"I have founded the Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation in hopes that what I have accomplished in my life will transcend my time on earth.
I sincerely hope that people continue to find my art useful for whatever use they have of it. And more so, I hope that my art provides a way to improve their lives and the communities where they reside."
- Richard Hunt
​The Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation was incorporated in the state of Illinois in 2023 to become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit at the direction of its founder, Richard Hunt. The foundation welcomes support from all who appreciate the incredible contributions of one of America's most important sculptors.
Mission
The Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation advances public awareness, education, and appreciation of the life and art of American sculptor Richard Hunt.
Vision
The Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation's vision is to ensure that future generations fully appreciate the life and art of the American sculptor Richard Hunt by encouraging, inspiring, facilitating, educating, and supporting the public’s understanding of his work and his place in American and art history. In addition, the foundation aims to support the next generation of sculptors and artists.
Richard Hunt
Founder
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As an artist and prominent American sculptor, Richard Hunt considered artistic freedom to be the most important aspect of his career, “I am interested more than anything else in being a free person. To me, that means that I can make what I want to make, regardless of what anyone else thinks I should make.”
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At the age of 35, he became the first African American sculptor to have a retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 1971. Hunt held over 160 solo exhibitions and is represented in more than 100 public museums across the globe. Hunt made the largest contribution to public art in the United States, with more than 160 public sculpture commissions gracing prominent locations in 24 states and Washington, D.C.
Hunt was a central figure in Civil Rights-era action and commemorated many African American icons. His body of work explores themes of the African diaspora, African and Western art, mythology, and Hunt's own ancestry, especially in relation to growth, expansion, freedom, movement, and flight.