Vince Cabanilla and his family moved from Lahaina to Lānaʻi in the 1940s, back when the land was primarily pineapple fields. As co-director, he leads operations for the Lānaʻi Art Center, along with co-director Rahnia Boyer.
Today, Cabanilla is a Lānaʻi-based sculptor and master carver, specializing in Polynesian-style jewelry, art and design.
“Initially, the art center offered me a larger space than my home garage, with better machines and tools,” he recently told Aloha State Daily. “Ceramic artists enjoy coming here because we have a full studio complete with a glass fusing kiln.”
According to Cabanilla, the 34-year-old nonprofit gallery rents its downtown property in Lānaʻi City from Larry Ellison’s company, Pūlama Lāna’i. Ellison owns a percentage of the island, he said, and Lāna’i and Molokai are often considered "the stepchildren of Maui County.”
The Lānaʻi Art Center is run by about 30 volunteers, he said, adding that about 40 artists sell their handmade products in the gallery. The facility is a gathering space for all ages, offering art workshops and events, including woodworking, ceramics programs and more.
“We’re the only store in town where you can say what you buy here is what is made here,” Cabanilla said. “We are a small community – 3,000 of us on the entire island – so we rely on the dedication of our members to keep us going.”
The art center lost 80% of revenues the day after the Aug. 8, 2023, Lahaina fire, he said. Profits have been down since.
“We were directly impacted. Funding has dried up on us, so we’ve gotten creative with grants and class schedules,” he said. “We’re looking to staying afloat.”
Cabanilla said the Lānaʻi Art Center used to depend on day-trippers from Maui. Now with tourism down, that market has dwindled. The two hotels on island have been good for business, he noted.
“Covid affected us, as well, but we benefited in a way because people were stuck at home and got into new hobbies,” he said. During the Covid-19 panedmic, the center launched its Art After Dark series, which Cabanilla said they will be bringing back this summer. The community event will occur on select Friday evenings, after the center would typically be closed.
Besides the financial toll of the fire, he added, it impacted the entire community emotionally.
“It’s been difficult. It still weighs heavy on us,” he said. “I watched the fire happen from the beach. My family lost their homes. We even lost some Lānaʻi residents.”
He said it was “spooky and sad” when three to four months afterwards, pieces of Lahaina town rolled up on the shores of Lāna'i. “We lost a lifeline, Lahaina, for doctor appointments, shopping, extracurriculars, etc.”
Cabanilla said their pain came out in the art they created.
“Art can be very healing. It can provide growth,” he said. “We had members who didn’t know they had these talents or even think they could acquire these skills.
“We have about five or six artists doing really well right now, who had never thought about doing this in their life.”
Cabanilla said the Lānaʻi Arts Center also sells art supplies to encourage more people to create.
The goal, he said, is to encourage residents “to open their minds to how art affects them in their everyday lives.”
For more information or to donate, go to Lānaʻi Art Centerʻs website or follow the organization on Instagram:
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Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros can be reached at kelsey@alohastatedaily.com.
