Lia O’Neill Keawe was raised on Hawai'i Island in Hilo. She is an assistant professor at Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. A long time admirer of all things ulana lau hala, Keawe has now become a practitioner of this traditional and customary art form.
C. Kurt Dewhurst, Ph.D. is director emeritus & curator of folk life and cultural heritage at the Michigan State University Museum, USA and professor of English at Michigan State University, USA. His research interests include folk arts, material culture, ethnicity, occupational folk culture, and cultural economic development, and cultural heritage policy.
Marsha L. MacDowell is professor of art and art history, Michigan State University, USA; curator, Michigan State University Museum, USA; core faculty member MSU museum studies program; and coordinator, Michigan Traditional Arts Program (a state wide partnership of the MSU Museum and the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs). Her research is focused on the documentation and analysis of the production, meaning, and use of traditional material culture; the development of educational resources and public arts policies related to traditional arts; the development of curriculum materials related to community-based knowledge; and the creation of innovative ways, including digital repositories, to increase access to and use of traditional arts materials.
