Sheila Hicks

Sheila Hicks (born in Hastings, Nebraska, 1934) is an American artist who has lived and worked in Paris, France since 1964. Prior to that she lived in Guerrero, Mexico (1959–63).

Hicks attended Yale University School of Art and Architecture in Connecticut (1954-1959), where she gained a BFA in painting (1957) and MFA in painting (1959) and studied with Josef Albers, Rico Lebrun, Bernard Chaet, Jose de Riviera, Herbert Mather, Norman Ives, Gabor Peterdi, George Kubler, George Heard Hamilton, and Vincent Scully. Along with George Kubler, independently, Junius Bird of the American Museum of Natural History and Anni Albers were advisors for her thesis, "Pre-Incaic Textiles." Hicks was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study and paint in Chile (1957–58); she photographed archeological sites in Peru and Bolivia.

In 1959, she was awarded a grant by Henri Peyre, Sterling Professor at Yale University, to study in France. Upon completion, she moved to Mexico and, inspired by pre-Columbian textiles and indigenous culture, established her first weaving studio in Taxco el Viejo. While in Mexico, she worked on textile projects for Mathias Goeritz, Luis Barragán, Ricardo Legoretta and Knoll International. With her Rolleiflex, she photographed the experimental architecture of Felix Candela in preparation for a documentary film.

She relocated to Paris, France in 1964, and founded Atelier des Grands Augustins, where she worked on large-scale, site-specific textile-based projects.

In 2010 a retrospective exhibition of Hicks' 50-year career originated at the Addison Gallery in Andover, Mass. with additional venues at the ICA in Philadelphia, and at The Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina. This included both miniature works, which Hicks calls "minimes" and large scale sculpture. She also makes larger (sometimes monumental) works, wall hangings and sculptures. Her pieces are often vibrantly colored and materially diverse.

In 2013, the 18-foot high Pillar of Inquiry/Supple Column was included in the Whitney Biennal.

Hicks' work can be found in private and public collections, including: Ford Foundation, NY, 1967; Georg Jensen Center for Advanced Design, NY; Air France Boeing 747 planes, 1969–74; TWA terminal at JFK Airport, NY, 1973; CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System), NY; Rochester Institute of Technology, NY; Banque Rothschild, Paris, France; Francis Bouygues, Paris, France; IBM, Paris, France, 1972; Kodak, Paris, France ; Fiat Tower, Paris, Franc; MGIC Investment Corporation, Milwaukee, WI; King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1983 ;

Kellogg’s, Michigan; Fuji City, Cultural Center, Japan, 1999; Institute of Advance Study, Princeton, NJ; Target Headquarters, Minneapolis, MN, 2003; SD26 Restaurant, NY, 2009; Ford Foundation (reconstructed), NY, 2013–14; Foundation Louis Vuitton, Boulogne, France, 2014–15

• 1957–58: Fulbright Program, grant to paint in Chile
• 1959–60: Fribourg grant to paint in France
• 1975: American Institute of Architects, Medal
• 1980: Middlebury College, H.W. Janson Distinguished Visiting Professor of Art
• 1983: American Craft Council (New York, NY), Fellow
• 1984: Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, RI), Honorary Doctorate
• 1985: French Academy of Architecture (Paris, France), Silver Medal of Fine Arts
• 1987: Ministry of Culture's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Paris, France), Chevalier
• 1993: Ministry of Culture's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Paris, France), Officier
• 1997: American Craft Council, Gold Medal
• 2007: Textile Museum (Washington, D.C.), 25 Year Honoree
• 2010: Smithsonian Institution's Archives of American Art, Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2014: École des Beaux-Arts (Paris, France) Honorary Doctorate