Ravinia 2024 Issue 5

Until his passing in December 2023, Hunt was a Ravinia Life Trustee and the chief advisor for sculpture in the park, responsible for the management and continued growth of the collection. In 2007, Hunt agreed to let a writer and photographer tag along as he strolled through the works outdoors. The tour began, of course, with Music For A While , the two-piece abstract sculpture that Hunt said was inspired by the lyrics to a song by 17th-century com- poser Henry Purcell: “Music for a while shall all your cares beguile.” The piece’s fluid lines somehow evoke the feeling of beautiful music wafting toward the woods at the edge of the park. But, as Hunt knew well, many Ravinia-goers have a far more tangible appreciation for his work. “It is fun to climb on,” he declared approvingly, spotting a child-sized footprint near its base. “In an earlier, less litigious time, you could see children climbing on it all the time.” Spry and dapper at 71 then, Hunt needed little encouragement to step onto the Corten steel sculpture himself. And when a blazer-wearing security guard came by to respectfully suggest that “they don’t really like it when peo- ple climb on the sculptures, sir,” Hunt merely offered him a mischievous grin and let the photographer explain that, well, technically, it is his sculpture. For his part, though, it was clear that Hunt thought of the piece very much as Ravinia’s sculpture: crafted specifically with the park, and its performers, in mind. “It’s a sculptural improvisation,” he said. “The way I work parallels the way a musician improvises.” He continued musing while winding toward the sculpture walk that bisects the lawn. “An abstract sculpture can be organized in such a way that there is crescendo, diminuendo, even stacca- to. The difference between music and sculpture,” Hunt said, “is that sculpture doesn’t fade away into the atmosphere once the chord has been struck.” Hunt had been a music lover since childhood and warmly remembered his mother taking him to the sympho- ny. Hearing Marian Anderson sing at Orchestra Hall was “transcendent.” And Previous page: Sculptor Richard Hunt sits atop his work Music For A While , which inaugurated Ravinia’s sculpture collection in 1976. Below: Hunt stands next to the exuberant carousel hourse he designed for Ravinia’s centennial, one of a dozen such horses that were commissioned to be displayed throughout the park in 2004. At the end of the season, the horses were auctioned off as a fundraiser, and the winner gifted Hunt’s horse back to Ravinia. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • AUGUST 19 – SEPTEMBER 1, 2024 14