The has put a stunning art collection of 39 works titled ¡°Maui Sugar ¨C the Twilight Years¡± on permanent display in the ±Ê¨¡?¾±²Ô²¹ Building. Donated by long-time °¨¡?²¹²Ô²¹±è²¹±ô¾± resident Jo Rockwell, the collection comprises paintings by local artists, and is believed to be the largest private collection of ¡°sugar art.¡±
Rockwell collected various pieces that depict Maui¡¯s bygone days when ¡°sugar was king.¡± The collection was intended to be donated when she passed away or when she could no longer reside in her home. After evacuating from her home twice during last August¡¯s Lahaina wildfires, she decided it was time for the paintings to be moved to UH Maui College.
As a young woman, Rockwell was interested in industrial art. And that interest grew when she moved to Maui and became familiar with the old sugar mills. ¡°One day in 2005, I walked over to the Village Gallery (in Lahaina) and was struck to my bones by a pastel painting of the ±Ê³Ü?³Ü²Ô¨¥²Ô¨¥ Mill by Stephen Burr. Even though I was unable to purchase that particular painting it was the beginning of a passion that lasted the rest of my life,¡± said Rockwell.
¡°This collection is so special and so powerful because it represents a history that so many of our students are connected to in one way or another, but may not know much about since the plantations closed,¡± said Jocelyn Romero Demirbag, director of Development, Maui Nui. ¡°In that way, UHMC is an ideal location for the collection which is educational as well as personal history for so many in our community.¡±