Tribute to Iz hits corporate snag

By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer

It sounded like one of those welcome, warm and fuzzy notions that folks in Hawai'i could all accept without a fuss:

Jan-Michelle Sawyer has created a bust of Gabby Pahinui. She will keep working on her tribute to the late Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, despite opposition. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

The bust and statue idea was introduced and applauded early last February at a Wai'anae Coast Neighborhood Board meeting.

The project would take about a year to complete, residents were told. But now, 12 months later, the Iz tribute in bronze has become mired in financial obstacles and controversy.

The head of Kamakawiwo'ole's recording label, Mountain Apple, refuses to endorse the project, saying flatly, "I don't think Israel would have liked it." Donations for the $32,000 bronze bust have dried up (more than $20,000 short), and plans for the $100,000 Iz statue have been shelved altogether.

A January concert to raise money was canceled, and some Leeward O'ahu residents are now wondering why, if it's ever finished, the Iz bust should end up at The Waikiki Shell.

"What? You gonna put one Makaha brother in Waikiki?" said Kamakawiwo'ole's friend, James Rapoza, as he stood by the ocean at Makaha Beach Park holding "Duke," his Jack Russell terrier. "Iz represented the spirit, fun and music of this side of O'ahu. But I don't want to disencourage the woman who's making the Iz statue. She's trying to do a good thing."

When sculptor Jan-Michelle Sawyer — who created the Pahinui bust and donated it to the Waikiki Shell — presented the Iz bust and statue concept to Wai'anae Coast residents, the idea was warmly received.

Iz, after all, was from their own backyard. Sawyer, convinced that money for such a popular idea could be raised easily, said the project should take nine months to a year to complete.

Sawyer received a letter of thanks and encouragement from Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris, followed by one from the Kahanamoku Family Foundation agreeing to accept and oversee all donations for the Bruddah Iz sculpting project.

Sawyer and her representative, Liz Rizzo, say the project stalled after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., and charitable contributions were diverted to what was perceived as more critical needs.

However, trouble had been brewing between Sawyer and Mountain Apple before that.

"We asked them to go to the corporate world and ask for funds, not go to the public," said Kamakawiwo'ole's producer and Mountain Apple chief executive Jon de Mello. "Because if we go into Wai'anae and try to beg for money for a sculpture it appears to the residents of the community that it's Israel's family that's doing this.

"And (Sawyer and Rizzo) agreed to that. But they didn't do that. They did a thing with a radio station."

The radio thing was a two-week "Iz" campaign on KDDB F.M. (Da Bomb) in late August. The appeal was for spare change found in car seats and beneath couch cushions, said personality Paul Keahi, aka The Madd Hatter, who is also the station's promotional coordinator.

"People loved it," said Keahi. "We had a lot of support from the Wai'anae side. We had people all the way from Makaha bringing water jugs filled with pennies, nickels and dimes."

The effort raised $5,220, said Keahi, which Sawyer and Rizzo say brought the total to around $10,000. Two weeks later came the terrorist attacks and an end of foundation financing, according to Rizzo.

"We've got a whole book full of 'I'm sorry' letters from corporate foundations," she said.

Sawyer said she pulled the plug on last month's money-raising concert after she received a letter from Mountain Apple asking that the concert not take place. Sawyer said she did it out of deference to Kamakawiwo'ole's widow, Marlene, whose signature was on the letter.

"Marlene has been gracious from day one about all this," said Sawyer. She said Marlene Kamakawiwo'ole initially gave the Iz tribute her blessing but has since been influenced by de Mello, who Sawyer describes as someone who wants to control every aspect of anything associated with Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.

Rizzo said Marlene Kamakawiwo'ole has made it clear to her that she does not want to discuss the tribute with the media. Kamakawiwo'ole did not respond to efforts by The Advertiser to contact her.

Sawyer, who is also an adjunct professor at Hawai'i Pacific University, said her mistake was in seeking Mountain Apple's approval to begin with. She said she was "shocked" by de Mello's negative reaction to the project.

If anything, Sawyer says de Mello's reaction has made her more determined than ever to complete the bust. She says she stands to make little or no money from the project, and adds that Rizzo has donated all her time and effort.

The costs of the bust come from the high price of bronze and casting expenses. Sawyer claims their only motivation has been to honor Iz. She points out that when contributions for the Gabby Pahinui bust fell short, she coughed up $2,000 of her own to finish the art work.

"I am very disheartened about this because the people who love Iz want this to happen," said Sawyer. "But I am going to finish the piece regardless of whether we have the money or not. It will be cast in bronze come heck or high water.

"We are not going away."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8038.