{{notability|1=Biographies|date=May 2025}} {{Short description|American artist}} '''Jon Ott''' is an American arts administrator, art collector, and the official biographer and exhibitions advisor for African-American sculptor Richard Hunt.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rockett |first=Darcel |date=2023-08-22 |title=The Chicago Public Library Foundation honors Richard Hunt with an Art Award. We talk with the artist about his career. |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2023/08/22/the-chicago-public-library-foundation-honors-richard-hunt-with-an-art-award-we-talk-with-the-artist-about-his-career/ |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref> He is a founding board member of the Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation and chair emeritus of the International Sculpture Center.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Huddleston |first=Scott |date=2021-04-14 |title=Renowned sculptor one of the first Black men to eat at desegregated Woolworth counter in San Antonio |url=https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Renowned-sculptor-one-of-the-first-Black-men-to-16098600.php |website=San Antonio Express-News}}</ref> Ott became involved in supporting Hunt's artistic career and preserving his legacy after he died at the age of 88 in 2023.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Mitch |date=2023-12-17 |title=Richard Hunt, Sculptor Who Transformed Public Spaces, Dies at 88 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/16/us/richard-hunt-sculptor-obituary.html |access-date=2025-05-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
== Career == '''Work with Richard Hunt'''
As an adolescent, Ott was introduced to Hunt by his parents. Later, he purchased a small sculpture of his. Hunt attended Ott's wedding in 2004, which came as a surprise, since they had only met a few times prior.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Holliday |first=Andrea |date=2024-02-01 |title=In the Cathedral of Sculpture: The Last Days and Years of Richard Hunt |url=https://art.newcity.com/2024/02/01/in-the-cathedral-of-sculpture-the-last-days-and-years-of-richard-hunt/ |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=New City Art |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2019, Ott began interviewing Hunt to learn more about his art and life, and traveled with him on several art-focused trips, as well. Hunt wrote to Ott on March 28, 2023, stating that "I want you to know I consider you my 'official biographer.' Your research and our dialogue put you in the unique position of being more knowledgeable of my history than any other person."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hunt |first=Richard |date=2023-03-28 |title=Letter from Richard Hunt to Jon Ott (March 28, 2023) |url=https://www.richardhuntsculptor.org/_files/ugd/92f8d1_16e55c85218c47e7814763cda74d073d.pdf |website=Richard Hunt archives}}</ref>
Ott has conducted over one hundred hours of interviews and compiled a comprehensive chronology of Hunt's life and work, which was published in the 2022 monograph, ''Richard Hunt'' (Gregory Miller & Co).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Colvin |first=Rob |title=Never Not a Success: Richard Hunt's Sculpture is Always Rising |url=https://artsmagazine.com/never-not-a-success/ |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=Arts Magazine}}</ref>
Ott has given gallery talks and participated in panel discussions about Hunt's work at major national arts institutions including the Chicago History Museum (Chicago, IL),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pigment International Concludes Black Fine Art Month with Special Event and Richard Hunt Film Preview |url=https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/pigment-international-concludes-black-fine-art-month-with-special-event-and-richard-hunt-film-preview |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=Chicago Gallery News}}</ref> the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (Fort Worth, TX),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Paper Forum {{!}} Richard Hunt: Sculpting Freedom |url=https://www.cartermuseum.org/events/paper-forum-richard-hunt-sculpting-freedom |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=www.cartermuseum.org |language=en}}</ref> the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL),<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Freedom in Form: Special Exhibit Tour & Gallery Talk |url=https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/Event/25545/Freedom-in-Form-Special-Exhibit-Tour-Gallery-Talk/event-details/ |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum |language=en}}</ref> and White Cube Bermondsey (London, UK).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-04-04 |title=Conversations: Mark Godfrey and Jon Ott on Richard Hunt |url=https://www.whitecube.com/news/conversations-mark-godfrey-and-jon-ott-on-richard-hunt |website=White Cube}}</ref> Ott has been a recurring guest on National Public Radio, where he's been interviewed about Richard Hunt's life and career,<ref>{{Cite web |title=A tribute to Richard Hunt, 'One of the most important figures in art history' |url=https://www.wbez.org/the-rundown-chicago-news-podcast/2023/12/22/a-tribute-to-richard-hunt-one-of-the-most-important-figures-in-art-history |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=WBEZ |language=en}}</ref> and his 2024 exhibition titled ''Freedom in Form'', at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-03 |title=Prolific Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt's works are now on display at Springfield museum |url=https://www.wbez.org/arts/2024/12/03/richard-hunt-chicago-sculptor-springfield-lincoln-presidential-museum-exhibition |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=WBEZ |language=en}}</ref>
In a quote published in ''The New York Times'', Ott indicates Hunt's drive for social justice and liberation, stating that, "That really set the tone for his entire artistic life, which was really focused around representing freedom, and freedom in every sense."<ref name=":2" />
Ott is featured in the documentary film, ''The Light of Truth: Richard Hunt's Monument to Ida B. Wells'',. 2024. The film, directed by Rana Segal, documents Hunt's artistic process, and the integration of public art and social justice activism within his monumental sculptures.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Director Rana Segal and Author Michelle Duster on the Ida B. Wells Monument and the Documentary of its Making |url=https://chicagoliteraryhof.org/blog/entry/director-rana-segal-and-author-michelle-duster-on-the-ida-b-wells-monument-and-the-documentary-of-its-making |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=Chicago Literary Hall of Fame |language=en}}</ref> In 2023, the Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation was established as a nonprofit arts organization. Ott is a founding board member and vice chair of the foundation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jon Ott member biography |url=https://sculpture.org/member/jonott |website=International Sculpture Center}}</ref>
When the Public Art Archive published a database to document Richard Hunt's public works of art, Ott served as a content curator and collaborator for the project.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Richard Hunt |url=https://explore.publicartarchive.org/richard-hunt/ |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=Public Art Archive |language=en-US}}</ref>
'''International Sculpture Center'''
In 2020, Ott was appointed as the International Sculpture Center's Chairman of the Board of Trustees to serve a three-year term.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-12-22 |title=The International Sculpture Center Welcomes New ISC Chair, Jon Ott |url=https://sculpture.org/news/545026/The-ISC-Welcomes-New-ISC-Chair-Jon-Ott.htm |website=International Sculpture Center}}</ref> Richard Hunt was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sculpture Center in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-12-01 |title=The ISC Honors Richard Hunt with 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award |url=https://sculpture.org/news/509439/The-ISC-Honors-Richard-Hunt-with-2009-Lifetime-Achievement-Award.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205073347/https://sculpture.org/news/509439/The-ISC-Honors-Richard-Hunt-with-2009-Lifetime-Achievement-Award.htm |archive-date=2024-02-05 |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=International Sculpture Center |language=en}}</ref>
== Bibliography == Ott's writing on the artwork of Richard Hunt has been published in several short and long form articles and essays. In 2022, the monograph ''Richard Hunt'' was published with contributions from Ott as well as arts critics and historians LeRonn P. Brooks, Jordan Carter, Adrienne Childs, and John Yau.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sculptor made an outsized impact in Chicago |url=https://digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/tribune/article_popover.aspx?guid=dac20638-a82a-44bf-8864-6c632316392d |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> For the publication, Ott organized a comprehensive illustrated chronology of Hunt's life and artistic career.<ref name=":0" /> Ott's 2024 essay, "Richard Hunt: Sculpting Freedom," was published in conjunction with the exhibition ''Richard Hunt: Freedom in Form'' at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.<ref name=":1" />
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ott, Jon}} Category:21st-century American male writers Category:21st-century American biographers Category:American male biographers Category:American arts administrators Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people