Biography
Mark Boots Keahi ‘A‘amau Pio ‘ole i ka Poli o Pele Lupenui is a native Hawaiian musician, artist and storyteller. Boots earned his Master’s degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis on painting and drawing from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from Whittier College in Los Angeles where he subsequently lived and worked as a professional musician for several years.
Boots spent a summer living in Florence working on his art and his work was included in the 2019 Venice and Cuban Biennale. A first for a Native Hawaiian artist to be featured in both exhibits. Most recently he was a featured story teller on NPR's The Moth Radio Hour. Among his awards he was the recipient of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center grant and named a winner of Sappi Paper Company’s “Ideas That Matter” international graphic design award. In 2025, Boots along with his band, The Kohala Mountain Boys, was invited to perform a concert at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. In 2007 Boots' work was juried into the “Artists of Hawai‘i" show and in 2009 he was nominated for a Po‘okela Award for book illustration by the Hawai‘i Book Publishers Association.
Boots resides in Kohala where his family roots run deep.
Boots spent a summer living in Florence working on his art and his work was included in the 2019 Venice and Cuban Biennale. A first for a Native Hawaiian artist to be featured in both exhibits. Most recently he was a featured story teller on NPR's The Moth Radio Hour. Among his awards he was the recipient of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center grant and named a winner of Sappi Paper Company’s “Ideas That Matter” international graphic design award. In 2025, Boots along with his band, The Kohala Mountain Boys, was invited to perform a concert at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. In 2007 Boots' work was juried into the “Artists of Hawai‘i" show and in 2009 he was nominated for a Po‘okela Award for book illustration by the Hawai‘i Book Publishers Association.
Boots resides in Kohala where his family roots run deep.
Résumé
Education
2016 MFA Graduate – May, Painting, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, California
Awards
2026 Ho‘ākea Source Grant in partnership with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts: Shapeshifter of Kohala
2025 First Peoples Fund Native Performing Arts Production Grant
2023 American Folklife Center Grant Award, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Of the People recipient: Widening the Path for oral history and documentary: “Unearthing the Lost Songs of Kohala”
2022 Schaefer Portrait Challenge, Kahului, Maui
2018 Schaefer Portrait Challenge, Kahului, Maui
2015 Ke Ali‘i Pauahi Foundation, Scholarship Award, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2014 Ke Ali‘i Pauahi Foundation, Scholarship Award, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2013 Ke Ali‘i Pauahi Foundation, Scholarship Award, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2013 Kamehameha Schools, ‘Imi Na‘auao Scholarship Award, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2012 Academy of Art University, Presidential Scholarship Award, San Francisco, California
2009 Hawai‘i Book Publishers Association, Po‘okela Award Nominee, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2006 University of Hawai‘i, John Young Scholarship Award, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2004 Sappi Paper Company, Ideas That Matter International Graphic Design Award, Johannesburg, South Africa
Presentations & Exhibitions
2026 National Public Radio: The Moth Radio Hour
2025 Hawai‘i Public Radio Hour: Sharing songs of Kohala in Washington D.C.
2025 Library of Congress Symposium Concert in Washington, D.C.
2024 Hawai‘i Public Radio Interview, Preserving the Treasures of the Past through Storytelling
2024 The Moth Mainstage in Honolulu at Hawai‘i Theater
2024 Civil Beat, Hawai‘i Storytellers: Where I Live: Kona and Kohala
2019 Venice Biennale, Benetton Collection, Venice Italy
2019 Cuban Biennale, Centro de Arte Contemporaneo Wilfredo Lam, Havana, Cuba
2018 A Legacy of Teaching Exhibition, Gallery ‘Iolani, Kāne‘ohe, Hawai‘i
2017 Punahou Art Show, Punahou Art Gallery, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2016 Matchbox Plus Show, Cedar Street Galleries, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2016 Mixed Media Miniatures Show, Koa Art Gallery, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2007 Artists of Hawai‘i, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, Hawai‘
i2007 Hawai‘i Artists Show, Bethel Street Gallery, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2007 First Friday Gallery Walk, Mendonca Gallery, Honolulu Hawai‘i
2005 Hawai‘i All-Colleges Art Show, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
Collections
Private Collection of Mr. Mufi Hannemann and Mrs. Gail Mukaihata-Hanneman
Private Collection of Mr. Edward Vasquez, Los Angeles, California
Private Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Riggle, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
Professional Experience
Documentary Film Maker, 2021 - Present
Artist, 2004 - Present
Freelance Illustrator, 1997- Present
Library of Congress fellow, "Of the People: Widening the Path", 2022-2023
Head Judge, Congressional Art Competition, U.S. House of Representatives, 2010
Judge, Congressional Art Competition, U.S. House of Representatives, 2009
Computer Graphics Specialist, Belknap Imaging, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, 1995- 1997
Art Director, Lee Enterprises, Los Angeles, California, 1989- 1994
2016 MFA Graduate – May, Painting, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, California
Awards
2026 Ho‘ākea Source Grant in partnership with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts: Shapeshifter of Kohala
2025 First Peoples Fund Native Performing Arts Production Grant
2023 American Folklife Center Grant Award, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Of the People recipient: Widening the Path for oral history and documentary: “Unearthing the Lost Songs of Kohala”
2022 Schaefer Portrait Challenge, Kahului, Maui
2018 Schaefer Portrait Challenge, Kahului, Maui
2015 Ke Ali‘i Pauahi Foundation, Scholarship Award, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2014 Ke Ali‘i Pauahi Foundation, Scholarship Award, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2013 Ke Ali‘i Pauahi Foundation, Scholarship Award, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2013 Kamehameha Schools, ‘Imi Na‘auao Scholarship Award, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2012 Academy of Art University, Presidential Scholarship Award, San Francisco, California
2009 Hawai‘i Book Publishers Association, Po‘okela Award Nominee, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2006 University of Hawai‘i, John Young Scholarship Award, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2004 Sappi Paper Company, Ideas That Matter International Graphic Design Award, Johannesburg, South Africa
Presentations & Exhibitions
2026 National Public Radio: The Moth Radio Hour
2025 Hawai‘i Public Radio Hour: Sharing songs of Kohala in Washington D.C.
2025 Library of Congress Symposium Concert in Washington, D.C.
2024 Hawai‘i Public Radio Interview, Preserving the Treasures of the Past through Storytelling
2024 The Moth Mainstage in Honolulu at Hawai‘i Theater
2024 Civil Beat, Hawai‘i Storytellers: Where I Live: Kona and Kohala
2019 Venice Biennale, Benetton Collection, Venice Italy
2019 Cuban Biennale, Centro de Arte Contemporaneo Wilfredo Lam, Havana, Cuba
2018 A Legacy of Teaching Exhibition, Gallery ‘Iolani, Kāne‘ohe, Hawai‘i
2017 Punahou Art Show, Punahou Art Gallery, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2016 Matchbox Plus Show, Cedar Street Galleries, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2016 Mixed Media Miniatures Show, Koa Art Gallery, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2007 Artists of Hawai‘i, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, Hawai‘
i2007 Hawai‘i Artists Show, Bethel Street Gallery, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2007 First Friday Gallery Walk, Mendonca Gallery, Honolulu Hawai‘i
2005 Hawai‘i All-Colleges Art Show, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
Collections
Private Collection of Mr. Mufi Hannemann and Mrs. Gail Mukaihata-Hanneman
Private Collection of Mr. Edward Vasquez, Los Angeles, California
Private Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Riggle, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
Professional Experience
Documentary Film Maker, 2021 - Present
Artist, 2004 - Present
Freelance Illustrator, 1997- Present
Library of Congress fellow, "Of the People: Widening the Path", 2022-2023
Head Judge, Congressional Art Competition, U.S. House of Representatives, 2010
Judge, Congressional Art Competition, U.S. House of Representatives, 2009
Computer Graphics Specialist, Belknap Imaging, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, 1995- 1997
Art Director, Lee Enterprises, Los Angeles, California, 1989- 1994