Georgia Museum of Art Prepares for Richard Hunt Exhibition with Related Programming

Richard Hunt

Richard Hunt’s career has spanned six decades, and although the artist is now in his 80s, he continues to create large-scale public commissions. The sculptor’s work will be on view at the Georgia Museum of Art from October 20 through February 3 in the exhibition “Richard Hunt: Synthesis.” The show, which was organized by Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Diasporic Art Shawnya Harris, draws from public and private collections all over the country. It will feature several sculptures and works on paper that trace the various phases of Hunt’s career, including welded and cast sculpture dating from the 1950s to the present and models he made after his transition to large-scale public commissions in the late 1960s.

Hunt’s earliest work is tied to his time at the Junior School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and later the Art Institute. The Museum of Modern Art in New York played a role too, when it presented a retrospective exhibition of his career in 1971 and purchased some of his early work. Of particular interest for Georgians are “Wisdom Bridge,” which Hunt created for the downtown branch of the Atlanta Public Library and a pair of sculptures (“Tower of Aspirations” and “And They Went Down Both into the Water”) for Augusta’s Springfield Park.

“Richard Hunt: Synthesis” will be accompanied by a number of related events throughout the fall at the Georgia Museum of Art. The exhibition will also serve as the focus of the museum’s 5th-grade tours as part of Experience UGA this year, allowing all 5th-grade students in the Clarke County School District to experience the works of a pioneering African American sculptor.

Other related programming for this exhibition includes:

·      a public conversation with Hunt on October 19 at 4:30 p.m. (in the museum’s M. Smith Griffith Auditorium)

·      90 Carlton: Autumn, the museum’s quarterly reception (free for museum members, $5 non-members) on October 19 at 5:30 p.m.

·      a public tour with Harris on October 31 at 2 p.m.

·      a Family Day as part of UGA’s 2019 Spotlight on the Arts festival on November 3 from 10 a.m. to noon

·      a Toddler Tuesday on November 13 at 10 a.m. (register via sagekincaid@uga.edu or 706.542.0448)

·      a screening of Charlie Ahearn’s documentary “Richard Hunt: Sculptor” on November 29 at 7 p.m.

·      an Artful Conversation on December 5 at 2 p.m.

·      and a Teen Studio on January 17 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. (email sagekincaid@uga.edu or call 706.542.8863 to reserve a spot).

All programs are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated.