The public is invited to attend the rededication of Richard Hunt’s sculpture “Hybrid Form II” at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 23.
The sculpture “Hybrid Form II” was created by internationally renowned artist Richard Hunt.
A ceremony will be at the corner of Front and Main streets, where the sculpture was recently reinstalled after the completion of the new Main Street Bridge. A reception at the Historic Chapin Mansion will immediately follow the ceremony.
“Hybrid Form II” was originally presented as a gift to the city of Niles in 1974 by the Albert, Howard and Robert Haas families of Chicago as a lasting memorial to their grandparents, Albert and Freda Green, who settled in Niles in 1874.
During the construction of the new Main Street Bridge, the sculpture was removed from its original location on the southeast side of the riverbank and placed in storage. The Niles Public Arts Commission was pivotal in seeing that the sculpture was reinstalled and worked directly with Richard Hunt to determine a new location that would showcase this important work.
With funding from the Huizenga Family Foundation to underwrite the new base for the sculpture, “Hybrid Form II” is now prominently placed near Niles’ historic downtown at the entrance to Riverfront Park. The work offers a lasting tribute to the industrial heritage of the City while pointing to a future of arts, history and culture.
Standing 10 feet high and weighing two tons, “Hybrid Form II” is sculpted from corten steel, which is designed to rust and change color over time. Hunt created several works in his category of hybrid forms using traditional methods of metal fabrication.
“In some works it is my intention to develop the kind of forms Nature might create if only heat and steel were available to her,” Hunt said.
Hunt was born in Chicago and graduated from the School of the Art Institute. Hunt’s work is found among collections across the nation including the Modern Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art and National Museum of American Art. One of his recent works was installed in the lobby of the newly opened National Museum of African American History in Washington, D.C. Hunt’s art has traveled across the globe for international exhibitions.
A prominent and influential voice for the arts, Hunt has served on the National Board of the Smithsonian Institution and was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to the Board of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Attendees will have an opportunity to meet Richard Hunt at the event. Haas family members will attend as well to see their lasting legacy to the city.
“Our city is extremely fortunate to have such an important piece of public art by internationally recognized sculptor Richard Hunt,” said Jeanne Watson, chair of the Niles Public Arts Commission. “Niles is indebted to the Haas family for their very generous gift. The Niles Public Art Commission is also very grateful to the Huizenga Family Foundation for providing the funds for Hybrid Form II’s new base.”