Before the second Kona low storm hit, Oʻahu's North Shore was a thriving art community full of studios, galleries and tiny shops. Now, there are empty warehouses and artworks caked in dirt.
Kalei Gamiao is a fourth-generation North Shore resident whose warehouse full of instruments was flooded. He lost about five dozen ʻukulele and guitars, along with microphones, cables and other recording gear worth up to $50,000. Each case he opened was water damaged or caked in soupy, red mud.
“To just see all of that just be literally washed away, it's really hard, because I already had plans to try to put these into people's hands who really needed them,” he said.
It’s been more than two weeks since the floods hit North Shore, and artists are still picking up the pieces of what’s left of their art and studios.
Some have saved their paintings by hanging them on the ceiling or wrapping them in layers of plastic bags. But others are sifting through mud and debris to see what can be saved.
About half a mile away from the Gamiao family home, Matt Pearce is still looking for what's left of his pottery studio.
Pearce's studio was covered in about three feet of water and his basement has been wiped out.
He said he has lost up to $60,000 worth of equipment, including two kilns, which are ovens to heat up clay creations. He unveiled a tarp with dozens of clay covered in red dirt.
“Clay gets fired really hot and it will disinfect, but when you're throwing it, you're in the mud and it's just soaking into your skin,” he said. “So I don't know if we’ll be able to save this stuff or not.”
Pearce and his wife work as teachers at Hawai‘i Technology Academy. Their pottery shop is their second source of income.
“We always joke that being teachers barely allows us to live here, and ceramics was always the thing that let us give our kids some extra,” he said. "Got to see family on the mainland or take them on a trip in the summertime.”
But art isn't just a source of income for Pearce, it was his sanctuary.
“To come back and see it not available was tough,” he said.
Preparing for the worst
Next door to Pearce is Danielle Marriott. She’s a multi-talented artist who makes jewelry, leather and more.
Marriott described the urgency for her and her roommate to pack their belongings and leave during the second Kona low storm. She described how quickly the water rose.
“It was like a flowing river,” she said.
Marriott and her roommate packed emergency essentials in containers and grabbed as many of their art pieces as they could.
“I took all my art stuff because I was like if I lose my house, I need to make money somehow,” she said.
Marriott said they were walking in about waist-high water, carrying their containers to her car.
“If my car flooded, I didn't have flood insurance on my car,” Marriott said. “I got my car out when it was flooded up to the hood, and I do not know how I got it out. It sounded like a boat.”
While her artwork was safe, others weren't as lucky. Marriott said some of her artist friends lost their guitars and surfboards. Another friend had to hide in a tree for two hours because “the flood waters were raging around her.”
To save her artwork, Marriott wrapped her leather materials in plastic bags and double-bagged them in large garbage bags.
In Haleʻiwa, Kate Barry was anxious before the storm hit North Shore. She hung her paintings on the ceiling using rope, preparing for the worst.
Although her home wasn’t affected, her painting continues to hang from the ceiling.
“I panicked that first time,” she said. “I wanted everything I could possibly save to be saved. But as an artist, I’m also dealing with the feat or losing everything even if they were on the ceiling.”
Barry is still assessing if her paintings are still in good condition. She said the moisture from the rain has warped some of her work, which has caused her to look if any of her pieces have mold on them.
She said if she loses her paintings, she can always create new ones. But it was her tools she was worried about losing.
"That's the investment I think that artists are really hurting with,” Barry said. “They can recreate their work, which is also terrible to lose, but they have generations of tools handed down for years.”
Barry emphasized that her greatest loss would have been her mother, who was visiting. She's relieved that they’re both safe.
“I’m glad she was here so I wasn’t by myself, but at the same time I wish she wasn’t because she was scared,” she said.
Giving back
As the Gamiao family is still cleaning up debris from their property, Kalei Gamiao was recently gifted his ʻukulele back from Māori cultural artist Sam Mangakahia.
It was a baritone ʻukulele that survived the flood that was crafted by a family in Indonesia. Gamiao initially gave the ʻukulele to Mangakahia to help others affected by the floods. Instead, Mangakahia took Gamiao's story and carved a design on the ʻukulele that represented his family, the streams they live next two and the storm.
“He told me that he felt that it was only right to give it back to me,” Gamiao said. “I told him my intention was to help someone else, and he told me it didn't feel right because everything that he did on that instrument represented the multiple generations of us living here.”
Gamiao said he plans to record a song then release a video and single. He added that whatever funds that’s raised from the song will be donated to whoever needs it most.
The North Shore Art Center hosts ceramics workshops at the Old Waialua Sugar Mill. They will be hosting an art market on Saturday, April 11 to help local artists get back on their feet.
