Makawao History Museum

Upcoming Event, Jeff Peterson in Makawao

Makawao is in for a treat!

The talented Jeff Peterson, recognized as one of Hawaii's most versatile musicians, will gift our Makawao community with an informal performance June 14, 2-4 p.m..

We have an area in the  Makawao History Museum  dedicated to a rotating display.  The present exhibit  is focused on the influence of traditional Hawaiian music on Upcountry Maui.
 From the old mele to more contemporary Upcountry tunes, this musical journey highlights slack key and some of Makawao's notable musicians.
The late Eddie Wilson, a well loved Paniolo from Makawao, is featured in the exhibit as well. His daughter, Kellee Wilson will be dancing hula for our Kanikapila Sunday afternoon.

In the Hawaiian language, "kani"means sound, and "pila" refers to any stringed instrument.

Jeff's "Maui on My Mind"is a delightful and relaxing slack key collection of tunes. One of my favorites for sure. 

The volunteers of Makawao History Museum will provide lemonade and home made deserts for all.

Please join us for a lovely afternoon . This event is free to the public.

Makawao History Museum

Aloha,

My fond nickname name for the Makawao History Museum is the  " Little Museum that Did".
After the first year of a skeleton crew of volunteers to create and organize a museum on the fly, we have come to an exciting crossroads.
Recently the Makawao History Museum moved from the outskirts of town to the very heart of historic Makawao.  Our new space that is less than 1/4 of the original size.

Once again, it was a scramble to sort items, return what we had no room for, and decide how to create displays with rickety walls . Rather amusing to try and get displays level in an old Makawao store front.

The ever talented Darell Orwig and I designed the space, did the graphics and the install. I have learned so much from Darell who is no stranger to gallery and museum installs. Working with Darell is one of the main reasons I make time to work on the museum. He is a quirky and very artistic guy. We laugh alot , and often think in similar ways for displays. We created a full size horse from Styrofoam fastened to the front entrance wall.  We recreate the horse with different paint every time we do a new display. Next up is a chestnut mare. Darell knows horses, I just like to ride them every now and then. The 2D horse is  flanked by two old saddles on stands and vintage Makawao paniolo ( cowboy) photos.

Kids visiting the museum are able to have their photos taken up on one of the saddles wearing something from our collection of cowboy hats.

I really admire the volunteers who sit floor and chat with visitors on a daily basis. Our new location is total gang busters, with as many as 80 visitors a day to the " Little Museum that Did."
Because our grants and donations are coming through, we are now focused on up grading the photo displays. We now actually have money to get photos matted and backed instead of the quick push pins we used to get it all up and running. If you see an empty spot, know it's "under construction"

Recently we created an homage to Haleakala Dairy. Check this link for a historic time line of a fascinating Maui operation. It's a simple display, there was so much to choose from and we decided on an interesting small slice of dairy life.

Please stop by for a visit, it will be entertaining, and you'll learn something about Makawao's colorful cowboy and ethnically diverse  past.

Aloha and see you soon,

Cherie