You’re invited to a special evening to look back at the life and times of Richard Hunt, the featured artist in the ALPLM’s latest exhibit, “Freedom in Form: Richard Hunt.”
Acclaimed sculpturer and painter Preston Jackson will sit down with Ross Jordan, the curator of the exhibit, for a wide-ranging conversation recounting Jackson’s longtime friendship with Hunt. This conversation marks the first time the sculpture of Hunt and Preston are presented on the ALPLM campus together. Preston’s significant public work Acts of Intolerance (2008) in Union Square Park commemorates the centennial of the Springfield Race Riot of 1908. The conversation will reflect on both artist’s body of work and how artists address American history.
This program will take place on Thursday, March 13, 2025, in ALPLM’s Union Theater. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Program begins at 6:30 p.m. This program is free to attend, but advance registration is required.
ABOUT PRESTON JACKSON: Decatur native and longtime Peoria-based artist Preston Jackson has degrees from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. From 1971 to 1972, Jackson served as an instructor of drawing and painting at Decatur’s Millikin University. He was professor of art at Western Illinois University from 1972 to 1989. Jackson joined the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1989 as professor of sculpture and head of the Figurative Area. Appointed chair of the Sculpture Department in 1994, Jackson served in that capacity until 1996. In 1994, Jackson founded the Contemporary Art Center of Peoria, Illinois, where he maintains his primary studio.
Jackson specializes in bronze and steel sculpture and painting. Best known for his work with bronze castings and large monuments, Jackson’s work can be found throughout the U.S. and Illinois. In 2020, Black Art in America called Jackson, “One of the Greatest Black Artists of Our Time.”
ABOUT ROSS STANTON JORDAN: Ross Stanton Jordan is a curator interested in the confluence of politics, history, and visual culture. He is the curator at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, Chicago’s dynamic monument to democracy. At the museum and independently, Ross has produced dozens of exhibitions and one hundred public programs that connect the social justice issues of the past to the present-day demands for social equity via collaborations with artists, scholars, and community-based organizations. Ross has held curatorial fellowships at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Independent Curators International, and the American Association of Museums. In 2022, Newcity Magazine named Ross one of the top 50 Chicago arts administrators working to make a more equitable and sustainable arts world. In 2024, The Chicago Tribune named Ross, along with his colleagues at Hull-House, Chicagoans of the Year in Museums. He holds a studio arts degree from Connecticut College and dual master's degrees in art history and arts administration and policy from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Ross’s essay, "A Needful Thing,” is included in ALPLM's exhibition catalogue for the Freedom in Form exhibition.
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