29-03-2025
Artist paints Hawaii's tallest mural in Halawa
HONOLULU (KHON2) — A local artist is beautifying the city and breaking records. A neighborhood in Halawa will soon be growing with some impressive news sights right in their backyard.
Kamea Hadar started drawing even before he could remember. When other kids stopped, he never did.
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'My main goal is just to leave the world a more beautiful place than I found it,' Hadar said. 'So, when I can cover an enormous canvas with beautiful, bright colors that hopefully brighten some of the community's day, it makes me feel really happy inside.'
Chances are you know his work. He's painted the mural of Duke Kahanamoku and Carissa Moore on the corner of South King and Pensacola Streets. Now, he's found a new canvas in Halawa that's over 25 stories high at 220 feet tall on the side of Naulu Tower, a new affordable housing project between the city, state and Pacific Development Group, which is costing 168 million dollars.'It's going to be Hawaii's new record-breaking tallest mural. Affordable housing for over 300 families in Hawaii, that just kind of makes it doubly special for me,' Hadar said.
According to PDG, the project is the biggest the state's tax credit program has seen, costing $168 million.
'The county is under-sourced by over 10,000 units of affordable [housing],' stated Joe Michael, PDG president. 'But it barely makes a dent into what's needed for the state.'
Hadar said it took months planning the mural, but only four days of painting it to completion.
'I thought that the Iwa bird would be a perfect fit for that because it was used by sailors to navigate,' Hadar said. 'When they're out at sea, you know that the water and weather is calm, and that's why they're flying out there. So, they're kind of like one of the oceans telltale signs of land, weather, rain… et cetera.'
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