Everyone Wins at the Dine Out for Maui Raffle
Owner and Chef Michael Rusconi of Rusconi’s American Kitchen and Artist Dyana Hesson are teaming up to present a raffle in support of the Maui Strong Fund. Through Sept. 30, guests can purchase tickets for a chance to win one of two limited edition prints signed by Hesson.
Tickets are $20 each or six for $100; 100 percent of the proceeds will go to Maui Strong Fund. This fund provides financial resources to support the immediate and long-term recovery needs for the people and places affected by the devastating Maui wildfires. Learn more about these efforts here: hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/strengthening/maui-strong-fund.
Tickets are $20 each or six for $100; 100 percent of the proceeds will go to Maui Strong Fund. This fund provides financial resources to support the immediate and long-term recovery needs for the people and places affected by the devastating Maui wildfires. Learn more about these efforts here: hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/strengthening/maui-strong-fund.
Transcript
00:00 - The wildfires in Maui, Hawaii destroyed a lot of lives
00:03 on the island and also here in Phoenix.
00:05 And joining me is artist Diana Hessen,
00:07 who is doing a great thing with the restaurant
00:10 to help those in Maui.
00:12 And it's Dine Out for Maui, which is really nice.
00:14 But before we get to that,
00:15 let's talk about how you got involved with Hawaii,
00:18 'cause it's something that's very important to you,
00:20 isn't it?
00:21 - Yeah, you know, as an artist,
00:23 exploration fuels inspiration.
00:25 And so I love to travel, I love to go places,
00:28 meet people, learn about the history of places.
00:31 And one of my favorite destinations are the Hawaiian Islands.
00:34 And my parents introduced me to the Hawaiian Islands
00:37 when I was a little girl.
00:38 And then when I was older and became an artist,
00:40 I returned year after year to explore and take pictures
00:44 and use those for my paintings.
00:47 - And you know how devastated that fire was
00:50 to the Maui area, but it's not just about Maui,
00:52 it's to the creative world.
00:54 'Cause that section of Maui that was destroyed,
00:56 people didn't realize that was an artist mecca.
00:59 There was restaurants, there was galleries,
01:01 there was places that you sat with people and talked
01:04 and got to explore where you could find inspiration
01:07 for your art.
01:09 - Yeah, it's really sad that all that's gone
01:10 and it's gonna be a long time before those people recover.
01:13 And I think that's what we need to remember
01:14 when there's tragedies is oftentimes we rush right away
01:18 to do something good right when it happens,
01:21 but weeks, months, years later,
01:23 those people are gonna still be recovering.
01:26 And so we need to remember those people in the future years.
01:29 - Right, and that's where this fundraiser comes in,
01:31 which is so important.
01:33 And that is where you teamed up with the restaurant.
01:35 - Yeah, so Michael Rusconi is a friend, but also my cousin.
01:39 He has a remarkable restaurant,
01:41 Rusconi's American Kitchen at Tatum and Shea.
01:43 And he's been doing some fundraisers
01:46 and giving a portion of his meals to help Maui Strong.
01:51 And so I found out about that.
01:53 I'm like, "Hey, let's hang a few prints and do a raffle."
01:55 And so that's what we decided to do.
01:57 - And that's what we just saw some pictures
01:58 of your prints in the restaurant.
02:01 And these are flower prints.
02:03 So people love flowers.
02:04 You've gotten up close to those.
02:06 And are these, of course,
02:08 flowers that you only find in Hawaii, right?
02:10 - Well, you don't only find them in Hawaii,
02:12 but those particular compositions
02:14 were inspired by the Hawaiian islands.
02:17 And like I said, I returned to that theme often in my work.
02:20 Mainly I'm a botanical artist
02:23 specializing in Arizona flowers.
02:25 But again, I always returned to Hawaiian flowers
02:28 and I've done quite a few.
02:29 - Yeah, it's amazing.
02:30 Again, you said that important part is after the fact.
02:33 I know we've rushed when it did happen.
02:35 Everyone's like wanting some money.
02:36 We even heard people, residents there going,
02:39 "Not yet, not yet.
02:41 Let us catch our breath.
02:42 Let us find out what we need to do."
02:44 And that's why it kind of died off a little bit.
02:47 And now they're saying, "Okay, we know what we need to do.
02:50 We know how we need to regrow our community and stuff."
02:53 And that's why these type of events are important.
02:55 - Yeah, just come alongside the people.
02:57 And Maui Strong is an organization that I vetted
03:00 that it's those people are boots on the ground.
03:03 It's a Hawaiian organization.
03:05 They know best how to spend the money
03:06 and help those people.
03:08 - Okay, how does it work for us to get involved?
03:10 - Okay, so you can do two things.
03:12 You can go down to Rosconi's American Kitchen
03:14 and see the artwork and buy the raffle tickets there.
03:17 They're $20 a piece.
03:19 There you can buy six for 100.
03:22 Or you can go to my website, dianahesson.com
03:25 and buy the tickets there.
03:27 100% of your money is going to Maui Strong
03:30 to help those people.
03:31 And then on September 30th,
03:32 we're gonna go down and have dinner
03:34 and have a good time and draw the winner.
03:37 And the winner will receive both of those
03:39 beautiful Hawaiian prints for their home.
03:41 - Nice. - And so, yeah, everyone wins.
03:43 - All right, and we're gonna put you on the spot here.
03:44 We know we have going off of that,
03:45 but if someone says, "Oh my goodness,
03:47 you know what, Diane, I wanna help out a lot.
03:48 I wanna buy one of your other prints to help this way."
03:52 - We can do that, I can totally do that.
03:53 - Is that okay? - Yes, yes.
03:54 - If someone's watching right now
03:55 who wants to go on and buy? - Oh, absolutely.
03:57 Yeah, just message me and we'll work out a way
03:59 where you can get what you want
04:00 and the people of Maui can get what they need.
04:03 - I love it, there it is.
04:04 Thanks for coming, thanks for doing this.
04:05 Again, it's very important. - My pleasure, Brad.
04:06 Nice to meet you. - And of course,
04:07 with having someone, the love of Hawaii
04:08 and continuing on, it's very important.
04:10 - Yeah, thanks for having me. - So, thank you.
04:11 And we'll have information on aztv.com
04:13 on how you can find out about the restaurant,
04:15 about her paintings, and of course, about the raffle.
04:18 So, thank you.
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