The Krasl Art Center in St. Joseph is planning a celebration of life for artist Richard Hunt after his passing in December.
Krasl Director Tami Fauver tells us the Chicago-based Hunt opened his Benton Harbor studio in 1995 and had a working relationship creating pieces for the Krasl from then on.
“We wanted to have a local celebration here in our community of Benton Harbor and St. Joseph to just pay homage and to talk about and share our memories of this really fantastic sculptor who, even though he was based in Chicago, had a longstanding place in our community as well,” Fauver said.
Major examples of Hunt’s local work are the 50-foot sculpture, And You, Seas that rises from the south pier of Silver Beach County Park as well as Rising Crossing Tides, a sculpture on the Krasl grounds commissioned in 2018.
Fauver says everyone’s invited to Hunt’s Benton Harbor studio on Territorial Drive April 6 from 4:30 to 7 for the celebration of Hunt and his impact on the community.
“We will be sharing archival photographs and video footage and some ephemera related to his career. So we have video footage of the dedication and the installation of And You, Seas back from 2002. We have video footage of Richard speaking and through a variety of interviews over the years.”
Hunt donated his Benton Harbor studio to the Krasl last year, and Fauver says a master plan consultancy group has been engaged to come up with a plan for the space. The Krasl will officially assume operations of the studio in April of next year. In the meantime, she says Hunt’s legacy will be honored at the April 6 celebration.
