Honolulu Reporter

(Washington, D.C.) – On May 12, 2023, Representative Jill Tokuda (HI-02) held a ceremony in Oahu to announce the winner of the U.S. Hou Representatives Artistic Discovery Contest, a high school art competition in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories to showcase their artistic talent. 

Rep. Tokuda announced that the panel of three local artist judges selected art created by Cailyn Omuro from Maui High School. Cailyn's masterpiece will hang in the U.S. Capitol in the Cannon tunnel on display for Members of Congress and tens of thousands of visitors to see.

Cailyn’s artwork is titled Hanagasa Waraba and the medium is colored pencil. 

Cailyn shared the significance of Hanagasa Waraba:

Waraba means “child” and Hanagasa is a flower hat worn traditionally by female Okinawan dancers. However, in this piece, I chose to portray the wearer as the feminine version of a boy in order to illustrate the struggle with sexuality and gender that is an integral part of society. There is a stigma associated with discussion about gender and sexuality.  By including the illustration of magpies, I tried to showcase the subjectiveness of stigma. In Western culture, the magpie is a symbol of bad luck, but in Eastern Asian culture, it is just the opposite. The duality of the magpie’s symbolism mirrors the juxtaposing impact of the boy in the Hangasa. I hope that with this piece, I can make a small contribution to breaking the silence effect of the stigma on this topic.

Tokuda also announced that the two finalists will have their art featured in her offices in Washington, D.C. and Hawaiʻi on a rotating exhibit so visitors to her offices can see the works of art.

The top two high school finalists from the Second Congressional District are:

Lia Kuo, Hilo High School, finalist

Tiffany Castillo, Leilehua High School, finalist.

Original source can be found here.