He has been tabbed by the Smithsonian Institution as the preeminent metal sculptor on the globe, and you have unique chance to join the ranks of an exclusive club of private collectors with one of his pieces in your own personal collection thanks to a small but legendary church in the city of Benton Harbor. World-renowned metal sculptor Richard Hunt is one of 23 artists who have donated works of art for a month-long auction designed to strengthen the life and missions of First Presbyterian Church in Benton Harbor’s historic Morton Hill neighborhood through a building enhancement.
Sales of the donated artworks will benefit the church’s “Open Wide Our Front Door” project. The bidding will begin next week on September 22nd on CharityAuctionsToday.com. Pieces from national, regional and local artists are being offered on the website. Some artists have donated more than one piece.
In addition to Hunt’s sculpture, the works donated by other artists are both two- and three-dimensional and include sculptures, watercolors, jewelry, pottery, mixed media, photographs, paintings, charcoal drawings, a wood piece, basketry and wearable fibers. The artists live in Chicago, Virginia, Florida, Germany and Michigan. Recognizable names from Southwest Michigan include David Baker, Cindy Jakeway, Joan Judd, Becky Rotter, Sherrie Styx, Lynne Tan and Bob Williams.
The online auction will culminate October 21st with the “Open Wide Our Front Door” Open House. The public will be invited to the church that evening, a Saturday, from 5-7:30pm, for appetizers, live music and a silent auction of art exhibited in the church, along with some of the art from the online auction. The church, now celebrating its 125th-anniversary on Morton Hill, is at 475 Green Avenue.
Hunt, as many residents know, has a satellite studio on Territorial Road in the Benton Harbor Arts District. His primary studio, however, is in Chicago. Among other works, he is known to many people in the Benton Harbor/St. Joseph area because of his huge welded stainless steel sculpture, “And You, Seas,” near the South Pier in St. Joseph. A welded bronze sculpture, “Column of the Free Spirit,” is in the Frederik Meijer Sculpture Garden in Grand Rapids.
The soft-spoken 82-year-old sculptor still juggles multiple commissions simultaneously from around the world. He has more than 125 sculptures on public display throughout the United States. He donated a huge bronze, copper and brass sculpture that hangs from the ceiling of the lobby in the new National Museum of African American History and Culture on the Mall near the Washington Monument, and also features other pieces around D.C. including near Metro Center, in the Hirshhorn Gardens, and at the White House.
The sculpture that Hunt has donated for the “Open Wide Our Front Door” online auction is a 26-inch-tall cast bronze piece entitled “Column With Extended Reach.”
The online and in-person auctions will raise money for the church’s “Open Wide Our Front Door” project for an addition to the front of the church on Green Avenue. First Presbyterian leaders see the addition as a way to help ensure the church’s presence on Morton Hill and to strengthen its missions of racial reconciliation and support of young people.
By early August the church had raised about $433,000, or 62-percent of the $700,000 goal, in a campaign that began in early 2016. The aim is to finish fundraising by spring of 2018 and build the addition by next summer. Much of the money has come from outside the congregation and from donors outside the city.
Sara Shambarger, who was the director of the Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff in St. Joseph for 19 years, has coordinated First Presbyterian’s art auction effort. She is a former member of the church and now lives in Spring Lake, Michigan.
The Martin’s Super Markets chain will be distributing up to 2,000 flyers about the online auction in shopping bags at its St. Joseph and Stevensville stores later this month.
Here’s how to go online for the auction:
To go to the page on CharityAuctionsToday.com for the “Open Wide” auction site, you may click this link or paste the address into your browser:
https://www.charityauctionstoday.com/auctions/OpenWide-art-auction-2398
Anyone without an account on the website can quickly and easily create one by filling in a standard information form. You can also scroll down the page to see pictures and descriptions of the artworks, along with starting bids and the values of the works. While you can see the items right now, you cannot bid until September 22nd.
