The Women of YWCA O'ahu Mural
In 2020, we worked with local artist Kris Goto to create a mural in our historic Laniākea building commemorating our now 125-year legacy. The seven women depicted in the mural were integral to the founding and perpetuation of YWCA O‘ahu.
Learn more about Artist Kris Goto’s creative process and the Women of YWCA O'ahu.
Video Credits: Nella Media Group
About the Women of YWCA O'ahu
Patsy T. Mink
Patsy T. Mink was an influential politician and advocate who made history as the first woman of color elected to the U.S. Congress. Throughout her career, Mink championed equal rights and education. Her most notable achievement was Title IX, a landmark law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs and transformed opportunities for women in education and sports.
In honor of her legacy, YWCA O'ahu named their business center after her: The Patsy T. Mink Center for Business and Leadership, located at YWCA Laniākea. The center continues to inspire and equip women with the skills, mentorship, and networks to excel in business and leadership roles. In so doing, the center reflects Mink’s vision for a more inclusive and equitable future.
Patsy’s influence endures through her legislative achievements and the ongoing work of the center, where women continue to follow her path of advocacy and leadership.
Julia Morgan
Born in San Francisco, California in 1872, Julia Morgan attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied civil engineering before pursuing a groundbreaking career in architecture. Over the course of her life, Julia designed more than 700 buildings, including YWCA Oahu’s historic headquarters at Laniākea. Her most famous work, however, is Hearst Castle, located near San Luis Obispo, California. In 1902, Julia became the first woman to be admitted to one of the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts schools in Paris. She remains the only female architect to receive the AIA Gold Medal, which was awarded to her posthumously in recognition of her pioneering contributions to the field.
Julia's talent and success helped pave the way for other women to enter the architecture space. Her design for Laniākea was particularly progressive; she ensured the space included facilities for women to exercise and swim, activities that were strongly discouraged for women at the time. Today, Julia Morgan's legacy lives on through her buildings. Café Julia at YWCA Laniākea is named in her memory.
Elizabeth Fuller
Elizabeth Fuller was a YWCA O'ahu charter member and the second president of the Hawaiian Girls Club, a recreational program of YWCA O'ahu centered around helping young women. In 1917, she graduated from McKinley High School with honors and went on to graduate from the Territorial Normal School the following year. Elizabeth dedicated herself to serving Hawaii’s youth through teaching in public schools and volunteering as a Sunday school teacher at Kawaiaha‘o Church. Elizabeth was a gifted athlete, but was also recognized for her talents in hula and singing. She performed with a troupe that traveled to share Hawaiian culture abroad.
Tragically, Elizabeth contracted cholera during a trip to India and passed away in June 1923 at a mere 25 years old. In honor of her contributions to Hawaii’s youth, members of the Hawaiian Girls Club raised funds to build a new gym at YWCA Laniākea, naming it after their beloved president. “Fuller Hall,” as the space was named, is still in use today.
Toshiko Takaezu
Toshiko Takaezu was one of the 20th century's most influential ceramicists. The daughter of a Japanese immigrant family, Toshiko was born in Hawaii in 1922. She began her ceramics training in Honolulu before studying at the Cranbrook Academy in Michigan, a school known for modernist innovation. Inspired by both Eastern traditions and Western Abstract Expressionism, she developed a unique artistic language that blended these influences.
In 1948, Takaezu opened a ceramics studio in the basement of YWCA Laniākea, where she created beautiful artwork for decades until the shop closed in 2008. Throughout her life, Takaezu sought to be in harmony with nature. She believed that her art was a path to self-revelation and once remarked, “It gives me answers for my life.”
Takaezu's signature "closed forms" style, sealed pots resembling human hearts, torsos, and large spheres, became her artistic identity. She also expanded into textiles and paintings, furthering her chromatic exploration. Takaezu’s legacy lives on through her work and through the generations of artists she mentored at renowned institutions like the Cleveland Institute of Art and Princeton University.
Mary Sia
Mary Sia was an influential chef who made Chinese cooking accessible to everyone. She taught cooking classes at YWCA O'ahu for nearly 30 years, sharing her expertise with generations of students. A Honolulu native, Mary earned a degree in home economics from the University of Hawai‘i and furthered her studies in nutrition and music at Cornell and Yale. Her love for Chinese cooking was instilled in her by her mother, Dr. T. H. Kong Li, and only deepened when she moved to Peking, China, in the 1920s with her husband, Dr. Richard H. P. Sia. Upon returning to Honolulu in the 1940s, Mary began teaching at YWCA O'ahu and published her first book, Chinese Chopsticks. Eventually, she became a director with the organization and served as vice president of the board from 1945 to 1946.
Mary’s approach to Chinese cooking was both innovative and accessible, and her versatile teaching style catered not only to women, but to men as well. Her time-tested recipes remain beloved to this day. In 2013, YWCA O'ahu honored Mary’s legacy by converting her former teaching space, Room 304, into the Patsy T. Mink Center for Business and Leadership. The center continues to inspire, just as Mary’s culinary influence lives on.
Emma Louise Dillingham
Emma Louise Dillingham was a founding member of YWCA O'ahu. It was at her cottage on the corner of Beretania and Punahou streets that she and dozens of other women gathered to discuss the formation of YWCA O'ahu in 1900.
Aside from being a charter member, Mrs. Dillingham also served as YWCA Oahu’s second board president from 1907 to 1912. Her daughter, Mrs. W.F. Frear later became the fourth president, holding the position from 1914 to 1919.
In addition to her work with the YWCA, Mrs. Dillingham was a founding member of the Daughters of Hawaii, an organization created to preserve and celebrate the heritage of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i, including its history and language.
Catherine Jones Richards
Hawaii’s first licensed landscape architect, Catherine Jones Richards was the visionary behind the landscaping of YWCA Laniākea. A descendant of missionaries in Honolulu, Catherine studied landscape architecture both in the continental United States and abroad in Europe. She returned from her studies to Honolulu in 1926 to begin her practice. Even while she was away from Hawaii, Catherine remained deeply connected to the islands. Upon opening her studio in 1928, she committed to spending the rest of her life beautifying Honolulu. She expressed her love for Hawai'i, saying, “My aloha was doubled during my absence. Always, I have felt the call of the Islands.”
In 1934, Catherine partnered with landscape architect Robert O. Thompson, whom she had met while he was studying at Harvard. They married and formed the firm Thompson and Thompson, together becoming the leading landscape designers in Hawaii. Some of their most notable projects include the Honolulu Museum of Art, Tripler Army Hospital, and the Pacific Club.
About the Artist
Photo Credits: Mark Kushimi
Honolulu-based artist Kris Goto was born in Kagoshima, Japan and spent her adolescence in Hong Kong and New Zealand before moving to Hawai‘i in 2006. She once aspired to become a manga artist, particularly inspired by the works of Yuu Watase and Tezuka Osamu. This period became the foundation of her detailed and meticulous penmanship. She is currently inspired by the day-to-day life of the local island lifestyle and culture in Hawai‘i where she applies her imagination, humor, cynicism and whimsicality onto paper and on walls.
Kris has been involved in many art exhibitions, both in group and solo in various venues throughout Hawai‘i, including The Arts at Marks Garage and Greenroom Hawaii Gallery. She has also exhibited outside of the state of Hawai‘i, including Santa Cruz, CA, Yokohama, Japan and Guéthary, France.
She began her career as a muralist in 2013. Throughout the past several years, she has worked on murals in various locations in O’ahu, California and France.
Website: www.krisgoto.com
Instagram: @KGOTOART
Facebook: artofgoto
