The Watercolor Philanthropist

Clytie Mead leaves a legacy of art, philanthropy, and a bigger probability of success for her Hawai‘i island community.

An artist and philanthropist, it’s fitting that Clytie Mead left her mark on Hawai‘i and the world through her creativity and generous spirit. Born in 1942, Clytie pursued her passion for art with a bachelors of fine art in painting at Carnegie Mellon University and, later, with a masters of art in architectural history at Cornell.

In the mid-1980s, she married Pete Sparks and the pair moved from Southern California to Hawai‘i Island, where he pursued his interests in restoring old machinery and their mutual love of dogs, owning as many as five at a time. They settled in the rural community of Āhualoa, where Mead lovingly created an authentic Japanese tea room in their home and furthered her artistic and philanthropic visions.

Inspired artistically by the abundant beauty of Hawai‘i Island, Mead worked in a range of media, favoring watercolor. She became best known for combining a western artistic vocabulary with the ancient Chinese painting technique of watercolor on silk, often using her painting to bring attention to rare and endangered treasures of Hawai‘i. Her 2017 exhibit at Volcano Art Center featured five paintings of ‘ōhi‘a lehua blossoms and sought to raise awareness about the devastating fungal disease Rapid Ohia Death (Ceratocystis fimbriata) threatening the iconic native species.

But it was Mead’s philanthropy that truly expressed the breadth of her compassion, as well as a creative approach to community involvement. In 2015, she gathered five women she knew and founded 100 Women Who Care in North Hawai‘i, a giving circle inspired by the national 100 Women Who Care program, where a collective of women meet quarterly, each contributing to support local projects nominated by members. Beneficiaries included Waimea Emergency Food Pantry and Hamakua Youth Center.

“Clytie was a great person, a selfless person,” says Page Macy, who knew Clytie through 100 Women Who Care in North Hawai‘i, which she joined at its second meeting. “You could tell that she gave with her heart and soul. She was very caring and believed that, if you want to do some good, you should start in your own backyard. She was gracious, generous, kind, patient, talented, and fun-loving.”

Clytie carried on a family tradition of supporting the success of young people, particularly those seeking training to gain employment. She brought the Arthur Jackman Scholarship Fund with her to the Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF), providing financial support to students residing in Hawai‘i and enrolled in a technical or vocational college or program at a community college.

On her passing in April 2021, Mead left behind her greatest philanthropic legacy, a substantial gift to the Pahiki Nui Fund she established at HCF. Named by renowned Hawaiian scholar Kū Kahakalau to mean “big probability,” the fund’s purpose is to support programs and projects that increase the probability for educational success for pre-school through high school students on Hawai‘i Island, with a preference for public schools serving low-income or at-risk students.

“Clytie had the biggest smile, warm heart, and generous spirit,” said Diane Chadwick, HCF’s former director of donor relations on Hawai‘i Island. “She enjoyed meeting the students that received Arthur Jackman Scholarships and took great interest in programs that gave them a better chance at success, like one of the earliest Early College programs at Waiākea High School. She wanted young people to have opportunities to succeed in life.”