Marcario "Rio" Hernandez's bronze statue of a native Hawaiian hula girl is the plaza fountain centerpiece at Lahaina Gateway, the new west side shopping center on Maui which will open Aug. 30.

To accurately capture the grace of hula in motion, Hernandez used members of the Kihei halau Te Mau Merahi as models. Te Mau Merahi has been invited to perform at the center's grand opening.

Hernandez, a Maui resident sculptor since 1982, was born in Mexico, where he studied at the National Polytechnic Institute in architecture and engineering and at the University of Mexico in visual arts.

The center is located on Keawe Street and Honopi'ilani Highway.