Sculpture once gifted to Maui’s greatest patron of the arts, donated to UH Mānoa

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni Walter Dods, Jr. and Jay H. Shidler have gifted a sculpture by the late Bumpei Akaji to their alma mater. The sculpture, “RISE,” was installed outside the Walter Dods, Jr. RISE Center, and dedicated in a special ceremony prior to the official grand opening of the center on June 15.

Akaji was one of seven local artists who attended UH Mānoa after World War II and lived at the “Metcalf Chateau,” an old house they rented in the 1950s on Metcalf Street, a short distance away from the RISE Center. Akaji, who was a member of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team during the war, stayed in Italy to study painting and sculpture before returning to attend UH and became one of the first to earn a Master’s in Fine Arts Degree from UH Mānoa in 1952.

The sculpture “RISE” was created in 1979 by Kauaʻi-born artist Bumpei Akaji as a gift for the late Masaru “Pundy” Yokouchi, founding chairperson of Hawaiʻi’s State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. Yokouchi was also the inspiration and driving force behind the fundraising, planning, design, and construction of the world-class Maui Arts & Cultural Center in Kahului. Dods and Shidler purchased the sculpture from Yokouchi’s estate on Maui. Dods named it “RISE” with permission from Yokouchi’s family.

“I thought it’d be cool to name it RISE, and bringing it back to Metcalf Street is just incredible,” Dods said.

In addition to gifting the RISE sculpture to UH, Dods brought it from Maui to Mānoa with help from Matson, Royal Contracting and Island Movers, each of which donated their services.

The sculpture is now a short distance away from the RISE Center, which opened in Aug. 2023 and now houses the student entrepreneurship and innovation center at UH Mānoa Shidler College of Business.