KIPAPA & THE PATH OF LIGHT
Kipapa Elementary School ~ Mililani, Hawai'i
Hawai'i's First Stained Glass Mural
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Stained Glass and Mosaic

The blank slate: This is the wall, prepped for installation of the mural.
The initial drawing of the mural, before the final lines are entered.
Kipapa final drawing, preparing to number each of the more than 3,000 pieces.
Final water color rendering of the mural, presented for approval to the committee.
Water-color rendition super-imposed on a photo of the building. In the planning stages, when this project was presented to the final committee, members were so moved, they were unable to speak. The teleconference call ended, and only the next day did Calley learn that her plan had been approved!
First day of completion after the installation crew finished.
The mural seen from across campus
Kipapa students enjoy their new mural. Most joyful for them is that they helped to build it, using over 15,000 pieces of smalti to create the border.
Besides the 115 fourth graders, over 60 adults, from the principal to the janitors, State officials, parents, grandparents, siblings and more came to volunteer in the final days of completion of the border.
This is one of Calley's favorite shots, because it reflects the light so prominently featured in the vision and theme of the mural.
While the family of these dancers had certainly given permission and been aware of their role as models for the piece, especially Mrs. Elisaga was moved to tears to see her children so beautifully and faithfully portrayed as themselves.
Many layers of ground glass color coated these pieces, as Calley shaded the features and characteristics of each individual face. Once painted, the pieces were then fired between layers of paint, to create the likeness fused into the glass.
Kalo, representing the firstborn of Hawaii, and the foundation of the piece.
The mandala, the Kukui Nut tree, with all that it represents in Hawaiian lore, the tree of light.
Unable to find the perfect glass for the center, Calley created her own, using pure gold in the process.
The Source light, with a perfect pearl at its center
Pineapple, a foundational element of the Kipapa community history, and the symbol of hospitality and aloha in Hawaii.
These hands, modeled by beloved community kupuna, Uncle Herman Kenae, were also shaded in the fusing method, and are breathtaking in their rich symbolism. Truly, a picture speaks a thousand words