Asipeli Havea "Viliami" Tolutaʻu (born 1951) is a

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

n sculptor and an emeritus professor of sculpture at

Brigham Young University–Hawaii Brigham Young University–Hawaii (BYU–Hawaii) is a private university in Laie, Hawaii. It is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). BYU-Hawaii was founded in 1955, and became a satellite campus of ...

(BYU–Hawaii). Tolutaʻu attended high school at

Liahona High School Liahona High School is a high school in Tonga owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The school is named after the Liahona, a religious artifact described in the Book of Mormon, which gave a family dire ...

in Tonga and went to study at BYU–Hawaii. He then went on to earn an M.F.A. from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

in Provo, Utah, in 1983. He has been on BYU–Hawaii's art faculty since 1991. Among works by Tolutaʻu is the statue of George Q. Cannon and Jonathan Napela at BYU–Hawaii that was unveiled as part of the 1997

Mormon pioneer The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the S ...

sesquicentennial celebration. He also did a statue depicting Finau Ulukalala Feletoa II's 1807 encounter with writing for Liahona High School. He also did the sculpture ''Mamalahoe'' that is at the Windward Oahu Courthouse. He has also done sculptures for several elementary schools in Hawaii. Other sculptures include a statue of ʻAhoʻeitu, the first king of the Tuʻi Tonga dynasty, and one of

Kamehameha IV Kamehameha IV (Alekanetero ʻIolani Kalanikualiholiho Maka o ʻIouli Kūnuiākea o Kūkāʻilimoku; anglicized as Alexander Liholiho) (February 9, 1834 – November 30, 1863), reigned as the fourth monarch of Hawaii under the title ''Ke Aliʻi ...

and his family in Honolulu's

International Market Place International Market Place is an open-air shopping center located in Waikīkī on the island of O‘ahu. It first opened in 1956 as a commercial, retail and entertainment center. After closing for complete renovation in 2013, the International ...

. Tolutaʻu also did the sketch art for ''Tuku Fonua - The Land Given to God'', a BYU–Hawaii produced film that was done on commission from the government of Tonga. In 2007, Tolutaʻu co-chaired along with Tēvita O. Kaʻili the centennial celebration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Tonga. This was sponsored by the Uho o Tonga Historical Society, the Mormon Pacific Historical Society and the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation. Tolutaʻu is a Latter-day Saint. He has been a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

in the LDS Church. Eric B. Shumway. "Generosity of Soul: Reminiscences of Life among Polynesians" in

Grant Underwood Grant Revon Underwood is a historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and a professor at Brigham Young University (BYU). He is also the author of ''The Millennial World of Early Mormonism'' and the editor of ''Voy ...

, ed., ''Pioneers in the Pacific: Memory, History and Cultural Identity among the Latter-day Saints''. Provo: Brigham Young University, Religious Studies Center, 2005. p. 33-43.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tolutau, Viliami Tongan leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1951 births Brigham Young University–Hawaii alumni Brigham Young University alumni Brigham Young University–Hawaii faculty 20th-century American sculptors Tongan emigrants to the United States Living people Tongan artists 21st-century American sculptors