Born and raised on Oʻahu, Sarah Tamashiro Kuaiwa has a deep appreciation and interest in Hawaiian culture and cultures of Hawaiʻi. Her work and research focuses on island histories and its impact and persistence into our lives today. She aims to assist others with their projects in understanding the overlap between past and present.

He pūkoʻa kani ʻāina.

Kuaiwa completed her BA cum laude in Art History and Visual Arts from Occidental College (Los Angeles, CA.) She received her MA in History from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (Honolulu, HI) with a focus in Hawaiian History. She is pursuing a PhD in Hawaiian Art History at the University of East Anglia (Norwich, UK) where she is the current Sainsbury Research Unit’s Robert Sainsbury Scholar.

While completing her degrees, Kuaiwa has worked at the Walsh Art Gallery (Fairfield, CT), Bellarmine Museum of Art (Fairfield, CT), CB1 Gallery (DTLA), the Autry National Center (Los Angeles, CA,) and the Ethnology department at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum (Honolulu, HI). She is also a researcher at the Kealakai Center for Pacific Strings.