Richard Hunt Sculptor

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Richard Hunt Sculptor

The Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation advances public awareness, education, and appreciation of the life and art of American sculptor Richard Hunt.

08/18/2026

Richard Hunt created "Instrument of Change" (The Diaspora) in 1997 to honor Nelson Mandela and his unwavering belief in the equality of all people.

The resulting welded bronze sculpture took the shape of a drum with pulses of drumbeats directed toward a globe suspended above the instrument. Bronze outstretched arms with an abstract open hand or flame-like gesture rise vertically on either side of the piece, creating a work that suggests Mandela’s global influence, outreach, and dedication to peace and justice.

"Instrument of Change" (The Diaspora) (1997)
Welded bronze
31 x 30 x 17 in.
Collection of Walter O. Evans

© 2026 The Richard Hunt Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

08/12/2026

"What does a hero mean?" Standing in a defiant contrapposto stance, Richard Hunt's "Hero Construction" (1958) serves as a gritty, modernist response to Michelangelo's classical hero, "David." Rather than carving his hero from idealized marble, Hunt utilized the salvaged industrial materials of the 20th century to suggest a hero while not overtly defining it.

With the intense heat of his torch, Hunt masterfully welded together discarded automobile parts—including mufflers and steel pipes scavenged from local Chicago scrapyards—to create a resilient figure of heroism. By reassembling these broken, industrial elements, Hunt forms a new kind of modern champion—one intimately tied to his overarching themes of martyred heroism and African American struggle, particularly his ongoing internal response to the murder of Emmett Till in 1955. "Hero Construction" is a poignant accumulation of metaphorical will as one piece in Hunt's "Hero" series of works, standing as a modest yet enduring symbol of resilience in the face of contemporary adversity.

✨See Richard Hunt's "Hero Construction," a seminal early masterpiece of direct-metal sculpture, currently installed in the Contemporary Art Galleries at the Art Institute of Chicago alongside works by Jackson Po***ck, Helen Frankenthaler, Francis Bacon, Philip Guston, and other masters.

"Hero Construction"
Welded Steel
64 × 29 in.
Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago

© 2026 The Richard Hunt Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

08/07/2026

Richard Hunt's "Uplifted" (2002) is a dynamic stainless steel work dedicated to his wife, Lenora Cartright. She was the former director of the School of Urban Sciences at the University of Illinois who also served as a city official in Chicago under Mayors Jane Byrne and Harold Washington. In 1989, Lenora tragically died at the age of 53 of breast cancer. Leon Forrest, an African American novelist and a friend of the Hunts, delivered her eulogy, describing Lenora as a “woman in the tradition of Mary McLeod Bethune, Rosa Parks, and Ella Baker.” Hunt began working on "Uplifted" in 1990, months after her passing, though it took him more than a decade to finish the piece.

Lenora inspired Richard Hunt to create the United Negro College Fund's "Book Bird" award. This award became the foundation for the much larger "Book Bird" monument, now installed at the Obama Presidential Center's Library Reading Garden.

07/30/2026

What happens when an iconic sculptor, a visionary collector, and a jazz musician collaborate? You get "Bigger Bridge" (1983)—a masterpiece in welded steel by Richard Hunt.

Commissioned by art collector, Dr. Walter O. Evans, Richard Hunt's "Bigger Bridge" was sparked by a moving passage in Richard Wright’s "American Hunger" about building a "bridge of words" across darkness. Hunt set out to capture Wright's written emotional fury in metal by welding chromed steel automobile bumpers together with branching chair and table legs onto a triangular steel base to form a dynamic, arching structure.

The sculpture became the focal point for jazz musician Kamau Kenyatta’s LP "Bigger." Photographed by Balthazar Korab, Hunt's "Bigger Bridge" graced the album cover, symbolizing the connection between musical notes and metal forms.

Read the full story about Hunt's "Bigger Bridge" and more in the Georgia Museum of Art's second edition catalogue of "Richard Hunt: Synthesis," now available (link in bio).

Images © 2026 The Richard Hunt Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
1) Richard Hunt (right middle) at the unveiling of "Bigger Bridge" at Walter O. Evans’s house in Detroit, on September 18, 1983. Also featured are Walter O. Evans (far left), Kamau Kenyatta (left middle), and Les Payne (far right).
2) "Bigger Bridge," (1983), welded chromed steel, 57 x 79 x 23 in., SCAD Museum of Art Permanent Collection, Gift of Dr. Walter O. Evans and Mrs. Linda J. Evans
3) Balthazar Korab’s photograph of Richard Hunt’s "Bigger Bridge" on the cover of jazz musician Kamau Kenyatta’s album "Bigger," 1984.

07/01/2026

"I have always been interested in the concept of freedom on the personal and universal levels." — Richard Hunt

This 4th of July, we honor the legacy of legendary sculptor Richard Hunt, who spent seven decades transforming heavy, rigid industrial metal into soaring expressions of liberty and social uplift.

For Hunt's sculpture, the ultimate freedom was the freedom of form itself. Celebrate freedom this 4th of July and visit one of Richard Hunt's 160 public monuments across the U.S. https://f.mtr.cool/akyzhmbzai

Here are just three of Hunt's tributes to freedom:

🦅 "Spirit of Freedom" (1981): This Kansas City pyramidal monument serves as a tribute to the enslaved African American men and women who helped build our nation, blending the city’s history with jazz improvisation with boundless human spirit.

⛓️‍💥 "Freedmen’s Column" (1989): Sited at Howard University, this towering bronze obelisk honors the Freedmen's Bureau and the formerly enslaved Black individuals who fought to end chattel slavery. At its peak, the sculpture breaks into abstract, bird-like shapes that symbolize breaking free and taking flight.

🎶 "Swing Low" (2016): Hunt’s 1,500-pound bronze masterpiece is suspended from the Heritage Hall at Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. "Swing Low’s" sweeping arc segments mimic angels' wings, capturing the Negro spiritual's dual message of religious salvation and liberation from slavery.

Public Art Archive

© 2026 The Richard Hunt Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

06/19/2026

Juneteenth is a momentous day for Richard Hunt, whose sculpture, "Book Bird" (2023), was unveiled at the Obama Presidential Center. "Book Bird" is a symbol of the freedom that knowledge provides, given us a soaring reminder that education is the ultimate tool for intellectual growth and personal transcendence. The sculpture stands today as a message of hope—an open invitation to explore, dream, and rise.
https://f.mtr.cool/bbejvgcjhk

President Barack Obama admiring Richard Hunt's "Book Bird" in the Obama Presidential Center's Library Reading Garden © 2026 The Obama Foundation © The Richard Hunt Estate/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Obama Library
Obama Foundation

06/18/2026

Richard Hunt's "Book Bird" (2023) is now on view at the Obama Presidential Center's Library Reading Garden. As the first artist chosen to create a work for the center, Hunt considered the commission a tremendous honor. "Book Bird" represents the power of knowledge and the freedom it brings, with Hunt reflecting on the "progress one can make through reading and study. This 'Book Bird' helps you to take wing yourself."

➡️ Visitors to Chicago can learn more about "Book Bird"—one of Hunt's last public commissions—on the Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation's Bloomberg Connects South Side Chicago Public Art Tour. The center and library open to the public on June 19.
https://f.mtr.cool/dqztgtoqub

Obama Foundation
Bloomberg Connects
Installation view of "Book Bird" (2023) by Richard Hunt, Obama Presidential Center, Chicago © 2026 The Richard Hunt Estate/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York © The Obama Foundation, Photo: Taylor Glascock

06/09/2026

The Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation is excited to welcome three new members to its Board of Directors (Pam Royall, Joe Tyler and Ed Welburn) and two new Advisory Board members (Vicki Heyman and John Thompson). “Their expertise will be vital as we implement our strategic plan and work toward our long-term goal of building an endowment," says BK Fulton, Chairman of the Board of Directors. "This expansion of our Board of Directors ensures we have the leadership to continue championing Hunt’s genius, increasing our digital and educational outreach, and ensuring his unparalleled legacy continues to inspire future generations.”

https://f.mtr.cool/sjxvnxjvxz

05/19/2026

Richard Hunt's "Construction N" is a seminal work from his Construction [Letter] series that adeptly combines both natural and manmade elements. The first in the series, the sculpture ingeniously combines cottonwood salvaged from a local Chicago park after a heavy storm with welded steel, embodying Hunt's early and innovative approach to materials and form.

"Construction N" (1956)
Welded steel and cottonwood
38 x 26 x 25 in. (96.5 x 66 x 63.5 cm)
© 2026 The Richard Hunt Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo © On White Wall

05/04/2026

We are honored that Richard Hunt is included in Time magazine's "25 Works of Art That Define America Now," with Theaster Gates selecting "Hero's Head" as Hunt's important iconic work. "As this nation marks its long-unfinished experiment with freedom, Richard Hunt is a testament to the complexity of Americanness."
https://f.mtr.cool/xeedbndwwa

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Chicago, IL

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https://www.richardhuntsculptor.org/

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