Challenges. Changes. Courage.

"I'm staying here to keep the culture and the arts going." Agnes Kalanihookaha Cope Waianae Coast Culture and Arts Society founder and Waianae legend

Hawaiian ‘living treasure’
going strong in Waianae

The little green building, flanked by ferns and bounded by a small rock wall, is set back from Farrington Highway by an oversized parking lot.

There's no sign to identify it. No mailbox with a number.

People don't come to the Waianae Coast Culture and Arts Society by mistake or out of curiosity. They know how to get there and that when they get there, Agnes Kalanihookaha Cope will probably be sitting out front in her wheelchair, a scarf around her neck and a book in her hands.

She'll wave and smile, regardless of whether she knows you, and draw you in for a kiss. If you've ever lived in Waianae, she'll probably know your parents -- perhaps as her former students -- and ask how your mother is doing and whether your sister is still dancing hula.

Cope founded the center in 1965 after working as a public-school teacher and later as a coordinator with the state Foundation on Culture and the Arts. Since then, she's almost single-handedly run it, bringing in world-class artists to teach art, music and dance to young and old. She's also taught hula and Hawaiian language, and won wide respect as a traditional healer.

But the Waianae legend -- affectionately known as "Auntie Aggie," by everyone from Hawaii's congressional delegation to good friends -- has made the center more than just a hub for the arts.

People go there when they need her advice or help filling out forms for government assistance.

Parents drop their wayward children off to Cope so she can give them a talking to, which could involve a show of her fist and a curse word or two. "You don't think I know your language?" she asks, shaking her finger and holding back a sly smile.

Seniors seek out the 80-year-old Cope for a kind word. Sometimes they're scarcely a year older. Other times she's their senior.

But just the same, she offers to drive them to the doctor's office and takes them out to lunch -- her treat. She encourages them to get out of the house and invites them to her center for a class.

"It gives the people something to do," Cope said, her feet up on a chair. She pauses, then adds, "I'm staying here to keep the culture and the arts going."

Cope was born in Honolulu to a native Hawaiian mother and a German father. She was encouraged, along with her sisters, to take up music, singing and hula. She learned Hawaiian from her mother and studied under kumu hula Lokalia Montgomery.

At the start of World War II, Cope graduated from high school and went on to attend Honolulu Business College and the University of Hawaii, where she studied education. She taught English to public school students early in her career, and still has the perfect pronunciation to prove it.

Soon she worked her way into becoming an arts instructor. Before long, she was heading to the Legislature to help the state Foundation on Culture and the Arts ask for more funding, first as a citizen and later as a coordinator.

She quickly gained recognition for her dedication to preserving native Hawaiian arts and was situated at the front of the Hawaiian Renaissance. By that time, she had moved to Waianae, which she calls "God's country."

One day, she asked the then-director of the state foundation if she could open a center for the arts there. No problem, he said.

Anything for "Auntie Aggie."

Outside of the center, Cope has been on several community boards, including the Waianae Civic Club, the Oahu Native Hawaiian Healthcare System and Kalani Honua Cultural Center of Hawaii. In 1987, she was named a "living treasure" by the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii. In 1998, the Hawaii Alliance for Arts Education presented her with the Alfred Preis Award for her lifetime commitment to arts and arts education.

On most days, Cope is content to sit in front of her Waianae center for hours, doing work on a small collapsible table and looking up to greet visitors. Often, she's asked about retirement. "When are you going to stay home and relax," those who work at the center query, half-jokingly.

"Don't hold your breath," Cope replies, throwing her head back to laugh heartily. "I'm going to work until I'm 90. When I'm 90, I shall volunteer my services and you folks can buy me lunch."