On July 23, 2026, Leohone unveiled her newest painting, Ka Hā‘ule ka Pouli (When the Darkness Falls), during a special unveiling event at Island Art Galleries. The painting is the 27th piece in her ‘Ike Ho‘omaopopo series, a collection exploring the influence and teachings that carry Hawaiian culture forward through generations.

At the center of this moving piece is Charly ‘Ailana, a young hula dancer whose story is one of heartbreaking loss but also of perseverance and hope. 

Ua hula ‘oia. She danced.

Charly’s family home was destroyed in the devastating Lahaina Fire (2023) on the island of Maui. According to her Kumu Hula (a master teacher in the art of hula), Charly bravely danced her way through the aftermath of the disaster. Each week, her mother faithfully drove her to Kahului for hula, and in July of the following year, Charly was crowned 2024 Miss Keiki Hula.

With her strong Christian faith, inner strength, and driving passion for hula, Charly danced her way through an overwhelming darkness to reach the dawn of a new and brighter day. 

Ua hula ‘oia. She danced.

The setting of the painting is Olowalu, a community on Maui's southern shore just east of Lahaina. This location holds special significance to Charly's family history, as it is also the birthplace of Charly’s great-grandmother, Hattie Ho‘olulu Kuia (1923-2001), who was born there more than a century ago.

As with the other works in her ‘Ike Ho‘omaopopo series, Leohone explores the enduring influence of those whose teachings preserve Hawaiian culture and pass it down to future generations. Charly is therefore accompanied by spirit figures representing the two women who have helped shape her journey: her mother, Kim Ann Magno, to her left, and her beloved Kumu Hula, Nāpua Silva of Hālau Nā Lei Kaumaka o Uka in Waiohuli, Maui, to her right.

"I was moved to paint Charly along with her mom and her Kumu. I was so very deeply touched by her story of loss and her ultimate triumph."

— Leohone

Ua hula ‘oia. She danced.