We just returned from 2 weeks of being in the island of Oahu for POW! WOW! Hawaii’s 10 year anniversary. We worked daily alongside all the visiting Directors worldwide and volunteers to make this a memorable experience. We reunited with Directors from Long Beach, Worcester, Japan, Korea, Guam, Taiwan and Rotterdam to have our 2nd Director’s Summit before the launch of the official first day of painting.

On the first day, the artists and staff all had the opportunity to head up to North Shore for a cultural and movie set tour at Kualoa Ranch aka Jurassic Valley. Kualoa is a 4000-acre private nature reserve and working cattle ranch, as well as a popular tourist attraction and filming location on the windward coast of Oahu in Hawaii.

There were many events throughout the week that allowed time for us to all engage with each other outside of when the murals were being painted. Just to name a few, 7th Annual PW exhibit curated by Thinkspace, The Moleskin Project curated by Ken Harman of Hashimoto Gallery and Spoke Art, Artist talks with Jay Howell and another one with the Eaton brothers, Tristan and Matt, Closing Block Party….and so much more!

The reunion of artist and the introduction of new ones really created a family bond leaving people with the POW! WOW! post depression once we all left (yes it really does exist!). To bring people of all backgrounds from around the world to a central meeting place to make something beautiful for the community to enjoy all year long is truly a special experience. We do this for the love and passion we have for our work. Many of us Directors are artists and understand the struggle when it comes to doing this for a living. Thank you to everyone who helped make this a special event and looking forward to many new ones for 2020!

Below are some photos of the completed murals but please visit us on instagram @empire7studios or @powwowsanjose for much more!