• Arts
  • Creative Work Fund

Wendeanne Ke’aka Stitt will create six kapa cloth (traditional Hawaiian) costumes that will be danced in a hula created by Kumu Hula Mark Keali’I Ho’omalu of the Academy of Hawaiian Arts. Kapa is made from the inner bark of the paper mulberry tree and making it requires a paintaking procedure of stripping, fermenting, pounding, and soaking the bark before dying and applying designs. Wendeanne Ke’aka Stitt began learning to make kapa as an apprentice to Kumu Kapa Dalani Tanahy and Hawaiian language teacher Kumu Kau’i Peralto. She has become known as the most prolific maker of kapa in California. The Academy of Hawaiian Arts, a hula halau based in Oakland, offers classes and workshops in dance, music, and Hawaiian crafts.