When Hawaiʻi artist Satoru Abe created “Volcano” in 1981, he built it as though it would have a permanent home.
The 20-foot copper and bronze sculpture has been the gateway to Aloha Stadium for more than 40 years, sitting in front of the box office. Abe built the sculpture in 38 pieces and transported it to the stadium from his Mākaha home. Its base was then filled with about nine feet of concrete.
“A lot of the sculptures he makes aren't made to be moved or disassembled,” said Donovan Goto, the grandson of Satoru Abe, who died last year at 98 years old.
But the redevelopment of Aloha Stadium is forcing the relocation of the decades-old sculpture.
The problem is that the state arts agency doesn't have the money to move it and it's no longer allowed to use a special pot of money that used to help them relocate artwork in their collection.
SFCA asks lawmakers for help
Now, the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts is turning to lawmakers to help move and preserve the iconic artwork.
Executive Director Karen Ewald said it would cost about $600,000 to relocate the volcano sculpture. The money would cover dismantling, transportation, storage, and conservation.
The “Volcano” is part of the Art in Public Places Program funded by the Works of Art Special Fund. Enacted in 1967, Hawaiʻi's "percent-for-art" law designates 1% of the construction and renovation funds for state buildings to go to the Works of Art Special Fund.
But the law was changed in 2025, narrowing how the SFCA could use the money. Ewald said the arts agency can use the special fund for purchasing and commissioning works of art, but not for costs like upkeep or relocation.
That could cause issues in the future if the SFCA has to relocate other works of art that are similar in size to the “Volcano” sculpture.
“In the future, we will have that situation with the Works of Art Special Fund and our limited use of it,” Ewald said to HPR. “We will have to rely on our general fund appropriation for all those needs as well, on top of our community grants program, our artists in the schools program and other programs that we had used general fund appropriation for, as well as federal funds.”
This month, the SFCA's board of commissioners tasked Ewald with asking lawmakers for a general fund appropriation or to amend the law to allow them to access the special fund to relocate art in its collection.
While it's unclear where the sculpture would be stored, Ewald said she's working with the stadium's developers to ensure it will be protected.
“It's essential for us to preserve this work of art and to protect it because that’s the precedent that we set for all the works of art we have in our collection," she said.
Making way for the new stadium
The sculpture must be moved because it's in the way of a planned road and intersection for the new Aloha Stadium Entertainment District, according to Justin Lui, vice president at Stanford Carr Development, which is the developer working alongside Aloha Hālawa District Partners.
“If we had our way, we would probably leave the sculpture in its current location and not have to move it,” Lui said. “That was the original design that we had anticipated for the sculpture. But because the area that’s being envisioned now is a mixed-use community with residences, with shops and retail, and museums.”
Lui said it would be dangerous to keep the sculpture where it is and build around it.
“We're creating a road that will make it into a four-way (intersection) versus a T. It's going to create a dangerous situation," he said. "We've tried all avenues to try to move it into the roads so that it wouldn't impact the volcano. It just happened it was in that spot that needed to be the road that needed to go.”
The new stadium is planned to be a 31,000-seat area with 28 luxury boxes that will host games and concerts.
Mike Yadao, the stadium manager at Aloha Stadium Authority, said the sculpture doesn't have to move until two years into the construction phase of the new stadium project. But it will need to be moved in order to build the infrastructure.
“As we're talking in that late 2028, early 2029 period, we have to start talking seriously about moving the sculpture,” Yadao said. “So we have a little bit of time, but not a lot of time.”
Stadium officials said they want the sculpture back at the new stadium once it's built.
Gateway memory
For many in Hawaiʻi, the "Volcano" sculpture has been a familiar landmark at Aloha Stadium, even if they didn't know who created it.
For Donovan Goto, it was a part of his childhood. The grandson of the late Hawaiʻi artist Satoru Abe, he remembers playing around the sculpture and attempting to climb it when he was about six years old.
The “Volcano” ended up being the last memory he had with his grandpa before he died.
“He was very adamant about visiting it,” he said. “It was something he wouldn't give up.”
He said that his grandpa created the sculpture as a mirroring piece of art adjacent to Aloha Stadium.
“Volcanoes are very iconic to Hawaiʻi, and when you compare the shape of the stadium, the stadium is pretty much a flipped-over volcano."
Goto said he knew his grandpa was an artist but didn't understand his prominence.
Born and raised in Honolulu, Satoru Abe graduated from McKinley High School and was a member of the Metcalf Chateau group. His career as an artist spans decades as a sculptor and painter.
Goto said he remembers his grandpa as kind and reserved, expressing care through gestures.
He hopes the sculpture will find its way back to the stadium.
“The sculpture, just the size of it, needs a lot of breathing space. It needs to be in an open area. So if they can find an open area in their stadium complex, I think that would be amazing."
