Art is important to all,
whether we realize it or not.
Remembering Lahaina,a coffee-table art book, is a commemorative collection of 250 paintings that represent locations throughout the town of Lahaina and the Island of Maui from 2006 to 2023. The book includes Hawaiian historical information and weaves a story that makes the book interesting to read and enhances the beauty of the paintings.
Bringing this art book to the market required a team of dedicated volunteers and professionals in the visual arts industry. The process encompassed an eight-month, detailed-oriented effort. Sharing the history of plein air painting and history about Lāhainā and the Hawaiian Islands add richness to the book.
Creating the book required reviewing 2,000 photographs of paintings from Maui Arts League’s image library. These images were taken during the Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational (2006-2020) and include images from Village Galleries’ Paint Maui Plein Air Invitational (2023). Two hundred and fifty images were selected for the book. Once this task was completed, the book’s content organization was key to grouping paintings in the book. Artists’ comments add a special touch to bring the paintings alive. Historical text about Lahaina and Maui throughout the book further explains the story of Lahaina and the Island.
The visual presentation of the contents of the book by a professional graphic designer was crucial to ensuring that the book would be a collectible.
Our Team:
Lois E. Reiswig, President Maui Arts League
After retiring from IBM, Lois and her husband moved to Maui in 1999. Their love for Maui and fine art coalesced into a desire to support Maui artists and galleries. Since 2006, she has been involved with the Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational, a premier art event on Maui. In addition to the Invitational, the organization hosts art workshops for youth and adults living on Maui. In 2023 the board of directors welcomed the idea of creating a collectible coffee table book from the archived images in their extensive digital library. She is the lead volunteer for the Remembering Lāhainā book. Her passions are caring for their kitty Whiskers, art collecting, visiting galleries/museums. cooking, and reading.
Patricia McGeeney, Portrait and Landscape Artist, OPA, PSOA, CAC, AIS
A San Diego-based artist, Patricia is a native of Santa Monica, California. Her natural artistic ability was realized and formed at an early age and has become the primary focus of her life. She received her formal training at Art Center College of Design where she majored in illustration. Continued studies at the Watts Atelier provided a strong foundation in classical figure drawing and painting. She believes that working from life, finding the true essence of her subjects, the play of light and shadow, color harmonies and lively brushwork are all elements that ultimately make good painting. Patty led the content solicitation and organization for the Remembering Lāhainā book. Her passion is continuing to create art that inspires her and others.
Scott W. Prior, Artist, LAPPA, CAC
Scott W. Prior is a native of Southern California. As a kid growing up in Costa Mesa, he was interested in skateboarding, surfing, and BMX. To help with the boredom of being injured from these hobbies, his mother gave him a sketch pad and some charcoal pencils. Scott’s been drawing and painting ever since. He studied illustration and painting at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. At the Academy, he studied under artists Craig Nelson, Bill Maughan, and Hui Han Lui, where he learned higher artistic ideals through intensive study while developing a solid foundation of design, drawing, and painting. He lives in Oceanside, California. Scott is known for his mastery of painting light, form, and structure. He focuses on contemporary urban/genre painting, as well as figurative and portrait painting. He is an award-winning oil painter whose collectors seek out his “story-telling” paintings about life to add to their collections. His enthusiasm for creating this book was instrumental in convincing us that an art book with images of how Lāhainā looked in 2006-2023 would become a collectible. His passions are family, painting, travel, camping, and surfing.
Jean Stern, Emeritus Director, Irvine Museum
Jean Stern is an art historian who specializes in paintings of the California Impressionist period (1890-1930). Born in Casablanca, Morocco, he came to the United States in 1955. Earning a master’s degree in art history from San Diego State University, he along with two brothers who are also involved in the fine arts industry settled in the Irvine and West Hollywood areas. He met Joan Irvine Smith, heiress to the Irvine Ranch fortune, at his gallery, Jean Stern Fine Paintings. She hired him to establish, develop, and direct The Irvine Museum where she donated some of her California Impressionist paintings. He received the designation of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, awarded by the French Ministry of Culture for recognition of his lifelong work in the visual arts. He has also received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, the Plein Air Painters of America, and from Plein-Air Magazine at the Third Annual Plein Air Convention in 2014. He was judge and art lecturer for 15 years during the Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational (2006-2020) and for the 2023 Paint Maui Plein Air Invitational. His guidance and support for the Invitationals on Maui have contributed to the art events being of the highest caliber in the State of Hawaiʻi. As he is retired from being director of The Irvine Museum, Jean continues his research in California art and presents monthly lectures at the Laguna Art Museum in Laguna Beach.
Katherine Kama’ema’e Smith, Hawaiʻi/Maui Historical Author
Katherine fell in love with Hawaiian culture and Maui, and retired to Kapalua Resort in 1993 with her husband Harry. Formerly a technical writer and marketing manager at Johnson & Johnson, she has written ad copy and radio spots for the PGA Senior Tour Championship, and authored a historical novel about Kapalua. In 2011, David A. Fleming asked her to publish and make available to the Hawaiian people Northwest Maui land records (1905-1910) held by his family for 58 years. She also researched and prepared numerous cultural impact assessments of Maui properties under development, and provided PR to Hui o Waʻa Kaulua for the launch of Mo`okiha o Pi`ilani Voyaging Canoe. For five years she was Editor for Generations Magazine, a powerful resource for seniors. Her personal study and knowledge gained from her research of Hawaiian culture makes her a key person to have on your team. Her focus is to give voice to Hawaiian history and their kupuna. For the book project her contributions were key to ensure correct use of Hawaiian names, places, and people. Now living in Central Florida, opportunities to support communications are everywhere! Recently, she staged a community lu’au in Auburndale to support the Maui fire victims. She’s singing and creating PR for a community chorus, volunteers at a local church and is a member of a Community Emergency Response Team, as well as being a poll worker. Her motto is — help wherever you can and make a difference.
Jill Engledow, Journalist, Author, and Publisher, Maui Island Press owner
Jill is an award-winning writer who specializes in Maui history. In her 53 years on Maui, she worked as a reporter and copy editor for The Maui News and as program associate at the Maui office of the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation. Her newspaper reporting included coverage of events in Lahaina, of the formation and activities of a number of Maui nonprofit organizations, and of many aspects of Maui life. As a freelance writer, she wrote grant proposals, newsletters, and historical/cultural reports for Maui property owners and developers. She has published several books on Maui history, including The Story of Lahaina, and recently completed a trilogy of historical novels set on Maui. She now lives in a retirement community in Oregon. Her passions are reading, writing, and Hawaiʻi history.
Candace Coder-Chew, President and Founder, Champions Retreat, Inc
Originally from California, Candace was the Director for the graphic design and print department for Santa Anita Park in Arcadia for 28 years. In retirement, she and her husband Matt—a professional horse trainer— started Champions Retreat, located in Hayden, Idaho. This amazing non-profit organization cares for retired racehorses. They have eight retired racehorses at the retreat, where they provide equine-assisted therapy for individuals with physical or mental challenges. Currently, they work with dozens of kids in foster care, teaching horsemanship and allowing them to experience the healing powers that horses have. She keeps her design and production skills polished through volunteer projects. The Remembering Lāhainā book project came through her lifelong friend Patty McGeeney, who inspired the book. And, her love of Lāhainā stems from when she and her husband honeymooned on Maui. Candace understands how special Lāhainā is to everyone, and her visually appealing marketing materials for the book have resulted in many pre-orders.
Bryant Neal, Founder-Director Arts Education for Children Group, Maui Arts League Director
Bryant, originally from Arkansas, received his BA from Hendrix College in 1979. Since moving to Maui in 1982 he has served as Vice President of Lāhainā Printsellers, is the founder of 501(c)3 organizations Arts Education for Children Group and Jazz Maui, and owner of Story of Hawaiʻi Museum via his presentation on “Telling Hawaiʻi’s Story.” He has a vast collection of vintage antique maps and documents used to present the Story of Hawaiʻi in chronological sequence. He knew the images that Maui Arts League owns from the Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational events were a treasure to be shared with others. He has been the behind-the-scenes person working with the publisher, Legacy Isle Publishing in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. He is a serious jazz enthusiast and enjoys all musical and related art events.
Wilson Angel, Art Director of Generations Magazine
Wilson began noticing art at an early age. By the time he entered college, his interests revolved around visual arts. Over the years he created national campaigns for several Los Angeles ad firms and designed books at University of Hawaiʻi Press before becoming the art director for Generations Magazine. He is a talented and skilled graphic designer who creates visual concepts to communicate ideas that inspire, inform, or captivate the audience. He has a keen eye for detail, good understanding of color theory, typography, and layout design. He enjoys paddling canoe or simply playing in the surf.
Abi Braceros, Graphic & Web Designer, Maui Printing Company Inc.
Born and raised in Hawaiʻi, Abi grew up loving to draw and making toys out of odds and ends around the house. After receiving a BFA from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, she began working as a full-time graphic and web designer. Her website skills have been key to showcasing the Remembering Lāhainā book. In her free time, she draws, paints, and designs D-I-Y paper toys, all of which have allowed her the opportunity to participate in shows and exhibitions in the United States and Europe and to have her work featured in several publications.