Hawaiian culture, the natural environment of Maunakea, a star-filled sky, and the observatories near the Maunakea summit inspire Hawaiʻi Island students to create original artwork for the Maunakea Coin Contest. Each year, the winning design is reproduced on commemorative coins measuring 1.5 inches (about 4 centimeters) in diameter and distributed throughout the local community. Established by a staff member of Subaru Telescope and now conducted annually by the Maunakea Astronomy Outreach Committee (MKAOC), which consists of outreach representatives from the Maunakea Observatories (MKO) and related organizations, the contest encourages students to explore and express their connections to Maunakea through art, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of the mountain.
Figure 1: Award ceremony for the Maunakea Coin Contest 2026, held on May 2, 2026, at AstroDay in Hilo, an annual MKAOC event. (Credit: NAOJ)
About the Maunakea Coin Contest
The Maunakea Coin Contest is an annual design contest organized by MKAOC for K-12 students on Hawaiʻi Island. Participants are encouraged to create designs that incorporate multiple aspects of Maunakea, including Hawaiian culture, the mountain's natural environment, its world-renowned night sky, and the observatories.
"The goal for the contest is to help students become more familiar with Maunakea through art," says Kumiko Usuda-Sato, Subaru Telescope Public Outreach Staff member, who launched the contest in 2011. "Maunakea is extremely significant culturally, scientifically, and ancestrally. We hope students will learn about its various aspects and develop meaningful connections with the mountain."
Entries are first grouped into three grade-level categories: Grades K–4, 5–8, and 9–12. A panel of category judges with expertise in astronomy, Hawaiian culture, and Maunakea's natural resources selects the top three entries in each category. The nine winning designs are then forwarded to the grand judge, with all identifying information—including the students' names, ages, and schools—removed. "This way, the grand judge will look with fresh eyes, focusing just on the design quality to select the Grand Prize, Second Place, and Third Place winners from among all categories," explains Usuda-Sato.
The award ceremony is held each year at AstroDay, an annual MKAOC event hosted at a shopping mall in Hilo in early May. The Grand Prize-winning design is reproduced as a commemorative coin. Aluminum coins are distributed at MKAOC outreach events throughout the year, while bronze coins are sold at the First Light Bookstore at the Visitor Information Station, at the midpoint level of Maunakea.
Cosmic Poster Contest in 2009: the Predecessor to the Coin Contest
The Maunakea Coin Contest began in 2011, but the idea first sprouted in 2009, when the global astronomy community celebrated the International Year of Astronomy (IYA)— the 400th anniversary of Italian scientist Galileo Galilei's first astronomical observations with his handmade telescope. The Maunakea Observatories (MKO) held many IYA celebrations and projects, including the Cosmic Poster Contest, conceived and coordinated by Usuda-Sato. The prompt was "Celebrate IYA in our Hawaiian way," integrating astronomy and Hawaiian culture into a single poster design. The contest award ceremony at AstroDay in Hilo was full of congratulatory balloons, lei, and family support for the student participants.
"Even though it was a completely unknown contest, seeing how excited the winning students and their families were at the ceremony made me realize, ‘This is it,'" Usuda-Sato recalls. "I felt that an art contest could help build positive relationships between local students and families and the Maunakea Observatories."
When an MKO outreach committee member proposed making a Maunakea commemorative coin, it was Usuda-Sato who suggested turning it into a student design contest, which was then launched in 2011. After she moved from Hawaiʻi to Japan, the MKAOC Chair, Nadine Manset at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, took over leadership of the contest and ensured its continuation. Usuda-Sato returned to lead the contest again in 2023. Over the past fifteen years, the contest has been a remarkable success, highlighting and celebrating the creativity of Hawaiʻi Island students.
Teachers Bring the Contest into the Classroom
Now in its 16th year in 2026, the Maunakea Coin Contest continues to expand its reach throughout the local community. An elementary school in Hilo submits entries schoolwide each year, while some teachers have reported incorporating lessons about Maunakea into their classes to help students develop ideas for their designs.
The contest has evolved beyond a simple design competition and has become part of broader educational efforts to teach students about Maunakea. One example is Pāhoa High and Intermediate School, whose students have earned many awards—including Grand Prizes—since 2022. MKO had the opportunity to interview the school's art teacher, Jeanne McLaury.
Figure 2: Grand Prize-winning coin designs created by Pāhoa High and Intermediate School students over the years. (Credit: Luche Angeline Mardie Asuncion Ganot, Lindsey Nicole Julian, Ros Haleyah Mari Asuncion Ganot, Joefrey Trez Canete, Maunakea Coin Contest Committee, NAOJ)
McLaury has her students begin working on their coin contest designs as soon as possible in her Drawing and Painting class. "We take a scientific approach, and really treat it as a research project," explains McLaury. She encourages students to research constellations, Hawaiian moʻolelo (stories), native flora and fauna, and other cultural and ecological elements. "I really do emphasize to the students to pay attention to the details — flora, fauna, Hawaiian legends, and astronomy," McLaury elaborates. They also review past coin contest winners and judges' comments to gain a sense of what judges look for in a winning design.
After doing their research and creating an initial draft, McLaury's students set their designs aside until the beginning of the second semester. Then, in January, they revisit their designs and revise them. Through months of reflection, revision, and refinement, they strengthen not only their artistic skills but also their understanding of Maunakea.
The contest is also an opportunity to broaden the students' audience; another good lesson to learn as a young artist. "Not everything you do as an artist is for you," explains McLaury, from competitions like the Coin Contest to applications for art school, submissions to exhibitions, or commissions. "When drawing for a different audience, they have to have a different perspective on what they're doing," she says, which pushes them to develop as artists.
According to McLaury, the contest does more than introduce students to Maunakea. Through the creative process of research, conceptual development, and artistic expression, it also fosters their growth as artists.
In McLaury's classroom, students are encouraged to believe in their potential, embrace new challenges, and foster confidence and creativity. The support of dedicated teachers like her helps nurture student growth and contributes to the many outstanding designs and award-winning entries produced each year.
Figure 3: Jeanne McLaury, art teacher at Pāhoa High and Intermediate School, holding commemorative Maunakea coins featuring Grand Prize-winning designs created by her students. (Credit: Jeanne McLaury)
The Maunakea Coin Contest is an educational initiative that connects the local community with the Maunakea
Observatories. Through the contest, students learn about the various aspects of Maunakea and express their own perspectives through art. By fostering connections among schools, families, and the observatories, the program will be carried forward to inspire future generations.
Acknowledgments: The online interview with Jeanne McLaury was conducted in collaboration with Pearl Tuley from Pa‘akai Communications. The full interview with McLaury is published as a Story article on the Maunakea Observatories website.
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