MAC Artist in Residence

Molokai Arts Center News Release

The Molokai Arts Center welcomes the last Artist in Residence of 2024, Dr. Mary Therese Perez Hattori. A native Chamoru of Guåhan (Guam), Dr. Hattori was raised in the undulating limestone plateau of northern Guam, in the waters of the Philippine Sea and the North Pacific Ocean. She encourages the use of poetry to communicate cultural wisdom and values, to promote civic engagement, to build bridges for understanding and appreciating others and the environment, and to heal and empower others. She is an educator and poet who uses this art form to promote multilingualism, social justice, and bring forth the voices of often marginalized communities. As a Chamorro woman, her poetry reflects her native values of reciprocity, relationship with others, respect for elders, the strength of women, and more. She finds these values aligned with Native Hawaiians and communities across Hawaii.

Director of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center, she holds a B.Ed. and Professional Diploma in Secondary Social Studies with a concentration in Pacific Islands History, an M.Ed. in Educational Technology, and an Ed.D. in Professional Educational Practice from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Dr. Hattori is a community organizer and advocate for Pacific islanders in Hawaii, co-organizer of cultural events such as the Annual Cultural Animation Film Festival and the Annual Celebrate Micronesia Festival. She is Affiliate Graduate Faculty of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, a lecturer for Chaminade University of Honolulu, and a member of the Hawaii State Board of Education. Dr. Hattori is an accomplished author, poet, public speaker, and philanthropist. Her residency runs from Dec. 4 to 16. She will be at the MAC Saturday Market at MCHC on Saturday, Dec. 14.

Molokai Arts Center received a grant from the Laila Twigg-Smith Fund of the Hawaii Community Foundation (HCF) for the Artist in Residence Program 2024-25. Mahalo HCF for helping to “bring the arts to Molokai.”