PASSING THE TORCH — SCULPTOR TO SCULPTOR

By P. Andrews-Keenan

Pigment International made a very special visit to iconic sculptor Richard Hunt’s studio in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. There we witnessed three generations of Black sculptors connect. Delaware based sculptors Aaron

Paskins and his wife Gina were visiting as part of their attendance at the Fellowship Open in Milwaukee. They were joined by Sande Robinson, member of the Board of Trustees of the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) and former president of the African American Art Alliance (AAAA) and art consultant Don Roman.

Hunt shared his process, which many times begins with cardboard patterns that are stacked in boxes.. The studio holds more than five decades of his work, some miniatures of his iconic works like the Ida B. Wells monument in Bronzeville, recycled scraps for new pieces, a filigreed tower that was the template for a series of bronze puzzles he did for another Chicago icon, Hugh Hefner at Playboy; and his personal collection of African sculptures that hold pride of place in the entrance to his studio.

Hunt, never one to rest on his laurels, is currently working on a piece for the Obama Foundation and he continues to mentor a new generation of creators including sculptors David Noguchi and D. Lamar Preston, son of Sapphire and Crystals co-founder Felicia Preston.

Preston gave the group a tour of their show at the Bridgeport Art Center titled FORWARD. She shared the story of how she and Marva Jolly founded the group and continue to honor their ancestors with the alter set up at each exhibition.

Left to right — Sculptors Regina and Aaron Paskins; Patricia A. Stewart, Sapphire

& Crystals;; Patricia Andrews-Keenan, Pigment International, Sculptor D. Lamar Preston; Felicia Preston, co-founder of Sapphire & Crystals; and renowned muralist Max Sansing. The group toured FORWARD, an exhibition by Sapphire and Crystals at the Bridgeport Art Center.

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Photo Collage by Sunrise Burrell