Roundup of Centennial Events at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park - April through December 2016

Date: April 19, 2016
Contact: Jessica Ferracane/Public Affairs Specialist, 808-985-6018

Hawaii National Park, HI – Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is in the fourth month of celebrating its 100th anniversary, and everyone is invited to participate in the year-long celebration that lasts through December 31, 2016. Here's a glimpse at the special centennial events below. Keep up with the latest and bookmark the centennial page on the official park website. Mark your calendar for these upcoming centennial events:

 

After Dark in the Park & Centennial Hike Series. Each month through December 2016, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park will offer a centennial-themed After Dark in the Park program on a Tuesday night about a fascinating facet of the park's 100-year history. The following Saturday, a ranger-guided excursion will connect visitors in person and on foot to the topic discussed. The Centennial Series events are free and co-sponsored by the Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, but park entrance fees apply. No advance registration is required.

 

Free Entry During National Park Week, April 16-24! Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park isn't the only one turning 100 this year! To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016, all fee-charging national parks in the U.S. will offer nine fee-free days to commemorate the centennial during National Park Week- including Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park and Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park on Hawai'i Island. Come and Find Your Park at no charge! Go to nps.gov for info.

 

2016 Fee-Free Dates. The National Park Service also turns 100 in 2016 and wants everyone to celebrate! All national parks, including Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park which celebrates its own centennial anniversary in 2016, will waive entrance fees on these days in 2016:

• April 16-24 – National Park Week (9 days)
• August 1 – Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park bonus fee - free day to celebrate 100 years!
• August 25-28 – National Park Service Birthday Weekend (4 days)
• September 24 – National Public Lands Day
• November 11 – Veterans Day

 

Social Centennial. Virtual visitors are encouraged to take part in the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park centennial, dubbed the "Socientennial". Every #ThrowbackThursday through December 29, 2016, the park will share a photograph and description of a historic event, artifact, or piece of art on its official Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. The #ThrowbackThursday Socientennial series was researched and organized by park archivists, and includes black-and-white as well as color images that include an 1896 painting by D. Howard Hitchcock of lava within snowy Moku'āweoweo, the summit caldera of Mauna Loa; NASA astronauts doing geological research at Kīlauea Iki in 1960;and much more. The images are not well known to the public, and reveal a fascinating glimpse of the last 100 years of park history.

 

A New Museum for the Next Century. Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park will unveil a new museum in the former 1932 Administration Building that will exhibit art, photographs, artifacts, and other historic objects that relate to the park's establishment and scope of collections. It will be a few years before the new museum is complete, but the restored lobby area of the building (once part of the Volcano House hotel and called the 'Ōhi'a Wing) will serve as the studio for the park's artists-in-residence in May, August and December 2016. The plans for the new museum will be the subject of an After Dark in the Park talk on Nov. 15, 2016 at 7 p.m. at Kīlauea Visitor Center, and a guided tour of the museum will be offered Nov. 19, 2016 at 10 a.m.

 

May 2016 Artist-in-Residence is Emma Stibbon. Visual artist Emma Stibbon, noted for her dramatic and extreme monochrome landscape drawings, was selected as the May 2016 Artist-in-Residence at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Stibbon, who is from the United Kingdom, will display and discuss her work at an After Dark in the Park program on Tues., May 17 at 7 p.m. at the Kīlauea Visitor Center. She will also offer two public workshops, featuring plein air techniques on two consecutive Saturdays: May 14 and 21, at 11 a.m. Both workshops will be in the lobby of the 1932 Administration Building (also known as the 'Ōhi'a Wing), located between Kīlauea Visitor Center and the Volcano House on Crater Rim Drive. Participants must bring their own pencils, ink and paper. Call or email Chief of Cultural Resources Laura Schuster to reserve a spot: [e-mail], [phone]. The Artist-in-Residence program is presented in cooperation with the non-profit National Parks Arts Foundation. All AIR programs are FREE.

 

Find Your Park on the Big Screen. Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park will show sister park movies for free to raise awareness of the other national parks in Hawai'i and the Pacific Islands during its centennial year –which also marks the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. On May 20, learn the significance of the War in the Pacific National Historical Park in Guam, established in 1978 as a tribute to those who fought and died during the Pacific Theater of World War II. The 30-minute film, Liberating Guam: The U.S. Comes Back, reveals the aggressive Japanese expansion into the Pacific region during the war, and due to its graphic nature, may not be suitable for younger audiences. On June 17, two films highlight Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park: John Grabowska's 16-minute film Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau: Place of Refuge and Brad Watanabe's 12-minute documentary HiStory: Hawai'i Island's National Parks. Maui's Haleakalā, and Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes on Hawai'i Island were once the same park: Hawai'i National Park. On Aug. 5, discover Haleakalā National Park in the 51-minute film, Haleakalā: House of the Sun. Meet the dedicated rangers who share their knowledge and respect for Haleakalā National Park (established in 1961), its natural treasures, and the deep connection to Hawaiian culture perpetuated here. All films are shown at 7 p.m. at the Kīlauea Visitor Center Auditorium, and are free.

 

Volcano Art Center Quilt Show Dedicated to the Centennial. Volcano Art Center is inviting all Hawaii Island quilters to its inaugural quilt show July 15 to Aug. 7 at the center's Niaulani campus. This year's show, "Quilts in the Forest, Quilts in the Park," commemorates the centennial anniversary of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park as well as that of the National Park Service. "Quilts in the Forest, Quilts in the Park" categories include Hawaiian Quilt, Find Your Park, Art to Wear, Bed Runner and Miniature Quilt, and is open to all residents of Hawai'i Island. Quilters need to register online by May 27. Prospectus and entry forms are available at www.volcanoartcenter.org/gallery/artist-opportunities. For more information, contact Volcano Art Center at [phone] or email [e-mail].

 

Endemic Understanding Art Show. Endemic Understanding showcases the extraordinary biodiversity within the five National Parks on Hawai'i Island. Artists Margaret Barnaby, Heide Cumes, Lanaya Deily, Jack Jeffrey, Susan Litteral, Liz Miller, and Karen Schuster were selected from the 2015 Hawai'i Nei exhibition celebrating native species, and further investigate the plants, animals and environments found within Hawai'i Island's National Parks. This exhibit honors the centennial celebration of the National Park Service. On display at the Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park from July 23 to Aug. 28 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Free (park entrance fees apply). Contact [phone] or visit www.volcanoartcenter.org for information.

 

36th Annual Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park Cultural Festival & BioBlitz, Saturday, August 27, 2016. Free! This year's festival honors the park's centennial anniversary. Themed E Ho'omau (to perpetuate;to continue in a way that causes good to be long-lasting), the 36th annual cultural festival invites people of all ages to engage in authentic Hawaiian cultural practices and learn how native Hawaiians lived closely to the land as its stewards. Enjoy hula and music, watch skilled practitioners demonstrate their art, and try your hand at Hawaiian crafts. This year's festival will again include a "BioBlitz," a fun and hands-on opportunity to observe and document the biodiversity that thrives in the lava flows and native rainforests of Kīlauea Volcano, led by individuals and organizations at the forefront of conservation, science and traditional Hawaiian culture. The BioBlitz runs from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the cultural festival is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visitors can learn about the importance of conservation and biodiversity through interactive exhibits at the festival.

 

8th Annual Hawai'i Nei Juried Art Exhibition, The native flora and fauna of the five national parks of Hawai'i Island is the featured category for the Hawai'i Nei 2016 art exhibition. The category, called National Parks Preserving Pilina, honors the National Park Service and Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park centennial anniversaries, and encourages artists to explore ways that parks preserve the pilina, or connection to, the native species they protect. In order to be eligible for the featured category, amateur and professional artists of all ages must submit works of art that celebrate the native plants and animals of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, Pu'ukoholā Heiau National Historic Site, or the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail. For this category only, artists may portray humans in the artwork. The Hawai'i Island art competition is open to Hawai'i Island artists, is sponsored by Three Mountain Alliance, the Hawai'i Island Natural Area Reserves System, and Wailoa Center. Visit www.hawaiineiartcontest.org for deadline, registration and drop-off information, and to sign up for Art Adventures at each park. The free guided Art Adventures will inspire and familiarize artists with their favorite parks.

 

Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park celebrates its 100th birthday in 2016. Founded on Aug. 1, 1916, Hawai'i Volcanoes was the 15th national park established in the U.S., predating both the establishment of the National Park Service (Aug. 25, 1916) and Hawaiian statehood (Aug. 21, 1959). Today, its 333,086 acres provide countless ways to connect with Hawaiian culture, active volcanoes, and native plants and animals.

 

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Centennial Events Outside Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

 

Marching into the Community. Park rangers and staff from Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park will march in several community parades in 2016. (Did you see our amazing "mauka to makai" float in Hilo's Merrie Monarch Parade?) Banners featuring the park's centennial logo will festoon park visitor centers through 2016, and Downtown Hilo, June through August. The National Park Service centennial was also recognized during the annual Rose Parade on New Year's Day. Themed "Find Your Adventure," the Rose Parade theme played on the NPS 2016 awareness campaign, Find Your Park.

 

Big Island Chocolate Festival. Themed "Lavalicious-A Chocolate Salute to the 100th Birthday of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park," the fifth Big Island Chocolate Festival is May 13-14 and events are headquartered at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel. Chocolate fun includes a cacao plantation tour at Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory, a college culinary competition and several public foodie and agriculture-themed seminars. Activities culminate with an indoor-outdoor festival gala offering sweet and savory tastes presented by top isle chefs, chocolatiers and confectioners on Sat., May 14. See a large volcano created from fine chocolate, chocolate body painting and culinary booths decorated to the centennial theme. Music, dancing, and a silent auction. For tickets and info, visit www.BigIslandChocolateFestival.com.

 

An Eruption of Orchids. The 34th annual Daifukuji Orchid Club (KDOC) show and sale is a tribute to the centennial anniversary of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, and will feature a central blooming display back-dropped by a volcano. The free event is Sunday, July 17 at the Daifukuji Soto Mission Hall in Kona, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. with the Daifukuji Taiko Drummers performing at 10 a.m. The annual event also offers an outdoor sale of high-quality orchid species and hybrids grown by club members and Hawai'i Island commercial growers. The Kona Daifukuji Orchid Club is West Hawai'i's oldest orchidaceae organization with a mission to learn and foster orchid culture and promote fellowship among orchid collectors. For information, visit www.kdoc.us or call [phone].

 

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