At the Sheraton Waikiki Resort, five Native Hawaiian master artists recently spent seven days creating 22 pieces of fine art for the hotel, in Waikíkí, the place they surfed and played in their growing-up years. Their studios were suites set for renovation. "Spilled paint?" says Meleanna Meyer, dubbed leader of the pack. "They told us the new carpet would go in when we left."

The mission was to make contemporary Hawaiian art. The artists' team started the project working with 21 students, ages 8 to 19, to produce a 70-foot-long mural telling the story of Helumoa, the coconut grove that is the heart of Waikíkí. They camped out at the site, exploring the concept of group creativity.

Murals nearly complete, the students returned to their families and the painting continued, over a series of 12- to 15-hour days, Meyer said. "Some of us painted all night. Of course the view of Diamond Head and Waikíkí Beach was there to cheer us on. A couple of us even got in a swim."

Painter and printmaker Harinani Orme said that when exhaustion struck, the artists took naps under a paint-mixing table. She added that she "never in my life" expected to be flinging paint around a resort suite.

The Arting-in-Place project produced 22 pieces and a massive mural that now fill the curving walls of the Sheraton Waikiki lobby.

The master artists, Meyer, Carl F.K. Pao, Orme, Solomon Enos and Al Lagunero, are profiled in explanatory materials with the works. Hotel employees will be trained as unofficial docents for the art, learning the story of Helumoa and how the artists share it in their paintings.

Meyer and Rob Iopa are two of the partners in the Mea Makamae shop in the lobby of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, which is part of the Sheraton family of hotels. The idea of Arting-in-Place was seeded when Iopa talked to Sheraton managers about the contemporary art showcased in the Bishop Museum's newly restored Hawaiian Hall.

Kelly Sanders, general manager of the Sheraton Waikiki, and others toured Hawaiian Hall. "We were awed and asked if those artists would come to the Sheraton Waikiki," Sanders said.

Meyer gathered the artists and facilitated the process.

The student artists came from Samuel Kamakau New Century Charter School, Kamehameha High School, Punahou High School, Kamehameha Scholars Program, Roosevelt High School and the University of Hawaii.

Lagunero, a painter, said "there has never been a time when we (Hawaiians) were not here." He described the Waikíkí project as "portals into our story," an opportunity to bring elements of this experience to "the students, the visitors, everyone who works and lives in Hawaii."