A kīpuka is an opening of vegetated land spared by a lava flow. After these dramatic, landscape-altering flows, it is nā kīpuka that protect and sustain the plant life and seeds that go on to propagate the surrounding new land, perpetuating life into the future.
The past two and half years have certainly felt landscape-altering for many of us, and so it was especially meaningful when last week, July 18, the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation reopened to the public our headquarters in the historic C. Brewer and Co. Building in downtown Honolulu, after an intensive renovation.
While the completion of this project brings a long list of new features to celebrate, including an open layout for collaborative working, a media room for creating content, technological advancements in conference rooms, and more, one of the most significant is the new look and feel of the entrance and atrium, redesigned to be more welcoming and accessible to all.
Today, as you walk in toward the atrium, you’ll be greeted with a large-scale art installation by Hilo-based design-service company, Sig Zane Kaiao. This piece, Kīpuka, features traditional, repeated, geometric patterns representing kīpuka, as well as braided kī (ti) leaves representing the weaving together of people, the uniting of communities, a fitting metaphor for the nurturing and connective role HCF has played in Hawaiʻi since our founding 106 years ago.
Our close partner and owner of the building, Duane Kurisu, had a vision that, when people walked into the C. Brewer and Co. Building today, they should have a feeling that we’re all “same, same,” regardless of background or status.
This spirit of welcoming feels like the perfect encapsulation of the new chapter that HCF is embarking on. Our headquarters is intended to be a gathering place, a sanctuary, where community members, nonprofits, donors, and many others can come together and collaborate to solve some of our state’s biggest challenges. We hope this community resource in the heart of the Honolulu business district will help to nurture the realization of a thriving Hawaiʻi today—and into the future.
We won’t be the only organization leveraging the potential of the refreshed C. Brewer and Co. Building. The HCF headquarters will also be shared with Hawaiʻi
Executive Collaborative,
Hawaiʻi Data Collaborative and
Holomua Collective, three nonprofits that closely align with HCF’s mission and commitment to making a positive impact within the community.
If you’d like to take a quick virtual tour of the renovated building, this aerial drone footage can show you around.
Just click here.
On behalf of all of us at Hawai‘i Community Foundation, we look forward to sharing our new chapter—and headquarters—with you soon.
Aloha,
Micah A. Kāne
CEO & President
Hawaiʻi Community Foundation
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