- Marie McDonald
Marie McDonald – 2010 Alfred Preis Honoree
Hawaii Arts Alliance has announced the 2010 Alfred Preis Honoree, Marie McDonald, one of Hawaii's most respected kupuna in the arts of lei and kapa-making. The Alliance will recognize her contributions to the arts of Hawaii at a celebration in December.
McDonald has spent 50 years producing the exquisite lei of Hawaii. For this long-standing commitment to Hawaiian arts, the National Endowment recognized her as a National Heritage Fellow for the Arts. She is one of Hawaii's best known authorities on the subject and author of the definitive “Ka Lei – The Leis of Hawaii” and “Na Lei Makamae,” co-authored with Paul Weissich. In the process of researching these books she has brought to light the particular beauty of pre-contact lei. And through her love of the art she has become a tireless advocate for the preservation of the Hawaiian lands that provide the rare materials for these leis and other Hawaiian arts such as kapa-making. Marie has researched Native kapa-making, and from her findings has developed ancient plant dyes for her own magnificent pieces. An exhibit of these pieces was recently held at the Honolulu Academy of Arts.
Marie has devoted many years to educating Hawaii's youth, as a resource specialist for the Department of Parks and Recreation and as an art teacher in North Kohala on Big Island. Her 10-acre farm, Honopua, on Hawaiian Home Lands in Waimea is a model program and resource for community members. The land also provides the materials for her lei and kapa.
Most recently Marie has supported the creation of the Hawaiian Ohana for Education in the Arts, which was established to increase the number, visibility and accessibility to Native Hawaiian arts and artists, and was kumu kapa during its first session in 2009. The long term vision for HOEA includes building a Community Art Center in one of the Hawaiian Home Land communities in Waimea, and its development into an accredited post secondary school of Hawaiian Fine Arts.
- Michael Rosenburg
> Michael A. Rosenberg, president and general manager of KITV-TV, has been re-elected to the Muscular Dystrophy Association's national vice president position for one year. In July, Rosenberg announced he will retire from his 40-year career in broadcasting at the end of the year. His career began at NBC and he joined ABC in 1972. Rosenberg, 63, has led KITV for 15 years after a decade at KHON. Among other community activities, he is president of the Hawaii Broadcasters Association, and a director of Manoa Valley Theatre.
> Rotary Club of Ala Moana has elected the following new officers for 2010-2011: George Ing, president and head of the leadership team; Greg Concilla, president-elect; Richard Kagehiro, vice president/sergeant-at-arms; Kevin McCrary, secretary; and Candice Naito, treasurer. Board of directors: Dave Berry, Mary Ann Berry, Rich Courson, Ed Fong, Gwenette Higa, Sam Shenkus, Sam Ustare and Kristine Westmoreland.
> Tax Foundation of Hawaii has elected new members of its board of directors for three-year terms: Helen Chang, director of corporate tax for Hawaiian Airlines, and Deneen Nakashima, partner for Grant Thornton. Re-elected were Ronald I. Heller, an attorney with Torkildson Katz Moore Hetherington & Harris, and Manoj Samaranyake, vice president and corporate tax director for Bank of Hawaii.
> Helping Hands Hawaii has appointed Jan Harada as president and chief executive officer of the agency. Her experience includes executive director of Palama Settlement and positions at the state of Hawaii Department of Health's Bioterrorism Response, Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program and DOH Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division.
> Hawaii Public Radio has appointed Dave Lawrence as a full-time staff member of the news department and host of "All Things Considered."
> St. Francis Healthcare System rehired Patty Martin as director of volunteer programs. She has more than 30 years' experience in human resources for a number of organizations, including vice president of human resources for Hoana Medical, senior vice president and director of human resources for Central Pacific Bank, director of human resources for Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific, and human resources administrator for Straub Clinic & Hospital.
> The Association of Records Managers and Administrations Hawaii Chapter has elected new officers for 2010-11: Wendell Elento, president; Tracie Mukai, vice president; Pam Cabral, secretary; and Rosalie Brissette, treasurer. Directors are Blake Kiyabu, Kimberley Manning, Chris Harris and Gwen Massiah. Debra Musgrove is immediate past president.
> Bishop Museum's chairman of anthropology, Tianlong Jiao, has been given the first 2007 Philip and Eugenia Cho Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Asian Studies by the Cambria Press of Youngstown, N.Y. The inaugural award recognizes Jiao's new book, "The Neolithic of Southeast China: Cultural Transformation and Regional Interaction on the Coast," published by Cambria Press.
