To the uninitiated, surfing looks like a match between David and Goliath: humans facing a powerful, moving wall of water up to several stories high.

But surfers thrive on the challenge and adrenaline rush. To them, riding waves — the bigger, the better — is the best way to start their day.

“Surfing Hawai‘i,” at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Schaefer International Gallery, provides a fascinating overview of the sport that has become synonymous with the Aloha State. The exhibition takes viewers from surfing’s origins and the impact of Christian missionaries and other Westerners in the 19th century to the development of surf tourism and pop culture and the sport’s status today (it will debut at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo next year).

Gallery Director Neida Bangerter curated the exhibit, which includes 58 works of art, 20 surfboards, 15 historic objects and six didactic panels. It’s the result of a proposal submitted in 2012 by a group of local artists who happen to also be avid surfers. Although their idea for an exhibit on surf pop culture was rough, Bangerter saw its potential and led the effort to bring it to fruition.

According to her, the research and conceptual part of exhibit design takes years. For “Surfing ­Hawai‘i,” she read books and immersed herself in the surfing world — talking with surfers and scholars, browsing in surf shops and familiarizing herself with surf gear and jargon. She chose photos and objects and invited seven artists hailing from Maui, Oahu and Kauai to create new work interpreting the surfing theme.

All of the artists nurture strong connections with the sea, including Maui’s Pete Cabrinha, who, on Jan. 10, 2004, rode a 70-foot wave (measured by the wave face) at Pe‘ahi (Jaws) on the island’s north shore — the largest wave ridden at the time. It was a feat that earned him a place in Guinness World Records for three years (the current record holder is Brazil’s Rodrigo Koxa, who rode an 80-foot wave off Nazare, Portugal, on Nov. 8, 2017).

Surfing greats from decades past are also represented in the exhibit, including the late Tom Blake, who is credited with inventing skegs; surf leashes; “guns” or big-wave boards; a hollow wooden model that inspired the move toward lighter, faster boards; and the sailing surfboard, predecessor of the windsurfer. He also wrote the first book on surfing (“Hawaiian Surfboard,” published in 1935).

“(Blake’s) contribution to the evolution of surfboard design was significant,” Bangerter said. “We were fortunate to obtain a 12-foot African mahogany girls’ paddleboard that he designed. It’s a rare piece, on loan from a private collector, that dates back to 1932.”

Also of note is a 12-inch bronze sculpture of a surfer balanced on the crest of a wave. Titled “Hawaiian Surf Rider,” it was sculpted in 1932 by Kate Harland Kelly, wife of famous printmaker John Melville Kelly and mother of John Kelly, a well-known surfer and activist who launched a grassroots environmental organization called Save Our Surf (SOS) in 1969. He is credited with helping to save 140 Oahu surf sites from development, which led to the passage of Hawaii’s Shoreline Protection Act in 1975.

The younger Kelly’s daughter, Colleen Kelly, loaned “Hawaiian Surf Rider” for the exhibit along with a beautiful koa alaia surfboard that her late father and George Downing, another prominent surfer, made in the 1970s.

“The alaia was one of the most common boards used in pre-20th-century Hawaii,” Bangerter said. “Alaia means ‘path of the fish,’ and, true to its name, this type of traditional surfboard was thin, fast and maneuverable in the water.”

John Severson is another person inextricably tied to surfing and ocean conservation. He began his career as a painter and went on to found Surfer magazine in 1962 and produce classic surf films such as “Surf,” “Surf Safari,” “Surf Fever” and “Pacific Vibrations” between 1958 and 1970.

The posters he created to promote his films remain coveted collector’s items.

In the 1960s, Fender manufactured a limited-edition series of guitars that used the posters as a decorative device. One of those guitars can be seen in “Surfing Hawai‘i,” courtesy of Severson’s widow, Louise.

“Organizing this exhibit gave me new insights into surfers,” Bangerter said. “They’re fearless. They’re adventurous. They’re hooked on the thrills and sense of freedom they get when they’re riding the waves. As John Severson would say, ‘They are surf stoked.’ ”

Related events

Thursday, Jan. 10

Castle Theater, 7 p.m.

Filmed by Bud Browne, considered the father of the surf film genre, “The Essence” features more than 50 surfing legends, including Duke Kahanamoku. Several professional surfers will be on hand to “talk story.” $12 per person.

Saturday, Jan. 12

Schaefer International Gallery, 10 a.m.-noon

Observe & Play Family Day welcomes families to enjoy the exhibit together; kids can create an art piece based on the surfing theme. Free.

Sunday, Jan. 27

McCoy Studio Theater, 2-4 p.m.

Among the topics Pulama Collier, an educator of Hawaiian language and culture, will discuss is “Women and Legends of Surfing.” Bishop Museum Historian DeSoto Brown’s presentation will focus on “Selling Hawaii with Surfing, 1880 to 1980.” Free.

The art of surfing

Three of the exhibit’s artists ponder their connection to art and surfing.

>> Pete Cabrinha, Haiku, Maui: “I use mixed media and collage as a way to depict surfing, which enables me to tell multiple stories in a single composition. The result can be simple and complex all at once, using combinations of layers, imagery and textures to express perspective and movement. Surfing, in many ways, is the same. The simple act of riding a wave is an extremely basic premise with an infinite number of interpretations, perspectives, layers, textures and nuance.”

>> Mark Cunningham, Honolulu: “As much as I love to ride waves, I’m just as enthralled with what lies beneath them. When conditions allow, I scavenge reefs for lost skegs, watches, cameras and more that nature has transformed into intriguing art. Who did they belong to? Did a monster wave take them? How long have they been underwater? Once new and shiny, now encrusted with coral and barnacles, they represent a life, a story, an adventure.”

>> Peter Shepard Cole, Sunset Beach: “My seascape paintings … are based on photos I have taken in the surf, capturing moments when the sea reveals its interesting character, at once threatening and calming. I consider the paintings personal, an intersection between my formal education as an artist and my experience as a surfer, raised at Rocky Point on the North Shore of Oahu and part of a family deeply connected to the sea.”