Martin Charlot, the artist responsible for the Aulani lobby mural, has passed away. Former Imagineer Joe Rohde honored him in an Instagram post to share his legacy and the GoFundMe to support his family as they face his medical bills.
Aulani Lobby Mural Artist Martin Charlot Passes Away
Charlot passed away on October 2. His daughter, Kawena Charlot, said, “Martin Charlot passed the way he wanted: holding his children’s hands and being surrounded by friendship and most of all – love,” in an update to the GoFundMe page.
Charlot spent two years on the mural, which spans over 200 feet, for the Maka’ala lobby of Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa. The mural is titled “He Lei No ʹAulani” (A Lei for Aulani). In an interview with Watermark Publishing, Charlot discussed the process:
Working with the Disney team was very gratifying for me. My father, Jean Charlot, lectured to the Disney artists when he was a young man and made lifetime friends. I enjoyed meeting these artists when we would visit them in rare trips from Hawai‘i to Hollywood when I was a child. Hugging the tentacles of the octopus that battled with Capt. Nemo was the ultimate in cool to me.
Now, here was my chance to work with my generation’s Disney team. The Disney Imagineers hired me as an independent artist and, after the content of what they wanted in the mural was agreed upon, they left me alone to create.
The mural wasn’t quite true to his vision in the end. Charlot and Rohde came to a compromise for what was to be depicted. “I wanted the entire painting to depict the Hawaiian culture before Captain Cook discovered the islands, but Joe Rhode, who headed the project and had hired me, was set in his desire to have the makai (ocean) side of the mural reflect modern Hawai‘i,” Charlot told Watermark Publishing.
Rohde’s post reads as follows:
For those of you who love Aulani some sad news.
The artist who painted the mural that surrounds the lobby, who also taught me to draw when I was a child of 6 in Hawaii, Martin Charlot, has passed away. His daughter Kawena is raising money through a go-fund-me to pay for his crushing medical expenses. It’s a lot as anyone who has nurtured someone through a long sickness knows. You may not know him as I have, but if you’ve stood beneath his masterpiece then you know his mind and imagination. I’ll put a link in my bio as well. Vita Brevis Ars Longa.
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