Richard Hunt
Linda Zabors
Richard Hunt was a famous sculptor who spent his life and career in Chicago. He designed soaring sculptures from metal, many of which are monuments to figures and events of the Civil Rights Movement and African-American history. He has installations of more than 160 public sculptures across the United States. Richard Hunt was the first African-American visual artist to be appointed to the National Council on the Arts (1968, Lyndon B. Johnson).
He grew up in the Woodlawn and Englewood neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago. A defining event in his life was at age 19 when he attended the funeral of his neighbor, Emmitt Till, a 14- year old black teenager from Chicago who was lynched and murdered while visiting Mississippi in 1955. Five years later, while serving in the U.S. Army, Richard Hunt was the first African-American to be served at a desegregated lunch counter in Alamo Plaza, Texas.
Richard Hunt has numerous awards and honorary degrees. One of his last sculptures was Book Bird, the first artwork commissioned for the Obama Presidential Center.
Veteran: Army
Alum:
The Art Institute of Chicago
South Side Community Arts Center (SSCAC)
A walking tour of select Richard Hunt sculptures in Chicago
https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2024/01/07/richard-hunt-sculpture-guide
Honorary Richard Hunt Place
West Lill Avenue from North Sheffield Avenue to North Racine Avenue
Approved: April 2024
Ward: 43
Alderman: Knudsen
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
b. September 12, 1935 in Chicago
d. December 16, 2023. Age 88.
Near:
Richard Hunt Studio
Lincoln Avenue at Lill Avenue
Dedicated: September 12, 2024
on what would have been Richard Hunt’s 89th birthday
Source
2024
https://www.richardhuntsculptor.com/obituary
https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/02/29/remembering-richard-hunt-the-legendary-sculptor-who-inspired-artists-in-chicago-and-beyond/
https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/mayor/press_room/press_releases/2023/december/richard-hunt-passing.html
Inside Richard Hunt’s artist studio in Lincoln Park. September 2024. Photo: Honorary Chicago/Linda Zabors