Richard Hunt’s Book Bird unveiled at Obama Presidential Center

Richard Hunt’s Book Bird is being installed at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago as one of the late sculptor’s final public commissions. The work opens to visitors June 19 and is meant to spotlight education, freedom and Hunt’s long legacy in public art.

Why it matters: - Richard Hunt’s “Book Bird” adds a major public artwork to the Obama Presidential Center on Chicago’s South Side. - The sculpture ties Hunt’s legacy to education, freedom and the city institutions that shaped his life. - The installation gives visitors another way to engage with Hunt’s work, both on site and through a public art tour.

What happened: - The Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation announced the installation of “Book Bird” (2023) at the Obama Presidential Center. - President Barack Obama selected Richard Hunt as the first artist commissioned to create an artwork for the center. - The sculpture is on view in the Chicago Public Library’s Reading Garden at the Obama Presidential Center. - The Reading Garden opens to the public on June 19, 2026. - Visitors can also find “Book Bird” virtually and in person on the Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation’s Bloomberg Connects South Side Chicago Public Art Tour.

The details: - “Book Bird” depicts a bird taking wing from the pages of an open book. - The Foundation frames the work as a tribute to the emancipatory power of knowledge. - Hunt created the sculpture as one of his last monuments before his death. - Jon Ott, executive director of the Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation, called the placement especially meaningful because Hunt grew up reading at the Chicago Public Library. - Ott also noted that Hunt’s mother, Etoria Hunt, was one of Chicago’s first Black female librarians. - Hunt said “Book Bird” captures the “progress one can make through reading and study” and that it “helps you to take wing yourself.” - The sculpture was inspired by an award Hunt created in 1985 for the United Negro College Fund honoring philanthropic champions of higher education. - The South Side Chicago Public Art Tour also includes “The Light of Truth: Ida B. Wells National Monument” (2021), “Jacob’s Ladder” (1977), and “Building Growing” (2012), among others.

Between the lines: - The installation reinforces Hunt’s role as a leading figure in American public art and a chronicler of Black history and achievement. - Placing “Book Bird” in a library garden links the sculpture’s imagery to Hunt’s personal story and the educational mission of the center. - The tour strategy suggests the Foundation is using the Obama Presidential Center as a gateway to a broader Chicago public art audience.

What’s next: - The Reading Garden becomes publicly accessible June 19, 2026. - The Foundation will continue presenting Hunt’s work through the Bloomberg Connects tour and related public programming. - The installation is expected to draw attention to Hunt’s wider body of more than 160 public sculpture commissions across 24 states and Washington, D.C.

The bottom line: - “Book Bird” places one of Richard Hunt’s final works in a setting that matches its message: education can open doors, and art can help people imagine what comes next.