Painting a pueo – Latest Mele Mural completed in Kailua-Kona

Ten high school students from six different schools took part in a five-day aha, or conference, to paint a pueo mural on an outer wall of HPM Kona.

After consulting with kupuna from the ahupuaa, the students chose to paint a pueo, an owl, who used to flourish in the area. Within the wings, water flows — as fresh water used to be abundant in what is now Kona’s Old Industrial Area.

The project is one of several murals throughout Kona painted by Mele Murals, a youth development, arts education, cultural preservation, and community-building project.