Richard Hunt is one of America’s most renowned sculptors. He also so happened to be African American.
This renowned sculptor died on December 16, 2023, at the age of 88. Known foremost for his abstract public sculptures, Hunt learned his craft at The Art Institute of Chicago. Richard Hunt is credited with more than 160 public sculpture commissions in prominent spaces across 24 states and Washington, D.C.
Prairie View A&M University is proud to note that we are included in the illustrious sculptor’s body of work.
On Hunt’s website, under the category Art: Commissions & Works in Public Spaces, there is a list of works entered by years beginning with the 1960s. Found in that list, under the year 1978, you will read Centennial Welded Cor-ten steel, Hobart Taylor Hall, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX.
Yes, our campus is graced with a sculpture by one of the greatest sculptors ever to live.
Centennial, as it is known, was the first major piece of sculpture installed at Prairie View A&M University on March 23, 1978. It sits in front of Hobart Taylor Hall.
The sculpture was commissioned for the University by Attorney Hobart Taylor, Jr., a 1939 graduate of PVAMU and son of the late Hobart Taylor, Sr., Class of 1918.
As stated in a news release dated 3/28/78, President A. I. Thomas accepted the sculpture from Mr. Hunt, who personally installed the piece. “We are excited and delighted to have one of Richard Hunt’s most creative and elegant pieces at Prairie View,” said President Thomas. “This is the only major work of Mr. Hunt in Texas, and I am sure it will be an inspiration and enjoyment to students and all who see it.”
Through the years, I’ve shared my knowledge of the sculpture and its creator with students in my Art Appreciation and Art History classes. The student’s concepts of the artwork and its significance were often missed. To them, the sculpture in front of Hobart Taylor was ‘the big brown thing.’
When the history of the sculpture and the sculptor is shared, students discover a whole new meaning for the artwork. They learn it is more than ‘the big brown thing’ or a piece of ‘steel rusting.’
Dr. Clarence Talley
As Richard Hunt noted, “The abstract sculpture rises over 18 feet high and is on a truncated circular base which is 8 feet in diameter. Made of Corten Steel, the sculpture weighs over 4,400 pounds. The rust-like patina of Corten Steel is a controlled process which, due to the alloy, reaches a certain point of patina and then stops, thus becoming a stable surface.”
Today, the finished patina is completely stable. It has reached its brown color: the desired color the artist imagined as he combined science and art to express his creative genius.
As the hierarchy, faculty, staff, students and visitors roam about this campus, Centennial boldly speaks of the first 100 years and the subsequent passing years. It is a witness to Prairie View as a Producer of Productive People. Please pay homage as you encounter this monumental work by a monumental artist—Richard Hunt.
Dr. Clarence Talley is a Professor of Art at Prairie View A&M University.