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News Releases 
June, 2010 AWARDS & COMMENDATIONS
The Art Of Mauna Kea Beach Hotel
Rockefeller art collection under restoration during Hotel closure
MAUNA KEA RESORT, HI – 1,600 eclectic pieces of art from the Pacific Rim, Polynesia and Asia make up the museum-quality collection gathered by Laurance S. Rockefeller for his "shocking" Big Island hotel in 1965. Today, as the Mauna Kea enjoys a post-earthquake repair and renovation, the art is lovingly being restored by a pair of dedicated conservationists.
Normally, at Mr. Rockefeller's direction, the art collection is informally grouped around the hotel for guests to experience up-close-and-personal. But for safekeeping during construction, Hawaiian tapa cloths and tiki, Ainu kimono, glittery Thai icons, Maori canoe prows, bronze Indian chests, wooden carvings and countless other interesting things are grouped like a Sotheby's back-room auction in the hotel’s Lloyd Sexton Gallery. Here, Michael Jones of Art Services Hawaii and Dee Edmunds of the resort engineering staff perform the painstaking work of cleaning and restoring these possibly priceless, ojets d’art.
Some work is damage repair; some is normal maintenance. "Everything we do has to be reversible," says Jones. "Fifty years from now we need to be able to remove the repair and fix the original." From insect damage to wind abrasion and just plain dirt, each issue requires separate techniques and materials. Says Jones, "Termites eat the wood; everything made of bronze corrodes and needs constant attention. Every time the wind blows, there are micro-abrasives in the air. You can even see the red dirt under a microscope and it looks like sand spurs, sharp and jagged."
Jones and Edmunds are meticulously re-gilding a gold temple fish one-micron sheet of gold leaf at a time. Precious gold powder is swept up with a squirrel-hair brush into a baby food jar for use later. In another part of the room a large awa bowl is being put back together like a smooth koa jigsaw puzzle; an ‘iwa bird statue has a mended wing; other pieces wait for new mounts or frames Outside, the benevolent 7th Century pink granite Buddha sits protected in a wooden crate. (Even he jiggled about 1/16th" off his base during the October 2006 quake).
The collection is a signature element of the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, extensively detailed in the book The Art of Mauna Kea, by Dr. Don Aanavi.
"It is an important collection because it was put together by an important person, for a reason," says Jones. "Laurance Rockefeller knew art very well and {the collection} was put together with two things in mind: geography and spirituality. The geography is the Pacific Rim. As far as spirituality, it is all art that has something to do with people seeking some kind of spiritual life. From tribal to Buddhist -- very primitive efforts, to extremely sophisticated ways of finding a spiritual life."
An important collection for an important hotel, perhaps conceived by Mr. Rockefeller as a place for various seekers on their eclectic paths.
The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and Golf Course is scheduled to reopen in December. The hotel is currently accepting reservations. For more information, please visit www.MaunaKeaPreview.com.
The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel was the vision of respected hotelier Laurance S. Rockefeller and opened its doors in 1965. Steeped in Aloha, the classic elegance of The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel perpetuates the true Hawaiian traditions of the islands.
Prince Resorts Hawaii, Inc. operates four hotels in Hawaii: Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki, Maui Prince Hotel, Makena Resort, Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel and Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. Also in operation are the golf courses: Hawaii Prince Golf Club, Makena Golf Course, Hapuna Golf Course and Mauna Kea Golf Course. For information on Prince Resorts Hawaii, Inc. properties, please call toll-free 1-866-PRINCE-6 or visit www.PrinceResortsHawaii.com.
Liana Mulleitner
Prince Resorts Hawaii
808-944-4411
lmulleitner@hiprince.com
Newsletters
04/27/09 - Mauna Kea Resort Spring 2009 Newsletter
02/09/09 - Mauna Kea Resort Winter 2008 Newsletter
07/24/08 - Mauna Kea Resort Summer 2008 Newsletter
04/24/08 - Mauna Kea Resort April 2008 Newsletter
04/03/08 - Mauna Kea Resort Spring 2008 Newsletter
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