From Kakaako to Kalihi and beyond, Jasper Wong, the founder of World Wide Walls, builds communities through public art.

How do you think the POW! WOW! Hawaii mural festivals changed Kakaako?

We started in Kakaako in 2011, and in a lot of ways Kakaako was a forgotten district then. People didn’t really go there unless they needed to go to Fisher (Hawaii, for office supplies), or to get their car fixed. It was a great location — it was industrial, and with industrial neighborhoods, you had walls that you could paint on. And it was also central to Honolulu, being in between Chinatown/Downtown, and Ward/Ala Moana. So we just started painting. … It was literally a blank canvas for us. And we kept painting. We started off with just one mural. Then 12. Over 100, over the years.

People started getting interested in the art. Art on the buildings made Kakaako feel more vibrant, more alive. Then you started seeing a lot of people come by, and a lot of tourists coming by, trying to find all the murals. That made Kakaako safer, because there were more people walking around. Traffic went to local restaurants and local shops, and boosted those businesses. And then more businesses came, transforming Kakaako over the past decade into what it is now.

POW! WOW! Hawaii, now World Wide Walls, marked its 10th anniversary in May 2021 with a Bishop Museum exhibition, one of the first notable events to follow the COVID-19 pandemic. Do you consider it a success?

Yes. I think it opened at a good time, when we were slowly coming out of the pandemic. For a lot of the artists involved in the exhibition, it was the first time they had traveled since the pandemic started. Our last festival in Kakaako was February 2020; the next month after that it was COVID and everything got locked down. And then we did the Bishop Museum exhibition, which I’d been wanting to do for years. The exhibition highlighted local artists, local street artists and that culture, and graffiti. We were already doing exhibitions like that in other cities, like Long Beach, Calif. We were lucky that the Bishop Museum was open to it.

How have your worldwide festivals evolved over the past decade?

A decade ago, if we could get a wall, we’d paint on it. It was very difficult to convince people to let us paint. These days, we can get the walls, so we want to do work that benefits underserved communities, or people that really could use art in their lives. So in Hawaii, we do all our work in Kalihi now. In other cities, we’ve done public housing communities, libraries, even schools for homeless children in Kathmandu. The projects add color and add life. … At one project that we did in public housing, a mother told us her two daughters would always be afraid to tell people where they were from, because there’s a stigma associated with living in public housing. But one day, her youngest daughter mentioned her housing, and someone asked if that was where all the painting was happening, the murals were happening. That small shift in perception meant everything — gave them pride.

How has your latest project in Kalihi been received?

When we revealed that World Wide Walls’ mural project would take place in Kalihi, some people wondered why, saying, you know, “It’s dangerous.” But the people of Kalihi really embraced our artists. People would go out of their way to bring food; some even tried to pay the artists! One of the artists was painting at an elementary school across the street from public housing. A family that lived in the housing had been following her work for years — and when they learned she was across the street, they would come almost every day to offer her food and well wishes. … Two people who came — one of them was blind, and his friend would take him around to see all the murals as they were being painted, and describe the murals to him. They were there almost every day!

World Wide Walls worked for years to contribute a mural paying tribute to lifeguards on county park land, at Sandy Beach (presented in 2021). This year, you’ve been “ghosted” by public housing officials who had expressed interest in a murals project. What would make it easier to continue to donate murals in public spaces here?

A. Honestly, one of the best ways would be for the city to help make these projects happen. A lot of people would like to give back and donate (art). But there are so many barriers, and people get frustrated and give up, or feel their help isn’t wanted. Instead of facing barriers, maybe those who want to give back could be helped through that process.

Bonus question

How did you manage to bring “the Daniels” — Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the Academy Award-winning directors of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” — to Bishop Museum and Kalihi for this year’s World Wide Walls festival?

A. The Daniels came to Honolulu not long after they won all the awards for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” But when I invited them to come to Hawaii to do a talk, we didn’t know that would happen. I’d watched their other film, “Swiss Army Man,” and their music videos, and I thought they would be great. They said they were interested; it turned out that they were fans of the World Wide Walls festivals. Perfect match. Then they started getting nominated for and winning everything! I remember saying, “Oh man, I don’t think they’re gonna come anymore. I think they’re too famous now.” But they did agree. … Thankfully, Toyota was open to a sponsorship, which allowed us to get sound, stage and a screen. And the event broke attendance records for a talk at the (Bishop) museum.

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The bio file

>> Title: Artist, designer, art director, curator and community organizer.

>> Achievements: Founded World Wide Walls (formerly POW! WOW!), a nonprofit offering community beautification through public art in more than 25 cities globally, producing nearly 70 festivals over a decade. Co-founded Lana Lane Studios, an artists’ space/community center in Kakaako. Exhibits globally as an artist and designer; clients include Uniqlo, Versace, Disney, Hulu, Nike, Spalding, NBA, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s and Microsoft.

>> Community: Volunteer teacher/artist, Palama Settlement. Organizes/facilitates mural and public art projects at public schools and public housing, community centers and in underserved areas worldwide.

>> Family: Married to Amy Luu Wong; two daughters, ages 10 and 5.