"Imiloa" Sculpture Unveiled At Hale Moena Affordable Apartment Community In Kapolei, Hawaii

KAPOLEI, Hawaii - Oct. 5, 2021 - PRLog -- KAPOLEI, HI – "Imiloa," a life-sized bronze sculpture of a Native Hawaiian boy created by local artist and art instructor Lynn Liverton, was recently installed near the entrance to Hale Moena, a new 297-unit affordable housing community for seniors, individuals and families in the fast-growing City of Kapolei in the southwest part of Oahu.

Commissioned by the Long Family Foundation associated with Highridge Costa, one of the developers behind Hale Moena, Imiloa, which loosely translates into "exploration driven by wonder or to seek far" in Hawaiian, is meant to pay homage to the bold Polynesians who first arrived to the Hawaiian Islands over 1,000 years ago by way of celestial navigation.

Liverton, who has called Oahu home since the early 1990s, has also been teaching art at Kamehemeha Schools, the Honolulu Waldorf High School, the University of Hawai'i and the Honolulu Academy of Art.

Besides being dressed in the traditional malo, or loincloth, the sculpture, based on the likeness of a local Hawaiian boy named Hokuwelo from the culturally active Desoto family, is holding up a traditional string figure in the form of a star against the night sky.

According to Marilyn Long, president of the Long Family Foundation, "The Long Family Foundation is pleased to share this three-dimensional sculpture created by sculptor Lynn Liverton for the Hale Moena community.  This art challenges, delights, and inspires us to stop, open our eyes, and pay attention to our environment.  It beautifies and invigorates the space where it is located."

Set in front of Hale Moena, the sculpture is also an apt metaphor to honor, respect and house local kupuna, or honored elders, who pass down cultural traditions through storytelling, and ohana, or extended families and friends, whose responsibility it is to keep these traditions alive.

The first phase of the community, known as Hale Moena Kupuna, includes 154 units for seniors age 55 and over earning up to 60 percent of the median area income plus 7,308 square feet of ground floor retail space, and is 100 percent preleased and almost 99 percent occupied.

The second phase, known as Hale Moena Ohana, includes 143 units for individual and families earning up to 60 percent of the median area income plus 2,300 square feet of ground floor retail space, and is 100 percent preleased and 72 percent occupied.

Highridge Costa of Gardena, California and Coastal Rim Properties of Honolulu are developing Hale Moena jointly. The project was designed by SVA Architects and is being built by Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company.  For more information, please visit http://www.housingpartners.com or http://www.coastalrim.com.