Ravinia 2024 Issue 5

Hunt and writer Debra Pickett quench their thirst at one of the sculpture-adorned drinking fountains around the park. This one is watched over by Sylvia Shaw Judson’s The Girl with the Violin . early trips to Ravinia were memorable, too, since, “as someone growing up on the South Side, it was no small thing to come here. This was a grand outing.” Hunt’s connection to Ravinia was further deepened when, as a student at the School of the Art Institute in the mid-1950s, he participated in an exhibi- tion of student sculpture held at Ravinia. Through the ’50s and ’60s, Hunt evolved from a “junk” sculptor, working primar- ily in copper and iron, to a more formal abstract artist, famed for his works in aluminum and steel. His work attracted international attention at the exhibition of modern art at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, and Hunt subsequently was ap- pointed by President Lyndon Johnson to serve on the governing board of the Na- tional Endowment for the Arts. By 1971, when he mounted a one-man exhibition at Ravinia, he had established a reputa- tion as one of the country’s pre-eminent sculptors. So Hunt was a natural choice to work with former Ravinia chairman Stanley Freehling on a project to build a perma- nent collection of modern sculptures at the park. He looked down the sculpture walk and noted, with satisfaction, the way the strong vertical lines of the pieces that line the walk create a sense of occasion. He thought of the project as something akin to programming a season’s worth of concerts: “It’s a balance of innovation and classicism.” RAVINIAMAGAZINE • AUGUST 19 – SEPTEMBER 1, 2024 16