​“Gifted to Me” by D. Lamar Preston will be on display in the Woodlawn Neighborhood for the 2025-2026 CSE Biennial Exhibit.

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Artist D. Lamar Preston and Chicago Sculpture Exhibit (CSE) officials, together with representatives from Alderman Yancy’s (5th Ward) office will celebrate the installation of “Gifted to Me,” Preston’s brand-new sculpture, at the northwest corner of Stony Island and 62nd St., by the north end of the Hyde Park Academy High School campus at 10 am on July 3rd in the Woodlawn Neighborhood. Preston is the 2025-2026 recipient of the CSE Richard Hunt Award, a $10,000 prize given to emerging and/or mid-career sculptors for production of new work. CSE established the award in partnership with the late, internationally heralded artist and Chicago native, Richard Hunt, to help bring new perspectives and added diversity to the large-scale public art world.

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This is the first year CSE has partnered with the Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation, whose mission is to ensure that future generations fully appreciate Hunt’s life and art by encouraging, inspiring, facilitating, educating, and supporting the public’s understanding of his work and his place in American and art history. In addition, the foundation aims to support the next generation of sculptors and artists. 

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“Gifted to Me” is an 8'x’5x’5’ 650 lb. sculpture composed of individual sheets of oxidized steel. Preston said that “the inspiration behind ‘Gifted to Me’ is Richard Hunt himself. Using what I learned working with he and his team is my best way to honor and show my appreciation for the opportunity to work with a master. Not only a symbolic representation of gifts, I used tools and some repurposed steel I received from Richard to create this work.” The sculpture will be exhibited through May 2027.

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