Ewald, executive director of the foundation, said the state has provided $512,000 for the mural.

O’Neill is seeking additional donations to bring her vision to life. She spent the first couple of years researching the project and consulting with the Native Hawaiian community. The actual art work began in 2020 and with the rising costs of materials, she said the total cost of the mural now will be $2 million, about $250,000 per wall for art that is a meticulous, slow process.

“It’s a deep mural,” O’Neill said. “It’s a labor of love.”

O’Neill said she needs to raise approximately $1.5 million to complete the project.

“We trust that when there’s more glass on the wall [at its airport location in the Transportation Security Administration’s new screening area ], that people will come forward and make bigger donations,” she said.

The mural also is comprised of mineral paint and lava, but the mosaic pieces of art are the focal point of each panel, O’Neill said.

“Nobody does mosaic where there’s free-standing and paint around,” O’Neill said. “So it’s a highly experimental project.”

O’Neill is a self-described conservation and cultural artist who has lived on the Big Island since 1980.

Her art, which spans more than four decades, finds its expression primarily in public stained glass mosaic murals that honor the Hawaiian people and their ancestral wisdom. She also does large, provocative interspecies wildlife thangka (Tibetan Buddhist) paintings, according to O’Neill’s website.

While the project is being overseen by the art foundation, O’Neill said it is being guided by kūpuna and Hawaiian practitioners, with each 12-by-40-foot panel depicting a different theme, starting with “aloha.” The other panels highlight the ocean, forests, living water, voyagers, horticulture/aquaculture, indigenous culture and aloha for future generations.

The mural begins with a mosaic image of Kona’s kumu and Hawaiian practitioner Kumu Keala Ching chanting. O’Neill said Ching is a beloved kupuna and recognizable in the painting by his iconic silhouette with his flowing silver hair. He represents the roots of the Hawaiian people and the Aloha spirit.

O’Neill also is encouraging the community to volunteer their time to be part of the creation. She currently has three regular volunteers helping her trace, cut and clean the stained glass pieces in her studio several days a week in Waimea. It requires precision and patience.

“Every piece should be beautiful in and of itself and fit where it belongs, so that I can do final fitting before all the pieces are in,” O’Neill said.

Naghme Najafi, who also is a stained glass artist, has been volunteering at O’Neill’s studio several hours a week for the past 15 months, cutting glass pieces on a ring saw.

“This is a monumental work and I’m excited and happy every day when I come to work,” Najafi said.

Julia Fairchild has been working with O’Neill since 2008, helping her build the artist’s online presence through websites and newsletters. She also takes the cut glass pieces and makes sure they match the pattern piece, made out of mylar. She then cleans the traced line off the glass.

“It’s a real honor and privilege and responsibility,” she said. “I make sure it’s exactly, exactly, exactly lined up.”

Julie Anne Chia has helped do finishing work on the pieces for about a year.

When a friend first invited her to help on the mural, Chia recalled not having time. Once she came out to O’Neill’s studio and saw the scope of the project, she was overwhelmed by its size and community significance.

She said it is amazing to see the transition of the project going from an idea to “all just coming together.”

Background mineral painting was completed in 2022. Construction of stained glass mosaics of kupuna and clarifying elements, like the pueo, are in full swing with the help of volunteers.

All of the wall one stained glass mosaics are complete, and most of the wall two elements are complete.

O’Neill and her team worked on the painting portion of the mural during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. O’Neill said she and the volunteers were able to paint for six months full-time at the airport.

But for the past year and a half, O’Neill and the volunteers haven’t been able to work at the airport due to construction of the new TSA security area. The artist anticipates getting access to the walls in two months.

O’Neill doesn’t mind the delay getting back into the airport because the work on the mosaic pieces takes the most time.

The project was initially expected to be completed in two more years, but O’Neill thinks it likely will take until 2030.

Anyone interested in volunteering on the mural or donating to the project can reach out to O’Neill directly via email at Calley@CalleyONeill.com. She can also be reached at 808-987-7003.