PUHI — Daniel Ekolu Martinez III is making small steps toward “putting Kawaikini New Century Public Charter School on the map.”
Martinez III earned the Silver Key Award in the Drawing &Illustration division, being joined by two other students from Island School, during the 57th Annual Hawai‘i Regional Scholastic Art Awards presented by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.
“This was pretty incredible,” said Kumu Mahina Nakea of Kawaikini. “There were more than 2,500 entries, and only 150 awards were presented. On top of that, Ekolu’s artwork was selected to be included in the program awards booklet. His work is also displayed at the Hawai‘i State Art Museum from Feb. 7 through March 14.”
Other Kaua‘i winners at the regional Scholastic Art included Island School 11th grade student Heidi Roach earning a Gold Key for her “Winter Squall,” and Island School 10th grade student Aiden Winsley who earned a Silver Key for his self portrait. Both students were coached by Penny Nichols and earned their awards in the Painting division.
Martinez III also earned an Honorable Mention among the 309 awards that were presented.
“He is super talented,” said Kumu Lei Wann who submitted Ekolu’s artwork for consideration in the Scholastic awards. “I’m not his art teacher, but what he does independently and with minimal instruction is amazing. He’s also very humble. He did the hard part, I just entered his work.”
Martinez III is no stranger to getting art awards, starting with the Nene awards, a school competition, and last year, a winner in the Keiki Day Art and Writing competition for his Dare to Dream-themed entry.
“That piece featured local Hawaiian celebrities,” Martinez III said. “If you dream, you can be like them. The Nene award was a drawing that was really bad, and a moonlight scene got the Kawaikini award.”
His “Ahi Pele” piece was 18 inches by 24 inches.
“I like big,” Martinez III said. “I can concentrate on more detail. Ahi Mele is trans gender. It’s all the cultures put into one person to represent the many cultures. I used a lot of the Hawaiian gods, but I don’t know too much about the Mexican gods so I looked at pictures.”
Martinez III said he used eye shadow for the skin tones, and it turned out really good.
“He never took art,” said his mother Pi‘ilani. “Everything he knows was through his own creativity. He started doing things when he was little. I brought him Barbie dolls and he would bring them back dressed in fashions he created from trash bags and other materias.”
Nakea said when Ekolu’s name and school were announced, she could hear people whispering, “Who is that? Where is that school?” And the thrill continued as she saw people stopping to take photos of Ekolu’s Ahi Pele.
“He said he was going to put Kawaikini on the map when he enrolled,” Pi‘ilani said. “It’s okay to be different. Ekolu can look diversity in the face and say that it does not make a difference. In fact, he gets motivated to do better. He puts a crown on everything, saying that makes everything better. He could not have reached this potential without the support of Kawaikini who actually paid for Kumu Mahina to attend the awards.”
The Hawai‘i Regional Scholastic Art Awards, presented by the Art in Public Places for the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, has recognized and encouraged the creative skills of young artists in Hawai‘i for more than 50 years. Awardees will be submitted to the national Scholastic Art &Writing Awards program nationwide, overseen by the nonprofit group The Alliance for Young Artists &Writers.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
