Maui High ornaments to hang in US Capitol holiday display School art to decorate state tree near the National Christmas Tree

Schuyler-Rae Barcoma-Suyat, a junior at Maui High School, said it was an honor to create ornaments for the Hawaii tree in the National Christmas Tree display in Washington, D.C. Photos courtesy of the Hawaii Department of Education

The Maui News

The National Christmas Tree display on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., this year will have a Maui High School touch with nene and Pele.

The Kahului high school was chosen to decorate the Hawaii tree, one of 56 trees representing states, territories and the District of Columbia, that surround the National Christmas Tree, a National Park Service news release said Monday.

Maui High artists from the school’s Visual Arts Department created 24 one-of-a-kind ornaments with images of Maui and Hawaii. The images were planned, researched, designed and hand-painted with acrylic paint and mixed media, said Krislyn Yano, state Department of Education communications specialist Monday.

“Student designs are rich with Hawaiian cultural and historical imagery, as well as imagery of endemic Hawaiian wildlife and plant life,” she said.

Teige-Anna Barcoma-Suyat of Maui High creates one of 24 ornaments that will hang from the Hawaii tree at the National Christmas Tree display in Washington, D.C. The tree will be one of 56 trees surrounding the National Christmas Tree in the Ellipse.

Kayla Ugalino Vicera, a senior and four-year art student at Maui High, said she wanted “to make sure to include culture and history in the ornaments, not just paint stereotypical Hawaii things like flowers and sunsets. I painted goddess Pele, for example, and our silversword plant.

“I am Filipino, but I drew inspiration from growing up here and also from stories that were shared with me by family friends. I felt a little pressured to do art to represent the whole state, but I also felt very honored.”

She added that her mom and grandma “were very proud, too.”

Schuyler-Rae Barcoma-Suyat, a junior and three-year art student, said “it was a great honor to represent the entire state of Hawaii and show the world what we can do in terms of art.”

“It’s a great way to express ourselves, to express our culture. I painted native Hawaiian birds, like the Hawaiian stilt. I also researched Hawaiian activities, like surfing and hula, so I can see what kind of position they stand in,” Barcoma-Suyat said.

Pele appears on an ornament created by a Maui High School student.

From state flowers to notable landmarks, more than 1,500 students created ornaments that celebrate their state, district or territory, the park service said.

Through a partnership with the park service and the National Park Foundation, which funded the project, the U.S. Department of Education worked with state art and education agencies to identify elementary, middle and high schools whose students would create the ornaments for the “America Celebrates” display.

Last year, Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School on Oahu painted the ornaments for the Hawaii tree.

The America Celebrates display is one of the highlights of the National Christmas Tree festivities, which will begin Dec. 5 with the 97th annual National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony.

In 1923, a letter arrived at the White House from the District of Columbia Public Schools proposing that a decorated Christmas tree be placed on the South Lawn of the White House. On Christmas Eve that year, President Calvin Coolidge walked from the Oval Office to the Ellipse and pushed a button that lit the first National Christmas Tree. It was a 48-foot fir donated by Middlebury College in Vermont.

Things from home, like the nene, were painted on ornaments by Maui High students that will hang on the Hawaii tree in the National Christmas tree display.

Since 1973, the National Christmas Tree has been a living tree, which can be viewed year-round in President’s Park — one of 419 national parks — comprised of the White House including the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the Treasury Building and grounds, the White House Visitor Center, Lafayette Square, and the Ellipse. The park service recently planted a new Colorado blue spruce to serve as the National Christmas Tree.

The National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony will kick off the holiday season with live musical performances, special guests and the official lighting of the tree. The festivities continue with a daily lighting of the National Christmas Tree, free evening musical performances and a chance to see the 56 state, district and territory trees and their ornaments from Dec. 9 through Jan. 1.

For more event information and updates, visit www.thenationaltree.org or follow President’s Park on Facebook or Twitter.