Artist pays tribute (again) to West Maui's war dead

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

LAHAINA, Maui — When Tadashi Sato put the finishing touches on the mosaic mural he created 30 years ago for the Lahaina Civic Center, he thought it would last for generations, a tribute to his buddies and others from West Maui who died in battle.

Rededication ceremony A new version of "Portals of Immortality," above, by Tadashi Sato, will be dedicated today in Lahaina. The oil painting on linen honors those from West Maui who died in battle. • Where: Lahaina Civic Center, Maui • When: 2:30 p.m. today • Among Tadashi Sato's honors: Named Living Treasure of Hawai'i by the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawai'i Photo by Christie Wilson • The Honolulu Advertiser

The 15-by-60-foot mural faded under the unforgiving Lahaina sun, and five years ago it began to break up and fall off the wall. A big chunk of it eventually came down, and the remnants were ultimately taken down in December 2000.

That's not the end of the story, however.

Thanks to a collaboration between the artist and county officials, the work of art will live on — in a different medium and in a new location.

Today at 2:30 p.m., the new version of "Portals of Immortality,'' an oil painting on linen, will be dedicated in the civic center's shaded lobby, where it is protected behind glass.

"The artwork is amazing," said Karla Peters, project manager for the county Department of Parks and Recreation. "When I was up there, I just sat there and looked at it. It's very impressive.''

Sato, 79, is one of Hawai'i's most celebrated artists. He was named a Living Treasure of Hawai'i by the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawai'i. His abstract paintings hang in the permanent collections of the Guggenheim Museum and Whitney Museum of American Art, among others. In 1965, he was honored by President Lyndon Johnson at the White House Festival of Arts, alongside Georgia O'Keefe, Jackson Pollock and other American artists.

Perhaps his most famous work is "Aquarius,'' the 36-by-36-foot circular mosaic that adorns the floor of the State Capitol atrium.

The original mural honoring the West Maui war dead was commissioned in 1971.

It was a project that held special meaning for Sato, who was born and reared in Lahaina and knew many of the 35 men listed on the war memorial plaque at the civic center.

When the United States entered World War II, Sato joined the Army and went through basic training with the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team. However, with 13 years of Japanese-language school under his belt, he was asked to volunteer as a language specialist.

He was sent to Gen. Douglas MacArthur's headquarters in Australia and was involved in campaigns in New Guinea and the Philippines, working on interrogation, translation of documents and reproduction of captured maps.

After the war, he found his way to New York in hopes of making a name for himself in the art world. In the late 1950s, he did one-man shows at the Willard Gallery. But by then he had two daughters, so Sato decided to move back to Maui, opening a studio on Front Street and later building a studio at his Wahikuli home.

"Portals of Immortality,'' which employs geometric patterns, muted tones and Buddhist symbolism to portray a sense of eternal peace, was unveiled at the Lahaina Civic Center on May 27, 1972. It was dedicated to Hawai'i veterans who died in World War II and the Korean War.

"The mason said it was going to last forever,'' Sato recalled.

It didn't, and Sato knew he had to do something to make it right again. Working with the county, he considered redoing the mosaic on the same building face, but no contractor would guarantee it would last.

The oil painting was his suggested compromise, one that ended up incorporating the existing memorial plaque with the names of West Maui's war dead at the center of the piece.

Sato, who did the work at no cost to the county, was worried the plaque wouldn't quite fit in the painting and that the proportions wouldn't work with the smaller scale, but it turned out nicely.

"I'm very pleased with it,'' the artist said.

The county, which spent about $20,000 on the project for installation and other costs, today will rededicate the work to include the veterans of all American wars of the past century.