An effort to rescue, restore and install labor murals by noted Â鶹´«Ã½ ceramic artist Isami Enomoto has earned University of Â鶹´«Ã½¨C°Â±ð²õ³Ù Oʻahu¡¯²õ (CLEAR) a Preservation Award from the . Enomoto¡¯²õ work graces several mid-century buildings.
The award will be presented to William Puette, CLEAR director, along with and Bank of Â鶹´«Ã½, during the Preservation Honor Awards Ceremony on May 23.
CLEAR helped raise approximately $43,000 for the restoration and installation, and secured wall space in the James and Abigail Campbell Library to display the murals. The murals were installed in December 2017.
“The murals were meticulously restored and relocated to a meaningful and publicly accessible location,” noted Kirsten Faulkner, Historic Â鶹´«Ã½ executive director, in a letter to Puette. “We congratulate you and your exemplary preservation efforts.”
Faulkner also noted that the Preservation Honor Awards are Â鶹´«Ã½¡¯²õ highest recognition of preservation projects that perpetuate, rehabilitate, restore or interpret the state¡¯²õ architectural, archaeological and/or cultural heritage.
The award caps off the multi-year mural restoration project. Enomoto¡¯²õ five murals, which depict Â鶹´«Ã½ labor scenes in the early 1960s, hung above teller stations at the Bank of Â鶹´«Ã½ branch on Kapahulu Avenue until 2015 when the location was sold.
At Bank of Â鶹´«Ã½¡¯²õ request, Docomomo US–Â鶹´«Ã½ agreed to warehouse the large pieces while it searched for their new home. Docomomo US is a non-profit group dedicated to understanding, preserving and documenting the modern movement in planning, architecture, landscapes and public art.
From .
—By Greg Wiles