ARTIST BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: | Herb Hicks is a painter, writer, and jazz pianist who has spent decades exploring the possibilities and limitations of self-expression in various artforms. Hicks attended a college for music right out of high school, then received a BFA from the Minneapolis School of Art, and an MFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1967.
Hicks originally moved to Lethbridge when he was hired as one of the founding faculty in the Fine Arts Department at the University of Lethbridge. He began teaching design and painting, and became the Gallery Directory and Chairman of the Art Department, growing his skills alongside that of the department.
In addition to teaching visual arts, Hicks also formed jazz ensembles in Lethbridge, and conducted and performed in weekly musical performances around town. Hicks is the author of To and from Gigs: Challenges, Choices, Chances, Changes, an intimate memoir of his life as a musician, artist, and teacher.
Hicks has exhibited regularly throughout Canada and the USA, and his paintings can be found in the collection of the Minneapolis Art School, University of California Santa Barbara, University of Lethbridge, Yates Center for the Arts, 3M Corp in Minnesota, and the Lincoln Federal Building in Spokane. Hicks continues to live in Lethbridge, where he is Professor Emeritus in the Art Department at the University and regularly plays musical “gigs” around town.
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