Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 3, 1 March 2004 — Volcanoes sculpture [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Volcanoes sculpture

Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is reissuing its eall to artists for proposals for a Hawaiian cultural sculnlurc that will be displayed in

front of the Kīlauea Visitor Center. The sculpture is intended to convey to visitors a sense of why the two wahi pana, or sacred sites, of Mauna Loa and Kīlauea have long been revered by Native Hawaiians. To assure the artwork's cultural integrity, the park

will make a selection based on the recommendations of its Kūpuna Committee. The proposed sculpture should reflect the committee's vision, whieh eame to an elder in a dream: Lava is flowing from Mauna Loa like a river. The upper part of a woman's body is visible in the lava How — it's Pele riding down the How, her eyes staring in anticipation, looking in the direction she's going. The lava flow is the volcano goddess who has eome to show us, the people, her power. The sculpture will be made of native stone, wood or some eombination of these culturally appropriate materials. Because of the increasing rarity of koa wood and current threats to mature koa forest, the park will not commission a sculpture that uses koa. For more information and detailed submission forms, visit www.nps.gov/havo, or contact Joni Mae Makuakāne-Jarrell at (808) 985-6020. ■

Kialoa Fermantez exp[ores her creativity at one of Keiki o ka Āina's Parent Participation Preschool programs. Photo: courtesy Keiki o ka ^Āina