An online search about Disney's new billion dollar resort in Ko`Olina, on the westside of O`ahu will turn up many articles, travelogues and early reviews about what may prove to be a prototype of Disney resorts to come.  But its presence on this website is specifically because of Disney's commitment to showcasing and incorporating the stories of Hawaii, as told through her artists, throughout the resort property.

Joe Rohde, left, met with most of the artists individually to document them at work and talk about their feelings on the resort and their participation with it.  Mr. Rohde is Executive Designer and Vice President, Creative, of The Walt Disney Company, and was a lead designer at Aulani.  Having grown up in Hawaii, he has a very special feeling for the way this resort would be portrayed and viewed by local residents and world travellers alike.  Here he meets with Dalani to hear about the history and importance of Hawaiian kapa.

The artworks of over 50 local artists, most of them native Hawaiians is one of the highlights of the design of this resort.  It is in the architecture, in major installations, on walls and in rooms in the decor, it occurs throughout the grounds and is even in the uniforms of cast members.  And as it happens, much of this work is representative of kapa designs created by kapa practitioner Dalani Tanahy.  The following is a listing of the consulting and work that was created for the Aulani resort that was original kapa or designs made by Dalani. 

     The First Annual Moku O Keawe Kapa Festival at the Amy Greenwell Botanical Gardens began on an overcast friday morning with protocols and introductions, and as is appropriate, everyone straight to work in the mala wauke, tending and weeding the garden where the source material for kapa making was happily growing.  The Festival was also a workshop opportunity for those who wanted to deepen their skills in kapa making and many of the students had attended a summer workshop where they had made their own kapa tools.  For three days haumana learned about cultivation methods, dye material gathering and processing and of course, pounding kapa.