South Maui Quick Build Street Art Project artist Matt Agcolicol outlines ‘ama’ama (mullet) while waiting for community volunteers to paint them in at the intersection of Kenolio Road and Alulike Street last weekend in Kīhei. The Maui Metropolitan Planning Organization says painting a street mural will bring color and safety to this busy residential corridor. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)
With the help of the community, Maui is making a busy intersection safer by adding art, organizers say.
The Maui Metropolitan Planning Organization recently called for volunteers to paint the shoulders of the intersection of Kenolio Road and Alulike Street in Kīhei. County, state and non-governmental groups found this intersection needed attention to better protect pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.
The brightly colored street mural between the delineators and curbs has the added benefit of alerting drivers to slow down and pay more attention to their surroundings.
Artist Matt Agcolicol pours the first paint for community volunteers to use at the intersection of Kenolio Road and Alulike Street in South Maui. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)
Approximately 50 volunteers, including Sen. Angus McKelvey, answered the call to paint. They came from the immediate neighborhood and around Maui — even some from Oʻahu. Many learned of the Painting Day weekend event through the email lists of local clubs and organizations, social media and Agcolicol’s own coconut wireless.
An ‘ama’ama (mullet) outline is to cross over four different blue colors as if it’s going from salt to fresh water in the Kalepolepo Fishpond. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)
“Everyone has painted by number, right?” asked lead project artist Matt Agcolicol while briefing the volunteers Saturday morning. “You just find your number and paint it!”
Community volunteer painter Sande Greene laughs with excitement after laying down the first paint of the South Maui Quick Build Street Art Project. The first group includes, from left, Robin Liles, Mikaela Petrilli, Kim Ferris and Khalia Hood. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)Community volunteer painters, including state Sen. Angus McKelvey, left, paint in an ‘ama’ama. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)
The project, sponsored by Maui MPO and the Ulupono Initiative at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, cost $50,000, said Maui MPO Executive Director Kauanoe Batangan. That sum included planning and permitting, installation of the traffic treatments such as curb extensions and bike lane markings, public outreach and education, and the design and installation of the street art.
Haleakalā rises into the clouds as community volunteer painters work on the South Maui Quick Build Street Art Project. The blue represents the royal Kalepolepo Fishpond, or Ko’ie’ie Fishpond, located about a 15-minute walk from the intersection. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)Community volunteer painter Mikaela Petrilli reaches to recoat her paintbrush Saturday. Paintbrushes outlined and filled in spots missed by the rollers. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)Petrilli outlines their group’s section with the lightest hue of blue in the project. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)South Maui Quick Build Street Art Project artist Matt Agcolicol outlines the second corner while volunteers paint across the street. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)
Saturday’s colors were cool, various hues of blue. Agcolicol envisioned using the intersection’s makai shoulders to represent the Kalepolepo Fishpond where ‘ama’ama (mullet) and awa (milkfish) were once raised by Native Hawaiians. Also known by its older name, Koʻieʻie Loko Iʻa, it’s an ancient Hawaiian fishpond estimated to have been built between 1400 and 1500 A.D. The fishpond is located in Kalepolepo Park, about a 15-minute walk from the project intersection. It served as a vital economic resource for people of the Moku of Kula ahupua’a, the land division in which Kīhei lies.
Representing the various hues of blue from saltwater to fresh water, community volunteer painters Mikaela Petrilli, left, and her mom Robin Liles fill in their light-blue color. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)Community volunteer painter Makana Krampitz, 2, colors by number during the South Maui Quick Build Street Art Project last weekend. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)Ulupono Initiative communications specialist Summer Begnaud of Oʻahu outlines a darker blue section. The uneven texture of the road meant paint brushes were needed to fill in the lower spots missed by the rollers. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)
Maui MPO receives its funding from the county, state and federal transportation departments.
Community volunteer coordinators, SSFM International urban planners Laura Wisecup, left, and Lulu Chun fill in the awa, or milkfish, with volunteers. SSFM International collaborated with Maui MPO, Maui Public Works Department, Maui Planning Department, state Department of Health and the Healthy Eating + Active Living Coalition. The Ulupono Initiative. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)Community volunteer painter Nikki Hauptman, an artist herself, first learned about street murals through her own experience. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)
Warmer colors filled in the second day of painting on the mauka side of the intersection the following day. These street murals depict the Kūlanihāko’i wetlands and sand dunes with various gold and brown hues representing the colors of wet-to-dry sand and the life which inhabits the area.
The pōhuehue flower frames volunteer painter Owen Goff, 7, on the mauka side of Kenolio Road. Pōhuehue is also known as the beach morning glory. It and kauna’oa coastal vines help prevent beach erosion. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)Nayleen Kamai of Kahului paints a leaf. She came with her son to volunteer. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)A fresh roller waits for a volunteer painter to fill in the No. 14 color. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)
“I’m just stoked!” Agcolicol said when talking about all the people who volunteered. “I don’t have to do this by myself. I get to do it with my community!”
Volunteers paint around a giant pōhuehue flower which anchors one of the mauka side street murals. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)
The timing of the project coincides with the launch of the Department of Health’s Vision Zero Hawai’i project. Batangan said the project is part of a statewide effort to prevent the roughly 100 traffic fatalities and numerous injuries that happen each year on public roadways in Hawaiʻi.
“While beautification is part of the goal, we want to highlight the need to enhance safety, encouraging drivers to slow down,” she said.
Volunteer painter Nayleen Kamai balances herself with the post of a stop sign. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)
Agcolicol estimates the project required 66 gallons of paint. He uses a four-stage process to keep his street murals looking vibrant: Clean the street with a pressure washer; Prime first to make the paint adhere to the street surface; Paint; Clear coat to protect the paint.
“Five years later, my first Quick Build still looks vibrant,” he said of his street-mural project at Papa Avenue and Māʻalo Street near Lihikai Elementary School in Kahului.
Volunteers paint the mauka side of the intersection of Kenolio Road and Alulike Street. The mauka side’s brown hues represent the transition from dry to wet sand of the Kūlanihāko’i wetlands and sand dunes. The makai half across the street features various shades of blue to represent the saltwater and fresh water mixing at the Kalepolepo Fishpond, or Ko’ie’ie Fishpond, nearby. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2025)
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