Kaka‘ako WOW!

Today, Urban Sketchers O‘ahu met in Kaka‘ako during POW! WOW! Hawai‘i. For those unfamiliar with the festival, it is an annual gathering of local and international artists who create murals and other artwork. The complexity of the murals is impressive, and many artists require mechanical lifts and ladders in order to complete them.

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We thought this festival would be a great opportunity for sketchers to not only see the murals under construction but also try their hands at subjects different than our normal fare. Uncertain if many of our regular sketchers would be able to meet in the middle of a conventional workday, we were pleasantly surprised to see several prior participants. We also welcomed some new faces and introduced our group to several passers-by who might join us in the future.

As is tradition, our itinerary was relatively unstructured. Upon meeting, sketchers quickly scattered across several adjacent blocks and captured different murals and urban landscapes. The diversity of each sketcher’s choices was once again much appreciated during the show-and-tell session.

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It is wonderful to see that POW! WOW! Hawai‘i is going strong, and we will definitely keep it on the calendar for next year. Muralists were very friendly and open to being sketched. And, we certainly were not the only gawkers in the area! Hope to see familiar and new faces at our next event on the UH Mānoa campus (Saturday, 2/20)!