Murals cover the walls at Farrington High, but who do they represent?
By Cassie Ordonio
September 30, 2025 at 11:32 AM HST
Some Farrington High School students and nearby Kalihi residents have raised concerns about new murals on campus that they say are not reflective of the neighborhood's diverse community.
One mural that drew the ire of students depicts a nēnē goose dressed as a pirate while flying a spaceship carrying a basket of spam musubi. Another has dinosaurs that say, “Aloha is not extinct,” accompanied by the phrase “Go Forth and Serve,” a misstatement of the school’s motto “Go Forth To Serve.”
Farrington senior Kamakea Wright said some of the murals paint Kalihi in a "touristy light,” pointing to the paintings of spam musubi and vibrant sea creatures on some of the school’s buildings.
“I’m a tad upset about a lot of the murals going up because I feel like they don’t accurately represent Farrington as a community,” Wright said.
This mural at Farrington High School is by Lauren Trangmar. (4032x3024, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
The project and the artwork were approved with input from Farrington High School administrators. But students and alumni said feedback was not gathered from the broader community.
Farrington High alumna Demiliza Saramosing said she can see the murals from her home. She wanted to see the artists make a better outreach effort.
She said art should be built with the community, not just for the community.
“My only hope is that we get to change together and evolve together towards something better for Kalihi, but also Hawaiʻi,” Saramosing said. “From what I see, Kalihi is going to be the epicenter of new businesses, new art, new jobs, and new homes. So I just hope that we can collaborate and do this together.”
The murals are part of World Wide Walls, which wrapped up its 13th annual Hawaiʻi festival on Sept. 21. Mostly local artists with ties to Kalihi painted the buildings.
Artists donated their time, and the state Department of Education said no public funds were used for the project.
The dinosaur mural was painted by DinoFlora, or Danielle Villoria. Her husband, an alumnus of Farrington, helped her with the mural. (1320x851, AR: 1.5511163337250293)
Jasper Wong, founder and director of World Wide Walls, grew up in ʻĀina Haina and went to Kalani High School. But he spent most of his childhood at his mother’s grocery store in Kalihi, located across the street from Farrington.
He said the murals were a way to give back to the neighborhood.
“People I’ve talked to said, ‘Why Kalihi? Kalihi is dangerous. Your artist will get assaulted, and no one will care, and all your murals will get vandalized. I don't think you should choose Kalihi as a place where you should give back,” Wong said. “I said, ‘Well, that’s exactly why we should do it, because there is this stigma and reputation, and I think we should be giving back.’”
The art event started as Pow! Wow! in 2009 when local and international artists painted murals in Kakaʻako at a time when the mostly industrial district was just coming up as a hip community.
The organization changed its name to World Wide Walls in 2023 after people raised concerns about the cultural appropriation of Native Americans. A powwow is typically a cultural gathering for singing and dancing in Native American culture.
Then the group of artists started focusing on Kalihi, with at least 70 murals painted at Farrington since 2022.
Wong said he and the artists were greenlighted by the school administration, adding that the ideas and concepts of the art had to go through the administration before they started painting.
He emphasized that the project was volunteer-based, and artists were given creative freedom.
“We make no money off of it,” Wong said. ”If anything, we lose money doing it, but we find it to be worthwhile.”
Wong defended the creative freedom of the artists but also understood the concerns from the campus community.
“As organizers, it's always trying to find that fine line and trying to figure out how best to walk that and make sure that everyone is happy, which can be a very difficult task,” he said.
Kalihi is historically known for its diverse community of working-class and immigrant communities living in the Honolulu metro area.
The neighborhood is also made up of mostly Asians and Pacific Islanders. The larger demographic is Filipino and Chuukese, according to Kōkua Kalihi Valley. The rest are Samoan, Hawaiian and Marshallese.
Wright said they were hoping more murals would highlight the immigrant experience in Kalihi.
Some murals that Wright said students favored were those that had more connection to the land. Some students liked a mural done by Punky Aloha, which features a Pacific Islander woman in the foreground with Hawaiʻi’s mountains in the background. But they said those artworks are tucked away in the back of the school.
"I truly don't think there is anything truly malicious about ‘Oh, I got to put all of the ones showing Hawaiian culture in the back of the school.’ But it's just definitely unfortunate that the artists who chose to accurately represent our culture have to be hidden in the back," Wright said.
Wong said the artists got to choose their canvases at random.
Nanea Ching, an education department spokesperson, said in a written statement to HPR that the project is a way to increase access to art and inspire engagement.
“At the same time, we understand and take seriously concerns raised by students, alumni, and faculty around not being included in the design process, and whether all the murals reflect the Farrington community,” Ching said. “That feedback is important and has prompted reflection on how the Department approaches public art partnerships in school settings going forward.”
Ching added that Farrington’s leadership is working on providing QR codes and digital media to inform students about the artists and their work.
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One mural that drew the ire of students depicts a nēnē goose dressed as a pirate while flying a spaceship carrying a basket of spam musubi. Another has dinosaurs that say, “Aloha is not extinct,” accompanied by the phrase “Go Forth and Serve,” a misstatement of the school’s motto “Go Forth To Serve.”
Farrington senior Kamakea Wright said some of the murals paint Kalihi in a "touristy light,” pointing to the paintings of spam musubi and vibrant sea creatures on some of the school’s buildings.
“I’m a tad upset about a lot of the murals going up because I feel like they don’t accurately represent Farrington as a community,” Wright said.
This mural at Farrington High School is by Lauren Trangmar. (4032x3024, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
The project and the artwork were approved with input from Farrington High School administrators. But students and alumni said feedback was not gathered from the broader community.
Farrington High alumna Demiliza Saramosing said she can see the murals from her home. She wanted to see the artists make a better outreach effort.
She said art should be built with the community, not just for the community.
“My only hope is that we get to change together and evolve together towards something better for Kalihi, but also Hawaiʻi,” Saramosing said. “From what I see, Kalihi is going to be the epicenter of new businesses, new art, new jobs, and new homes. So I just hope that we can collaborate and do this together.”
The murals are part of World Wide Walls, which wrapped up its 13th annual Hawaiʻi festival on Sept. 21. Mostly local artists with ties to Kalihi painted the buildings.
Artists donated their time, and the state Department of Education said no public funds were used for the project.
The dinosaur mural was painted by DinoFlora, or Danielle Villoria. Her husband, an alumnus of Farrington, helped her with the mural. (1320x851, AR: 1.5511163337250293)
Jasper Wong, founder and director of World Wide Walls, grew up in ʻĀina Haina and went to Kalani High School. But he spent most of his childhood at his mother’s grocery store in Kalihi, located across the street from Farrington.
He said the murals were a way to give back to the neighborhood.
“People I’ve talked to said, ‘Why Kalihi? Kalihi is dangerous. Your artist will get assaulted, and no one will care, and all your murals will get vandalized. I don't think you should choose Kalihi as a place where you should give back,” Wong said. “I said, ‘Well, that’s exactly why we should do it, because there is this stigma and reputation, and I think we should be giving back.’”
The art event started as Pow! Wow! in 2009 when local and international artists painted murals in Kakaʻako at a time when the mostly industrial district was just coming up as a hip community.
The organization changed its name to World Wide Walls in 2023 after people raised concerns about the cultural appropriation of Native Americans. A powwow is typically a cultural gathering for singing and dancing in Native American culture.
Then the group of artists started focusing on Kalihi, with at least 70 murals painted at Farrington since 2022.
Wong said he and the artists were greenlighted by the school administration, adding that the ideas and concepts of the art had to go through the administration before they started painting.
He emphasized that the project was volunteer-based, and artists were given creative freedom.
“We make no money off of it,” Wong said. ”If anything, we lose money doing it, but we find it to be worthwhile.”
Wong defended the creative freedom of the artists but also understood the concerns from the campus community.
“As organizers, it's always trying to find that fine line and trying to figure out how best to walk that and make sure that everyone is happy, which can be a very difficult task,” he said.
Kalihi is historically known for its diverse community of working-class and immigrant communities living in the Honolulu metro area.
The neighborhood is also made up of mostly Asians and Pacific Islanders. The larger demographic is Filipino and Chuukese, according to Kōkua Kalihi Valley. The rest are Samoan, Hawaiian and Marshallese.
Wright said they were hoping more murals would highlight the immigrant experience in Kalihi.
Some murals that Wright said students favored were those that had more connection to the land. Some students liked a mural done by Punky Aloha, which features a Pacific Islander woman in the foreground with Hawaiʻi’s mountains in the background. But they said those artworks are tucked away in the back of the school.
"I truly don't think there is anything truly malicious about ‘Oh, I got to put all of the ones showing Hawaiian culture in the back of the school.’ But it's just definitely unfortunate that the artists who chose to accurately represent our culture have to be hidden in the back," Wright said.
Wong said the artists got to choose their canvases at random.
Nanea Ching, an education department spokesperson, said in a written statement to HPR that the project is a way to increase access to art and inspire engagement.
“At the same time, we understand and take seriously concerns raised by students, alumni, and faculty around not being included in the design process, and whether all the murals reflect the Farrington community,” Ching said. “That feedback is important and has prompted reflection on how the Department approaches public art partnerships in school settings going forward.”
Ching added that Farrington’s leadership is working on providing QR codes and digital media to inform students about the artists and their work.
Hawaiʻi Public Radio exists to serve all of Hawai’i, and it’s the people of Hawai’i who keep us independent and strong. Help keep us strong to serve you in the future. Donate today.