5 artists from throughout state selected for second cohort of Hawaiʻi Climate Action Artist Residency program
Five kamaʻāina artists were selected for a highly competitive second cohort of Hawaiʻi Climate Action Artist Residency program.
Selected artists are:
- Avalon Paradea, a kapa artist from Hawaiʻi Island, whose work engages with communities, their concerns and aspirations for their regions in relation to the changing climate.
- Chenta Laury, a Maui-based fiber artist, whose work explores recurrent themes of migration, adaptation, diaspora and transformation.
- Matt Kawika Ortiz, a Native Hawaiian from windward O‘ahu, whose art is inspired by iconography of place-based moʻolelo.
- Jana Ireijo from O‘ahu, whose ephemeral, vanishing murals made from wildfire charcoal and local water depict images of endangered species in the changing landscape.
- Sophia Sol, based on O‘ahu, who works at the intersection of oil painting, architecture, filmmaking and new media arts.
They were picked from a pool of 65 applicants seeking the honor of being a member of the artist residency’s second cohort.
“We are once again delighted by the response from Hawaiʻi’s incredible artistic community to this initiative bringing together climate action and artistic practice,” said Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission Climate Action Program Manager Udi Mandel Butler.
The program was created by Hawaiʻi State Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission in partnership with University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program. It strives to engage Hawaiʻi residents on key climate topics and issues facing the state by using art.
Residency focus in on topics covering areas from mauka to makai, including cultural knowledge, land stewardship, energy efficiency and community resilience.
Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission encourages participating artists to connect with local students and residents, collaborate with climate action practitioners and explore and highlight critical climate challenges through their unique creative lens.
“Creatively engaging with the crises of climate change can offer us different ways of thinking, feeling and imagining alternatives in the present and for the future,” Butler said.
Finished artworks will be exhibited at the Capitol Modern, the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum in Honolulu, during spring 2027.
This project aligns with Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission’s mission to promote ambitious, climate-neutral and culturally responsive strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation in Hawaiʻi.
Artist Chenta Laury works on a piece of artwork. She is one of 5 people throughout the state selected to be part of the second cohort of the Hawaiʻi Climate Action Artist Residency program. (Courtesy Photo: Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources)- Artist Jana Ireijo works on a piece of artwork. She is one of 5 people throughout the state selected to be part of the second cohort of the Hawaiʻi Climate Action Artist Residency program. (Courtesy Photo: Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources)
- Artist Matt Kawika Ortiz works on a mural. He is one of 5 people throughout the state selected as a member of the second cohort for the Hawaiʻi Climate Action Artist Residency program. (Courtesy Photo: Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources)
“Climate change is not abstract to me. It is something we are all living through in Hawai’i, from wildfires, coral bleaching and flooding to the changes I have seen over time in the ocean and landscapes I grew up with,” said Ireijo. “My work tries to make these shifts visible in a way that people can feel.”
Visit the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission website or contact Butler via email at udi.butler.contractor@hawaii.gov for additional information about the artists, residency program and commission work.
