David Fuertes, left, executive director of Kahua Pa’a Mua, with Joël Tan from the Ohana Agricultural Resilience initiative for families in the region. PHOTO BY VANESSA DE GUIA
GREAT NEWS IN A NUTSHELL! YES! Magazine features a stunning article showing how mentors in Hawaii, especially here on the Big Island are working toward food self-sufficiency for our island communities. “Hawai‘i is “showing the rest of the country how circular and regenerative and local food systems can support the economy, strengthen cultural heritage, and improve the overall health of the community,” according to the Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit advocacy group. Their docuseries, Regenerating Paradise, showcases local farm-to-school programs, community poi harvesting, farm entrepreneurship training programs, and soil health and composting initiatives.”
The article is well worth the 8 minute read. Find it here.
Calley O’Neill is a highly respected artist, muralist, visionary designer and social ecologist from the Big Island of Hawai‘i. Journalists have described her art, which spans four decades, as ethno-visionary, dynamic, symbolic and breathtaking. Calley finds her expression through classical glaze painting in mixed media works, public murals, stained glass and mosaic. Her landmark Healing Gardens of Makahikilua master plan for North Hawai’i Community Hospital in Kamuela received national recognition among top landscape architects in the field of therapeutic garden design. A great team player, Calley’s input raises the bar and sparks innovation toward healing the Earth and its inhabitants. Journalists have described her as ‘a way-finder’, ‘a life giving force’ and ‘a force of nature.’
Calley is known for exceptional quality draftsmanship, a crystalline mastery of glaze painting, stimulating diversity, relentless experimentation, and her love of the Earth and humanity. Her magnum opus is Rama, Ambassador for the Endangered Ones, and she continually works on the exhibition paintings in her Waimea studio and her plein air pop-up studio and tree gallery at the Four Seasons Hualalai at Historic Ka’upulehu, where she is the Artist in Residence. Her paintings are both visual prayers and wake-up calls.
Calley earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, summa cum laude from Pratt Institute, New York (1974) and a Master’s Degree in Social Ecology from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont (1977).
The Full Body Elixir ~ Yoga with Calley O'Neill 