Aloha Kahilu ʻOhana,

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After a nationwide search, the board of directors of the Kahilu Theatre Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Sara Nealy as Executive Director.

Sherm Warner, Board President said, “On behalf of the board, our staff and our search committee, I am excited to welcome Sara Nealy to the Kahilu Theatre &lsq

After a nationwide search, the board of directors of the Kahilu Theatre Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Sara Nealy as Executive Director.

Sherm Warner, Board President said, “On behalf of the board, our staff and our search committee, I am excited to welcome Sara Nealy to the Kahilu Theatre ‘ohana as our Executive Director. Her background in arts administration, her imagination, her knowledge of our community and her respect for Hawaiian culture guided our deliberations as we chose Sara to be our co-leader. In partnership with Artistic Director Chuck Gessert, Sara will lead Kahilu Theatre as it meets the challenges of the present and embarks on a future that offers broader access to our rich offerings in performing arts, visual arts and arts educational programming.”

“I feel tremendously honored to join the board of directors, staff, and stakeholders to sustain and nourish this jewel, especially at this time of challenge. The Kahilu Theatre serves as a cultural hub and the artistic heart of the community,” said Sara Nealy.

During Sara’s leadership of two San Francisco Bay Area arts organizations, she implemented critical financial management, expanded engagement with diverse cultural communities, developed strategic artistic collaborations and partnerships, and introduced an increasingly ambitious program of productions.

Sara was selected by Musical America for their “MA:30 Profiles in Courage” roster for her cogent leadership.

Before moving to San Francisco, Sara resided with her family in North Kohala, where her children attended Parker School, and Sara danced with Halau ‘o Ha’alelea under the direction of the late beloved kumu hula, Raylene Ha’alelea Kawaiae’a Lancaster. 

Sara’s work in Hawai’i included marketing communications and film production for a variety of cultural organizations and corporate clients, particularly for the Earl and Doris Bakken Foundation, North Hawaii Community Hospital, Nā Kālai Wa’a, the Kohala Center, Friends of the Future, Five Mountains Hawai’i, and Cyanotech. In 2009, she was the Director of Sales and Marketing at Kona Village Resort.

“I am looking forward to creating even more access to the arts for our community,” said Nealy, “and to working with Artistic Director, Chuck Gessert, to develop the exciting possibilities presented by the new Kahilu.TV streaming programming.”

On a mild December afternoon a gentle breeze blows through the open space fronting Kahilu Theatre in Kamuela town. A week-long kālai wa’a, (canoe carving), is well underway. Enthusiastic keiki from Waimea Country School approach the wa’a, anxious to run their tiny hands along the smooth sur

On a mild December afternoon a gentle breeze blows through the open space fronting Kahilu Theatre in Kamuela town. A week-long kālai wa’a, (canoe carving), is well underway. Enthusiastic keiki from Waimea Country School approach the wa’a, anxious to run their tiny hands along the smooth surface, picking up the light wood shavings and throwing them up in the air like confetti. There’s something different about this wa’a , it’s carved from the ubiquitous Albizia not koa. Albizia wood is soft, making it easy to carve and grows invasively in our forests, providing an abundant supply for future canoe carvers.

The source of inspiration dates back to 1888 when Queen Kapi’olani donated a canoe to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. In 2019, a group of wahine canoe carvers took this inspiration to the Merrie Monarch Festival where they began the initial phase of the canoe carving under the supervision of the late Raymond Bumatay, a Kahuna Kālai Wa’a (master canoe carver) and his son Alika. The Smithsonian sponsored the event last year as part of the Smithsonian American Women History initiative.

Alika Bumatay and Alexis Ching are carrying on the kuleana of Uncle Ray’s legacy by completing the carving process. Kahilu Theatre is providing the canoe and its carvers with a temporary hālau where it can be sheltered, carved and made available to public visits throughout this event. So this canoe has already done a fair amount of traveling from the forest up mauka, to the Merrie Monarch in Hilo and now to Kamuela, even before her maiden voyage at sea.

As the kahuna kālai wa’a was one of the most highly honored members of the ancient Hawaiian society, Kahilu Theatre has organized a virtual exhibition honoring Uncle Ray and his life-long dedication to the art of canoe building, including the distances he traveled to perpetuate this art. Kahilu has also reached out to the community of young students to participate and reflect on the relevance of this honored art in their lives through their own exhibition called “Our Water, Our Canoe, Ka Moana Kakou Student Exhibit,” running Dec.5, 2020 to Jan. 2.

The Eternal Canoe:Honoring the Legacy of Kāhuna Kālai Waʻa Raymond Bumatay 

Virtual Exhibtion December 8, 2020 - January 24, 2021

Live wa'a carving events December 8, 9, 15, 16, from 10 am - 4 pm

Kahilu Theatre Galleries are free and open to the public Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 1pm – 5pm