Sea Wall

In 1971, the same year he became the first African American sculptor to receive a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, Richard Hunt created Sea Wall, a unique masterwork in his vast body of work. While Hunt is globally celebrated for his mastery of metal sculpture, shaping and welding industrial steel and bronze, Sea Wall is his only major public commission constructed entirely of plaster. By returning to this softer material from his early training at Chicago’s South Side Community Art Center, Hunt connected the height of his global success back to his roots as a young artist. Sea Wall is in great company in Chicago, with the installation of Book Bird at the Obama Presidential Center and more than 50 public installations in the city of Chicago.

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The History and Rescue of Sea Wall

The sculpture was commissioned by Sarajean Ruttenberg, Chair of the Women’s Board at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, to put children and families at ease in the hospital lobby. The openings featured aquariums with fish and other aquatic creatures gentoly swimming in water. Decades later, during a hospital remodel in the early 2000s, the artwork was nearly destroyed by a demolition crew. Oscar Edmond III, an engineer and the former owner of the Black Art Group International gallery who admired Hunt’s work, stepped in to rescue the piece. Granted exactly one week to remove the sculpture at his own expense, Edmond safely stored the artwork in his garage for 20 years. He saw saving the sculpture as imperative cultural preservation.

 

Today, the artwork is proudly installed at the Chicago Children’s Museum at Navy Pier. The location is significant—it was here, in 1957, that Hunt participated in the Chicago Artists No-Jury Exhibition that won him the Pauline Palmer Prize for his welded sculpture Steel Bloom, Number 10. He later joined the faculty of the University of Illinois branch at Navy Pier, teaching sculpture, drawing, and metalworking to veterans and young students for two years.

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A Space for Freedom and Calm

As an artist deeply rooted in the urban Chicago environment, Hunt created monumental works specifically designed to interact with and enhance communal spaces. Inspired by watching children play at the base of the Chicago Picasso in 1967, Hunt believed that public sculpture should connect with the dynamics of a community and hold a useful, vital place in the public mind.

 

Hunt completed other site-specific commissions expressly for children, including Cartwright Mound in Evanston, Illinois, in 1977. This abstract sculpture was constructed of welded bronze designed as both public art and a children's slide, exemplifying Hunt’s belief that art in public space must establish a dialogue with its environment. 

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"Central to Hunt’s entire philosophy was a relentless desire to capture the feeling of freedom in his work," notes Jon Ott, Executive Director of the Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation. "He saw swimming as analogous to flying; both were activities that seemed unbounded by gravity, capturing the essence of liberation through the freedom of movement. While many of his works soar upward, Sea Wall provides an underwater backdrop. In this environment, it creates a space where the children themselves are set free, invited to move and imagine in a world without weight."

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Eight Lessons for Children from Richard Hunt

To the children who visit the museum today, Richard Hunt's life offers powerful inspiration:
 

• Turned His Bedroom into a Studio: At age 14, he cleared out his bedroom for clay and plaster, proving you only need a corner of your own world and the will to create.

• Found Art in Nature: Working in a zoological laboratory, he studied insects and birds, learning how wings functioned so his sculptures would look ready to fly.

• Learned by Listening: While shining shoes in his father’s barbershop, he absorbed his community's stories and learned that an artist must be a good listener.

• Recognized as a "National Scholastic" Star: Winning the National Scholastic Art Award multiple times showed that hard work earns national recognition.

• Earned a Scholarship: His talent earned him a scholarship to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, proving that pursuing excellence opens doors.

• Was Self-Taught: Lacking a welding teacher, he experimented in a basement to teach himself how to melt and join metal.

• Saw Treasure in Trash: Scavenging Chicago’s scrapyards, he taught that a piece of garbage is simply a masterpiece waiting to be put together.

• Faced History with Courage: At 19, he attended Emmett Till's funeral and used his art to process pain, inspiring children to use their creative voices to respond to the world around them.

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Visit the Chicago Children's Museum on Navy Pier. Learn more ... 

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