<I>Swing Low</I>
date: label: Date
content: 2016
name: label: Created by
content: Richard Hunt, American, 1935 - 2023
label: Commissioned by
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture, American, founded 2003
notes: label: Caption
content: Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt is an acclaimed artist with major commissions on view across the United States. He sees the arc segments in this hanging piece as a reference to the “swinging motion and wing-like forms” of the “band of angels,” made famous in the beloved Negro spiritual, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. According to the artist, the piece pays homage to Negro spirituals, and “their defining place in early colored religious, social and cultural self-consciousness.”
label: Description
content: Sculpture of welded bronze suspended from the ceiling of Heritage Hall in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. The sculpture is suspended from cables at four separate points, with swooping arc segments intended to evoke the swinging motion and wings of angels.
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Architecture
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Museums
label: Topic
content: Spirituals (Music)
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, First Floor, 1 050
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Richard Hunt
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2017.63
objectType: label: Type
content: installations (sculpture)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Richard Hunt
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: bronze
label: Dimensions
content: Overall with Weight: 1500 lb. (680.4 kg)