Make-A-Wish Hawaii
MURAL
Research shows a wish can give kids the strength to fight against and even overcome a critical illness.
The team in Hawaii creates life-changing wishes for children living in the state as well as kids who wish to come to Hawaii.
Design Process
The mural for the Wish Assist wall captures the beauty of Hawaii and all the fun experiences that await kids coming from the mainland. The Make-A-Wish team and I discussed a list of landmarks to feature: Diamondhead, Pearl Harbor (Missouri Battleship and Arizona Memorial), Akaka Falls, Ko’olau Mountains, Makapu’u Lighthouse, surfing, tropical plants, coral, and wildlife.
I created pencil sketches with two different compositions. The team picked the one on the left as their favorite. Then, I digitized the sketch and added the Make-A-Wish brand colors. Once the color version was approved, I got to work painting!
Digital color design
Mural
The colors I used were mainly the Make-A-Wish branding colors. I just added some darker blues to create contrast.
You can see the allusion to four strings in the ukulele waterfall. Also, I depicted Diamondhead as the top of a tuna fish because the Hawaiian word for the landmark is Le’ahi, which means “brow of the tuna.” My background as a tour guide comes in handy for sneaky double meanings. 🤓
This was a super fun mural to paint! The subject matter is near and dear to my heart. As a transplant to Hawaii, I’ve come to appreciate the historical and natural beauty of this special place.
Testimonial
“We recently moved into our new office and were looking for something unique and cheerful that would capture some of the special landmarks on O’ahu. Siena’s work is a wonderful reminder of the exquisite beauty of our island home and how lucky we are to live in such a special place.
“Siena was great to work with - extremely responsive and thoughtful about her design. She was also timely in her execution of the project. We couldn’t believe something so beautiful was created in a relatively short amount of time. Our team LOVES the mural and I find myself going in to look at it several times each day.
“We wholeheartedly recommend Siena and appreciate her commitment to creating a beautiful space for our staff who work so tirelessly to grant wishes for keiki with critical illnesses. Siena, thank you for making our wish come true!”
Trini Kaopuiki Clark
President & CEO