by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com 

At 6 p.m. Saturday, November 30, a free and open to the public closing ceremony will be held for “Mike Hill | Earth and Sky” at Claremont Heritage’s Ginger Elliott Exhibition Center, 840 N. Indian Hill Blvd. Hill will no doubt be showered with compliments; and frankly, it’s about time.

After decades of steady work as an acclaimed sculptor of wood, steel, and marble, as a painter, and a stained glass artist, Hill, 84, is having a moment.

On November 17 Ontario International Airport held an event to highlight artists who have had their work installed there. Hill’s 26-by-13-foot 1978 stained-glass mural, “Space Sunset,” hangs in terminal one, which has been shuttered since a new terminal opened in 1998.

Claremont artist Mike Hill. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

It’s been 46 years since Hill won a contest hosted by Ontario Airport and created the massive mural. After his speech on November 17, Ontario International Airport officials, the California State Senate, and the City of Ontario presented him with awards for his contribution to the arts, which was met by roaring applause from those in attendance.

“I think that one of the differences in what I do is that sometimes the applause comes 45 years later, and I’m just glad to be around,” Hill said after the event. “I’m glad a lot of people came out, and I’m glad I didn’t collapse up on the podium.”

That same day, the Claremont artist had some more good news: “Space Sunset” will once again be on view inside the airport’s new international terminal, which is currently in the planning stages. It was welcome news for Hill and his friend Bobbie Hill (who was also his wife for 36 years). Both have been pushing for the airport to find a new home for the mural.

“I know that there was concern that the airport would tear this down without keeping this in mind, but that is absolutely not going to happen,” said Ontario International Airport Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Eren Cello. While the design of the new international terminal is still in the works, “art is going to be a really big part of what that looks like,” Cello said.

Initial plans have “Space Sunset” retaining its west-facing orientation, so when the setting sun hits it just right, the area will dazzle with an array of red, yellow, blue, and black geometric shapes.

Hill is widely recognized as the man who helped make Ontario International Airport a platform for artists. “I think he set the stage for what the quality of our art program would look like,” Cello said, referencing the Art @ ONT program which began in 2016 after a partnership was struck between Chaffey Community Museum of Art and the airport to get art into terminals two and four.

“I think he’s probably the guy that we would all point to,” said Nancy DeDiemar, board chair for CCMA. Some 131 artists have displayed their works at the airport over the years, she added.

Hill’s creative process has remained the same throughout his career.

“I have extraordinary feelings about everything,” he said. “So I start out with a feeling, and then I do a drawing, sometimes many drawings, looking to find that feeling that was here [and] put it on paper. Eventually — I find it never 100 percent — but then I take that paper and I trace it off and put it onto wood. It’s the same if you’re doing a 20-foot sculpture. I’ve always done the same process. Emotion. Drawings. I’m an old-fashioned guy.”

“Space Sunset” may have put him on the map, but the truth is he had only been a full-time artist for about a year prior, when he opened a shop in Claremont to sell his stained-glass pieces. After closing the retail space in 1982 the garage of his Claremont home became his studio. In 1997 he moved into a space at College Business Park in Upland. Finally, in 2021 he downsized his operation and moved to a studio behind Bobbie Hill’s home.

Mike Hill’s massive 1978 stained glass piece, “Space Sunset,” at Ontario International Airport’s terminal one. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

Hill has certainly created some iconic pieces, including many in Claremont. Perhaps most well-known is the breathtaking steel and stained-glass gate at Claremont Professional Building, 310 N. Yale Ave.

After decades of intention, a focus that produced in dozens of large- and small-scale sculptures, stained glass works, paintings, and more, Hill has nothing left to prove. And he’s fine with it.

“I have two passions: ice cream and books,” he said. “That’s all I have left.”

Claremont Heritage has made it easy to see some of Hill’s iconic Claremont works. The nonprofit created a self-guided walking sculpture tour, which includes nine of his pieces. The map is at claremontheritage.org/Mike_Hill_map_both_sides.pdf.

The free and open to the public closing reception for “Mike Hill | Earth and Sky” takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. this Saturday, November 30, at the Ginger Elliott Gallery, 840 N. Indian Hill Blvd., Claremont 91711. More info is at claremontheritage.org/events.html.