Supporting Hawaiʻi’s artists
who carry our culture forward.
Fostering Connections. Empowering Artists. Celebrating Culture.
Where indigenous creatives and community intersect
Through our Indigenous Creatives pillar, Kūkolu elevates Native Hawaiian and Indigenous artists and makers by curating meaningful opportunities for engagement, turning creative practice into a real economic pathway, not a side pursuit to it.
From seasonal pop-up shops to community events, we aim to provide connection, exposure, space, and guidance for our local creatives to bring their ideas to life in a supportive, culturally aligned arena.
How Kūkolu Supports Indigenous Creatives.
Our support for Indigenous Creatives is flexible, relationship-driven, and designed to meet each creative where they are. Here's what that looks like in practice.
Business
Backbone
The operational and business support that lets you focus on creating. Contract review, pricing guidance, legal structure questions, financial basics, and the trusted advice that comes from years of experience working with creative businesses.
Community Engagement
Connecting artists to meaningful opportunities to share their work, engage with community, and build the kind of relationships that sustain a creative practice for the long term. We open doors and make introductions that would otherwise take years to build.
Scholarship Administration
Kūkolu administers scholarships on behalf of artists and donors who want to invest in the next generation of Native Hawaiian creatives. If you want to give back through a scholarship but don't know how to run one, we handle the infrastructure so the impact is real.
Transforming Community through Indigenous Arts
Native Hawaiian and Indigenous artists are some of the most culturally important contributors in our community — carrying mo'olelo, building identity, and creating work that connects generations. Being a great artist and running a sustainable creative practice are two very different skill sets, and most programs aren't built to bridge that gap.
The Indigenous Creatives program exists for that reason. For fine artists, muralists, musicians, performers, fiber artists, and other creatives, Kūkolu provides business backbone and community connections so the focus stays on the art.
Indigenous Creatives in Action
Solomon Enos Community Giveback
Through Kūkolu's Indigenous Creatives program, Solomon Enos has strengthened the business foundation of his artistic practice, creating greater capacity to give back to the community.
2nd Annual Waiwaolani Scholarship
In 2026, Kūkolu proudly served as the fiscal sponsor for the Waiwaolani Scholarship, a community-led initiative created to inspire Hawaiʻi's youth to deepen their connection to native Hawaiian plants and the importance of protecting Hawaiʻi's unique ecosystems.
Holiday Pop-Up at Windward Mall
At Kūkolu’s pop-up at Windward Mall, products from fifteen businesses owned by Native Hawaiian entrepreneurs were offered through a shared consignment marketplace. A team of Native Hawaiian wahine operated the store day to day, carrying the values that shaped the participating businesses into every part of the customer experience.