Sneak Peek + Video! Edith Kanakaʻole mural now underway; unveiling scheduled for campus event May 6

Posted on May 5, 2023December 22, 2025 by Staff

Hard at work on the mural this week is artist Kamea Hadar, a talented and experienced muralist who says he is honored by this opportunity.

Partial facial feature of mural with scaffolding in foreground. — Mural of Edith Kanakaʻole is underway this week on the building named in her honor, Edith Kanakaʻole Hall, on the UH Hilo campus. Photo taken May 4, 2023. (Photo: Cooper Lund/UH Hilo Stories)

By Staff/UH Hilo Stories.

In celebration of Edith Kanakaʻole’s United States Mint quarter, the late Hawaiian icon is being recognized with a mural underway this week on the campus of the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.

The mural is the creation of Kamea Hadar, a talented and experienced muralist who says he is honored by this opportunity, and Kūhaʻo Zane, Edith Kanakaʻole’s grandson and Creative Director of Sig Zane Designs, who is collaborating with Hadar on the design of the mural.

UH Hilo Chancellor Bonnie Irwin announced on May 3 the commission of the Kekuhikuhi mural honoring Aunty Edith.

In chorus with the celebration of Edith Kanakaʻole’s United States Mint quarter, Kamea Hadar and Kūhaʻo Zane, with the support of the UH Hilo Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Services, are collaborating on a mural of the late Hawaiian icon on the Edith Kanakaʻole Hall at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo campus.

As a faculty member at both the Hawaiʻi Community College and the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, Aunty Edith openly shared her deep ancestral knowledge passed down to her through her familial hula lineage. Her early contributions to the university’s Hawaiian language program and numerous community initiatives have set a foundation that continues to be built on today. It is an immense honor to share her story through this mural and have her portrait serve as a prominent feature on our campus.

“It is an immense honor to share Aunty Edith’s story through this mural and have her portrait serve as a prominent feature on our campus,” says Irwin.