“My feeling is that the artist’s greatest challenge is to make men see, as if for the first time. To alter and enrich man’s perception and conception of the world and himself. How? By seeing its Truth as it has never been seen before. This is to me the essential purpose and value of art." - Frederick Hart

Belmont University, along with The Frederick Hart Foundation and the artist’s family, celebrated the grand opening of the Frederick Hart Studio Museum on March 28, 2019. Deemed one of America’s greatest sculptors, Frederick Hart (1943-1999), sculptor and recipient of the National Medal of Arts, created works that forever changed the national landscape such as Washington National Cathedral’s Creation Sculptures and Three Soldiers bronze at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

The largest permanent collection of Hart’s work available for public viewing, the Frederick Hart Studio Museum offers art enthusiasts a unique opportunity to view Hart’s artistic process as the space includes works in various stages of development, molds, plasters, sculpting tools, artifacts and completed sculptures. The Museum also features a full size Christ Rising, bronze, which was gifted to Belmont by passionate Hart patrons Lee and Pam Kennedy of Sarasota, Florida.

About Frederick Hart & His Work 

J Carter Brown, Director Emeritus, National Gallery of Art
"Frederick Hart’s sheer virtuosity and talent put him in a category that few recent sculptors have attained… It takes years after an artist is gone to make a definitive judgment of their contributions. But if anyone would make the cut, he should. Although he has stated that innovation is not a priority for him, his pioneering use of Lucite© including a process that he has patented, is evidence that he is not an artist enslaved by the past. I find the Lucite work of particular interest."

Bob Chase, President of Frederick Hart Foundation and Publisher of Frederick Hart works
"Hart believed that the cultural tides were changing and that the 21st century would bring a renaissance and an age of enlightenment. He determined to create sculptures that physically and spiritually reflected this and spoke to the transforming power of beauty. It is no surprise that at a time when the art world had largely spurned the human figure, Hart chose to champion it."

James Cooper, Founding Director of the Newington-Cropsey Cultural Studies Foundation and Publisher of American Arts Quarterly
"At certain moments in history, one encounters a work of art that possesses the aesthetic, contextual and moral strength to signal the start of a new era. The Creation Sculptures is such a work. Within its forms lies the imagery and beauty to spark an American renaissance."