Artist Sheila Hicks Commissioned for Major Installation at the Jack C. Taylor Music Center
By Eric Dundon
When audiences enter the new lobby of the Jack C. Taylor Music Center in September 2025, they’ll be greeted by an art installation soaring nearly three stories high.
Sheila Hicks, one of the world’s foremost fiber and textile artists, has been commissioned by the SLSO to create a permanent, site-specific work that will provide an uplifting place of engagement for all who enter the venue. The installation will be on display just inside the entrance of the new, Snøhetta-designed lobby, spanning a 27-foot-high, 13-foot-wide expanse.
Hicks’ monumental installation will integrate drapery fabric formerly used in Powell Hall, connecting the venue’s past with its future.
“Sheila Hicks is one of the most respected and influential artists of our time,” said Marie-Hélène Bernard, SLSO President and CEO. “Her thoughtful and innovative approach to creating art aligns perfectly with our vision for the transformation of Powell Hall.”
Through her signature approach to fusing color and textile materials into dynamic new forms, Hicks is widely recognized as a pathbreaker, forging new realms of artistic expression. She was selected for the SLSO commission by a curatorial panel with representatives from the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, and Washington University’s Kemper Art Museum, alongside a committee of SLSO Trustees and community members.
The concept of her piece comes from birds, nature’s original music makers.
“Just as music is crucial to a sense of wellbeing, the SLSO offers this privilege to a wide community,” Hicks said. “My feeling is that the welcoming entrance to the concert hall should be in the spirit of a joyful assembly hall, a peaceful sanctuary.”
Born in Hastings, Nebraska, Hicks received a BFA and MFA in painting from Yale University. Her fascination in working with fibers developed while on a Fulbright scholarship in Chile in 1957-58. Her work has been exhibited and collected by renowned museums worldwide, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Modern Art (New York City); Museum of Fine Arts (Boston); The Art Institute of Chicago; The Victoria and Albert Museum (London); Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam); Centre Pompidou (Paris); Museum of Modern Art (Tokyo); Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis; and it was featured in the 2017 Venice Biennale. The first of her comprehensive retrospectives, Sheila Hicks: 50 Years, debuted at the Addison Gallery of American Art (Andover, Massachusetts) and traveled to the Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia) and the Mint Museum (Charlotte, North Carolina). Hicks is the recipient of numerous awards, including an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Yale University, the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur by the French Minister of Culture, and the US Department of State Medal of Arts.
Her work has been exhibited in St. Louis at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis and the Saint Louis Art Museum. She is based in Paris.
“St. Louisans have already embraced her art at museums locally, and we are overjoyed that a part of her pioneering body of work will remain in St. Louis permanently,” Bernard said.
The Jack C. Taylor Music Center, which includes Powell Hall plus a 64,000-square-foot expansion for audience and artist services and an Education and Learning Center, reopens in September 2025 following a two-year transformational expansion and renovation. Hicks’ art will be installed in August 2025.
Eric Dundon is the SLSO’s Public Relations Director.
