Island Treasures: Volcano Art Center Gallery
Voted year after year as the best gallery in East Hawai‘i, the Volcano Art Center Gallery is a must-see stop in Volcano. Located in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park near the Kīlauea Visitor Center, the gallery features both traditional and contemporary art that is inspired by Hawai‘i’s unique environment and rich cultural heritage.
Volcano Art Center (VAC) is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) educational organization founded in 1974 by a band of eclectic and energetic artists. Today, more than 41 years later, Volcano Art Center continues to operate a successful fine art gallery showcasing handcrafted art work by more than 230 local artists, as well as developing and offering educational programs for residents, keiki (children) and visitors to Hawai‘i Island.
The historic building, originally the 1877 Volcano House Hotel, is a welcoming backdrop for the finely-crafted furniture of native woods, hand-blown glass from Hawai‘i’s top glass artists, jewelry featuring precious and semiprecious stones and metals, and an outstanding collection of two and three dimensional works in paint, photography, clay, fiber, and mixed media. VAC also offers uniquely Hawaiian arts such as kapa, gourd carving, and woodworking sourced responsibly from local wood sources.
Centered at Kīlauea, home to Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of the volcano, of creativity, of fire, the environment has inspired the Hawaiian people and their crafts, songs, dances, and legends for centuries.
The gallery also offers award winning, free, cultural programs on a regular basis.
Traditional Hula Kahiko outdoor performances are held on a monthly basis, where hula hālau come to HVNP to share this traditional form of hula and chant while facing Halema‘uma‘u crater, the sacred home of the volcano goddess Pele. In these free, authentic, outdoor performances, spectators experience ancient sounds, rhythms, and dance in the natural setting of Kīlauea volcano.
Additionally, the Aloha Friday Cultural Demonstrations are offered every Friday from 11am–1pm. These free events feature Hawaiian practitioners sharing various aspects of their culture—both in conjunction with Hula Kahiko performances and as stand-alone, weekly storytelling and hands-on activities that include making lei, gourd instruments, and hula implements, and ‘ukulele playing.
In the 1990s VAC developed the Niaulani Campus, an educational facility in Volcano Village. The campus includes art facilities for classes and workshops and an old growth rainforest with free guided tours every Monday morning.
VAC invites all to visit their website for program and event details.
Volcano Art Center
Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, Kilauea Visitor Center
Daily 9am–5pm (except Christmas Day)
808.967.7565
