Maui artist opens Paint Aloha gallery and studio in Waikoloa
A Maui artist who lost nearly 60% of her business after Lahaina reopened Paint Aloha in Waikōloa, where the gallery also teaches art to all ages.
Annabelle Ramil has turned a Maui business setback into a Big Island foothold. Paint Aloha, her handmade art gallery and studio, opened at Kings’ Shops in Waikōloa after the Lahaina wildfires of 2023 and the tourism slump that followed cut deeply into her sales.
Ramil began looking for a new home for the gallery in Kīhei last October after business dried up. She checked Oahu and Kauai before landing at Kings’ Shops, where she said the space felt like a forever home and gave her a more affordable footprint than Waikīkī or Alii Drive. The move also gave her room to expand the teaching side of the business, not just the retail side.
Ramil studied art at the Academy of Arts in San Francisco and first opened Paint Aloha in Kīhei Kalama Village on July 1, 2023, with Aaron Costa. That gallery ran daily from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. But after the deadly Lahaina fires, she said she lost nearly 60% of her business as visitors canceled trips across Maui.
At Waikōloa, Paint Aloha sells Hawaiian-influenced paintings that feature volcano scenes, manta rays, whales, sea turtles and vivid sunsets. The studio is built for more than browsing. Ramil teaches art classes for all ages, and Kings’ Shops lists a 90-minute guided painting class that includes all supplies, is open to all ages, and requires children under 10 to be accompanied by an adult. The class schedule runs from Feb. 23 through Dec. 31, 2026.
The move fits into a broader economic story that stretches beyond one shop. Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism said statewide visitor arrivals in August 2023 totaled 769,163, down 7.3% from August 2022, and the state later revised its 2023 and 2024 growth forecasts downward after the wildfire damage. The Hawaii Department of the Attorney General initiated its wildfire investigation on Aug. 11, 2023, and released the Lahaina Fire Incident Analysis Report on Sept. 13, 2024.
Kings’ Shops, at 250 Waikoloa Beach Drive, says it has more than 50 stores and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. For Ramil, that makes the gallery part of a retail and cultural center with steady foot traffic, and a place where a Maui artist can keep rebuilding on another island.
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