Noted Maui artist and educator Edmund M.K. Enomoto, whose ceramic sculptures are part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum collection, died Aug. 3 at Kaiser Moanalua Medical Center. He was 78.

Services were held Monday at Ballard Family Mortuary, which is receiving correspondence to his family; burial was at Makawao Veterans Cemetery.

Enomoto was born Jan. 16, 1946, in Puunene, Maui. He attended Holy Rosary School in Paia and graduated from Kameha­meha School for Boys in 1964. He earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in 1968 from the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, Calif., where he majored in graphic design.

The following year, Eno­moto married his high school sweetheart, Catherine Anne Kekoa Enomoto, a now-retired writer for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the Maui News. The couple moved to Fort Knox, Ky., where Edmund was stationed as a U.S. Army illustrator, winning the first annual Armed Forces Art Show.

Returning to Hawaii, he became art director for Kaizawa Advertising in 1972, designing iconic logos for Hawaiian Host Chocolates, The Mind’s Eye Interiors and Duty Free Shoppers. Enomoto, who held a teaching certificate from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, went on to serve as head of the art department and athletic director at St. Andrew’s Priory School in Honolulu, retiring in 1997.

After moving back to Maui and settling in Kula, Enomoto worked for a dec­ade at King Kekaulike High School, where he taught ceramics, drawing and painting, before retiring in 2011.

His artworks captured best-in-show honors at Hawai‘i Craftsmen and Raku Ho‘olaule‘a competitions, and eight of his sculptures are in the Smithsonian American Art Museum collection. In 1987, the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii honored Enomoto as a “Living Treasure of Hawaii” for his contributions as a ceramicist. At age 41, he was one of the youngest ever to achieve the distinction.

More recently, Enomoto is among 11 artists showcased in the “Maui Strong: Art for Hope” exhibit at the county’s Lahaina Recovery Center at the Lahaina Gateway shopping center. The title of his new woodcut, “Lele Rising,” refers to the ancient name for Lahaina and also the Hawaiian word for jump, fly or soar, according to exhibit materials. A breaching whale is a metaphor for Lahaina rising, or rebuilding.

Beyond his art, Enomoto was an avid hee (octopus) free diver and outrigger canoe paddler who also enjoyed cooking and farming. He was founding head coach of the Mullet Volleyball Club and co-founded Hawaiian Canoe Club’s recreational paddling program.

In addition to his wife, Enomoto is survived by his daughter Elisabeth Lehua Enomoto; son Edmund Honu Enomoto; a brother, Andrew Enomoto; and granddaughter Kamalani Hue Enomoto.