Richard Hunt

CTL-E-6268 · Person · artist · 1935–2023

VERIFIED evidence grade — master store (canonical CSV)

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-01998 · provenance: canonical master store (CSV), record CTL-P-0555 + build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6268. Master record source: CTL seed 2026-10-16 — UNVERIFIED, verify before public citation.

Richard Howard Hunt was an American sculptor born September 12, 1935, on Chicago's South Side. He began youth classes at the Art Institute of Chicago at thirteen and received his B.A.E. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1957, developing the direct-welding technique in salvaged and new metal for which he became known. His Hero Construction (1958) entered the Art Institute's collection within a year of his graduation. In 1971 he became the first African American sculptor to receive a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Working largely in abstract welded metal on themes of flight, uplift, and emancipation, he completed more large-scale public commissions than any other American sculptor; his Chicago works include Jacob's Ladder (1977) at the Carter G. Woodson Library, Flight Forms (2002) at Midway Airport, and The Light of Truth Ida B. Wells National Monument (2021) in Bronzeville, and his Swing Low (2016) hangs in the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. He served on the governing board of the National Endowment for the Arts. Hunt died December 16, 2023, in Chicago, aged 88.

The record

• Also known as: Richard Howard Hunt

Notes

Staged 2026-10-16 under CTL-GOV-006 (Scan Tail Wave 7 — 747 Program, FINAL Wave 13; seventh Scan Tail packet at the founder's 40-record size). Gate A (2026-10-16): Gate A CLEAR (hand-checked 2026-10-16): no Richard Hunt entity, alias, or variant in the live graph (3,910 entities). ID CTL-E-6268 free at staging. Supply: 747 Supply Ledger — Tier 4 corpus scan tail, corpus-gap-candidates-2026-10-15.json ranked #2944. The scan supplied the name string only; every fact is sourced under CTL-GOV-004. SCOPE GATE: Black Chicago sculptor — born, trained, and based in Chicago, with major public works across the city — squarely inside the graph's Black Chicago first scope. Vital status: DECEASED — died December 16, 2023, aged 88 (School of the Art Institute of Chicago memorial, December 18, 2023; The HistoryMakers biography — both accessed 2026-10-16). SAIC's memorial places his life and career in Chicago; his official CV gives Chicago as the place of death. STATISTICS — PUBLIC-WORK COUNT CONFLICT SHOWN, NOT BLENDED: SAIC (accessed 2026-10-16) says 'more than 150 works on view in public spaces'; his official artist CV says 'more than 160 public commissions'; The HistoryMakers states he 'completed more public sculptures than any other artist in the United States' without a number. The description asserts the comparative claim, not a count. Honorary degrees: SAIC says 17 (including its own, 1979); the official CV says 18 — shown, not blended. First African American sculptor to receive a Museum of Modern Art retrospective (1971) per SAIC. MEDIA: photo HELD (candidate: The photograph of Hunt in his Chicago studio finishing a large-scale sculpture, carried on the SAIC memorial page (saic.edu; photo by Jim Grot as captioned there) — named candidate only; NO license is claimed — PHOTO-001 verification deferred); chart FILLED (charts/chart-ctl-e-6268-richard-hunt.svg, CTL graphic from this record's sourced facts); video HELD (No matching-entity CTL Short in the Shorts Link Map (shorts-link-map-2026-10-15.json, 233 rows, checked by name and variants, 2026-10-16); no near-miss title found.); audio HELD (no rights-cleared matching-entity audio staged); map N/A (Person records carry no map slot.) MEDIA LAYER (staged 2026-10-16; full per-asset PHOTO-001 records + embed specs in the packet's staged JSON, Drive packet folder): map = N/A (Person records carry no map slot.) | visual_assets = HELD: | chart = FILLED (Created for this packet (CTL graphic, CTL-PHOTO-001 lane) from the record's sourced facts.) | video = HELD (No matching-entity CTL Short in the Shorts Link Map (shorts-link-map-2026-10-15.json, 233 rows, checked by nam) | audio = HELD (HELD: No CTL-owned or rights-cleared matching-entity audio exists at staging.)

Relationships

• Chicago Honorary Street Signs — appears on
  STRONG EVIDENCE

Referenced by

• 'The Light of Truth' Ida B. Wells National Monument — designed by → this record

Sources

• School of the Art Institute of Chicago, SAIC Mourns the Passing of Richard Hunt (December 18, 2023) (accessed 2026-10-16) — Richard Hunt (BAE 1957, HON 1979) died December 16 at age 88; born and raised in Chicago; youth classes at the Art Institute from age 13; Hero Construction (1958) collected by the Art Institute within a year of his degree; direct-welding technique; more than 150 works on view in public spaces per this source, including Jacob's Ladder (1977) at the Carter G. Woodson Library, Flight Forms (2002) at Midway Airport, and The Light of Truth Ida B. Wells National Monument (2021) in Bronzeville; Swing Low (2016) at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture; first African American sculptor to have a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art; 17 honorary degrees per this source; Richard Hunt Day declared in Chicago (June 9, 2022) and Illinois (April 24, 2023) — https://www.saic.edu/news/saic-mourns-passing-richard-hunt (primary source · build store)
• The HistoryMakers, Richard Hunt biography (accessed 2026-10-16) — sculptor Richard Hunt born September 12, 1935, on Chicago's South Side; Junior School of the Art Institute; B.A.E. in 1957 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; youngest artist to exhibit at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair; completed more public sculptures than any other artist in the United States; signature pieces Jacob's Ladder at the Carter G. Woodson Library in Chicago and Flintlock Fantasy in Detroit; served on the governing board of the National Endowment for the Arts and on Smithsonian boards; passed away December 16, 2023 — https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/richard-hunt-39 (build store)
• https://occprodstoragev1.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/matterattachmentspublic/16b81efa-21c8-4d2d-a6a6-7ee8a123c4a1.pdf (verification source · master store)

Evidence note (master store)

A Chicago City Council resolution (Office of the City Clerk; gathered April 17, 2024) designates 'Richard Hunt Place' on Lill Avenue between Sheffield and Racine as an honorary street name. NOTE: the instrument is a resolution, not a designation ordinance — the designation rests on the resolution text itself. The catalog renders the sign 'Honorary Richard Hunt Place.' Stored segment and year 2024 confirmed. Upgraded 2026-10-17 from STRONG EVIDENCE (Honorary Chicago catalog: http://www.honorarychicago.com/blog/tag/Art) under CTL-MTH-001/002/003 on the strength of the City Council resolution text itself (tier 1) (fetched in full 2026-10-17).

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Record CTL-E-6268 · Combined Graph record U-01998 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 3 sources · 2 mapped relationships.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

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