Saginaw Community Foundation has awarded a grant of $10,000 to The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum at Saginaw Valley State University for an upcoming exhibition: Richard Hunt, The Art of This Century. The exhibit will open at the museum Friday, Oct. 4.

An internationally recognized sculptor living in Chicago, Richard Hunt is best known for his public sculptures. His works fuse art, architecture and the environment. By incorporating found materials and various metals into his works, Hunt uses an abstract expressionist style to create sculptures that suggest organic forms with humanistic qualities.

Hunt has made history for more than 50 years. He was the youngest artist selected to exhibit at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, and he was the first African-American artist to have a major solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1971. In 2009, the International Sculpture Center awarded him the International Achievement Award. Today Hunt has more sculptures in public spaces than any other artist in the country; 50 are located in Illinois, including more than 30 in the Chicago area. 

“My career in sculpture began in 1955. It was then, while still a student, I began to exhibit my sculpture around Chicago in all sorts of places: art fairs, small galleries, local art centers, and the like. Public sculpture responds to the dynamics of a community, or of those in it who have a use for sculpture. It is this aspect of use, of utility, that gives public sculpture its vital and lively place in the public mind,” said Richard Hunt.

Between 1958 and 2012, Hunt has had nearly 90 solo museum and gallery exhibitions in 18 states and the District of Columbia, and he has received nearly 100 commissions. One of his most recently completed public sculptures is Columnar Construction. Sited on a bluff above the restored Gilkey Creek and the Flint River Trail adjacent to Mott Community College in Flint, the Ruth Mott Foundation dedicated the sculpture on Oct. 26, 2011.

“Richard Hunt’s career as a sculptor is impressive and his artwork is stunning. We are grateful to the Saginaw Community Foundation for supporting this exhibition, making it possible for Richard Hunt’s work to come to the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum where University faculty, staff and students, and residents of the Great Lakes Bay Region will have an opportunity to experience it,” said Museum Director Marilyn Wheaton.

Richard Hunt: The Art of This Century is an exhibition of sculptures, models for commissioned pieces, and working drawings. The exhibition will be at the Museum through Jan. 25, 2014.

The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum is located on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University at 7400 Bay Road, University Center, Mich. The museum is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday – Friday and 12 noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Admission is free of charge. For more information on the museum and exhibition, visit www.marshallfredericks.org or call (989) 964-7125. To learn more about Richard Hunt, visit www.richardhunt.us.