PROMOTING PEACE THROUGH THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF THE ARTS

With budget cuts in the arts nationwide in schools and communities, Ohana Arts is committed to keeping the arts alive and valued in education and in communities at-large. As one of the only programs of its kind in Hawaii, Ohana Arts adds tremendous value to our community and continues to strive towards making  high quality arts education accessible to as many local students as possible.  We strongly believe that the performing arts has a great, life-long impact on students which provides them with a plethora of transferrable skills including teamwork, communication, public speaking, and interpersonal skills that will serve them in whatever career path they choose.

 ABOUT OHANA ARTS

Ohana Arts is a 501(c)(3) non-profit performing arts organization (Tax ID #27-2669775) which aims to inspire and engage people through high caliber educational and professional arts programs, and to cultivate an international family (Ohana) in the Pacific by promoting world friendship and peace through the universal language of the arts. Ohana Arts teaches students to be responsible, compassionate, and patient leaders, as well as creative, independent thinkers in our changing global society. Ohana Arts offers an intensive musical theatre programs for youth ages 6-18 from over 40 schools island-wide and the US mainland.  The program presents a high quality arts education experience as a means of building self-confidence, self-expression, creativity, the ability to work with others, and make lasting friendships in a diverse environment.  Through the performing arts, students are encouraged to incorporate peace into their way of thinking on both a micro and macro level. 

HISTORY

Ohana Arts was founded in 2010 by composer Jenny Taira, stage director Cari Chung (Taira), and singer and author Laurie Rubin. They envisioned a place for Hawaii's youth to have high quality training and performing opportunities with highly accomplished and successful artists around the country. They wanted to create a safe space for children and teens to be themselves, and learn how to express themselves more fully. In 2010, Ohana Arts launched its summer musical theater program with 22 students from around Oahu. The organization has just celebrated its 12th anniversary, and now serves students from over 40 schools around Oahu, as well as students from the contiguous States. The summer of 2022 marks the fourth summer in which Ohana Arts will run in cooperation with the University of Hawaii’s Department of Theatre and Dance with all classes, rehearsals, and performances taking place on campus.

The Ohana Arts Summer Festival and School provides a unique opportunity for local students to study with faculty from the nation's leading conservatories and universities, as well as theatre professionals who regularly work onbroadway, off-broadway, in regional theaters, community theaters, and performing arts schools. Students take daily music, dance, and acting classes, and gain valuable skills through live performing experiences including preparations for a musical showcase, a student recital, and a fully staged musical theatre production.

In 2014, Ohana Arts  launched a youth repertory theater company dedicated to commissioning, producing, and touring original staged works focused on telling stories from the youth perspective and experience, specifically focused on themes of cultural, ethnic, BIPOC, disability, and LGBTQIA diversity.  Its flagship musical “Peace On Your Wings,” based on the true story of 12 year old Hiroshima atomic bomb victim Sadako Sasaki and her thousand paper cranes, had its world premiere on Oahu in November 2014, and subsequently toured the neighbor islands of Maui, Kauai, the Island of Hawaii, Los Angeles, New York, San Jose, San Francisco, and Sacramento over the past four years.  In August of 2023, “Peace On Your Wings” will made it's exciting Japan Debut in Hiroshima, as well as returned to California for a performance run at the Aratani Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

In the Spring of 2024, Ohana Arts expanded its offerings to include year-round classes and workshops through its Musical Theatre Academy.

OUR PROGRAMS

The performing arts education that students receive at Ohana Arts does more than to furnish them with skills for specific careers in the performing arts. Whether or not students will go on to pursue careers in this industry, they gain confidence, poise, public speaking ability, a family in which everyone is accepted for who he or she is, and most importantly, a greater purpose that keeps youth directed and focused through their formative years.  Ohana Arts offers three programs:The After School Musical Theatre Academy, Summer Festival & School, and the Youth Theatre Company.

Musical Theatre Academy

The Ohana Arts Musical Theatre Academy provides workshop-style classes to build skills and techniques for students in elementary through high school in acting, music, and dance which culminate in fully staged musical theater productions. Ohana Arts is pleased to partner with Hanahau’oli School, one of Hawaii’s premiere independent elementary schools for its inaugural year round musical theater program for students in 1st-6th grade. Ohana Arts is also offering a musical theater program for secondary students in 7th-12th grade to be held at the Buddhist Study Center.

Summer Festival & School

The Ohana Arts Festival & School provides a unique opportunity for students ages 6-18 to study with world-class faculty and guest artists from around the country in music, dance, and drama in intensive, 6 or 7-week intensive summer programs from June 2nd-July 20th, 2025.  Students from over 40 different schools island-wide and from the US mainland are expected to gather this summer on the beautiful campus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa to grow together as young artists in a supportive and motivating atmosphere.

Youth Theatre Company
The Ohana Arts Youth Theatre Company commissions, produces, and tours new staged works focused on themes of diversity, written for youth performers. It’s flagship production, “Peace On Your Wings,” based on the true story of 12 year old Hiroshima atomic bomb victim Sadako Sasaki and her thousand paper cranes, premiered on Oahu in 2014, and subsequently toured Kauai, Maui, the Island of Hawaii, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, and made its debut in Hiroshima Japan over the past ten years. The show also helped to establish a partnership with the Hawaii Department of Education, providing opportunities for Ohana Arts Youth Theatre Company outreach week day performances to be attended by Hawaii public school students free of charge. Future performances include an encore run of “Peace On Your Wings” taking place on and around the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing in Fukuoka and Hiroshima in 2025, and the world premiere of the musical theater adaptation of Lee Tonouchi’s “The Okinawan Princess,” co-written by Tonouchi and Ohana Arts’ own Jenny Taira, to premiere on Oahu in 2026.

The program provides a comprehensive performing arts education to include classes in acting, dance, music, private voice instruction, and opportunities to perform in fully staged musical theater productions. The program also offers a unique pre-college experience for high school students interested in applying to performing arts colleges, taught by professors from the nation’s leading conservatories and universities.  Ohana Arts invites faculty from Hawaii, New York, LA, and beyond with successful careers in the industry to serve as stage directors, music directors, choreographers, voice teachers’ and acting teachers. The students also have the benefit of having opportunities to collaborate with other students and perform in weekly open mic session, as well as attend lunchtime workshops and discussions with special industry guests.   Summer classes culminate in a festival of musical theater productions open to the public, which takes place over the course of three weekends at Kennedy Theatre and Earl Ernst Lab Theatre at UH Manoa.

Visit our website:  http://ohanaarts.org

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Ohana Arts is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (Tax ID #27-2668775) with a mission to inspire and engage people through high caliber educational and professional arts programs, and to cultivate an international family (Ohana) in the Pacific by promoting world friendship and peace through the universal language of the arts.