April Hickox

Hickox was born in Oakville, Ontario on April 24, 1955. She and her family moved to the Toronto Islands when she was 3 years old. To continue with her interest in photography, Hickox went to England to study photography and graphic design at Twickenham College of Technology from 1973 to 1974. She returned to Canada for her 5th year graduate studies program at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, where she obtained an AOCA degree and further explored her interests in photography and printmaking from 1974 to 1978. She was an associate professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto and chaired the Photography program from 1998 to 2007. She died of cancer on August 15, 2025, at the age of 70. ==Career==

During her career as a visual artist, which spanned over 40 years, Hickox explored the differences between personal and public sites through film, video, photography and installation. Her work was based on the narrative histories that individuals gather throughout their lives and the ability of objects to conjure memory. She was also known as a landscape photographer. Her work also reflected her interest in the aspects of the natural world from the climate crisis and environmental issues to land stewardship and our relationship to the natural elements. as in works such as Crystal, Porcelain, Glass (2002), a series of photos of broken tea cups or the fragments of various broken objects that were either held by different hands in various positions or repaired and stacked in what appears to be a fragile tower. All of the broken objects belonged to an older woman who had died on the Toronto Islands. According to Hickox, these workers should be recognized for their investments in jobs physically, emotionally and spiritually toward building the safe and beautiful environments. In fact, the installations of the works actually made the workers happy by recognizing them instead for their contribution to the city, instead of being invisible to the general public. Hickox was appreciated by the islanders for drawing attention to these workers and reminding them not to take the environment for granted. Hickox and colleagues presented the photographs to the visitors, making the social engagement and interactions between the installed photographs and viewers possible. ==Installation at Donlands Station==

As part of Toronto Transit Commission's planned art installations at five of its stations, Hickox's work, Field was installed at the Donlands station. Field is a photographic painting on glass comprising the history of the neighbourhood and the development of Withrow Park as an environmental site with its plants and flowers. ==Exhibitions==

• 1991 Speak, Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver, B.C. 1990; So to Speak, La Centrale (Galerie Powerhouse), Montréal, Quebec; Wind and Other Stories, Garnet Press, Toronto Roses, Wind and Other Stories, Galerie Séquence, Chicoutimi Roses, Wind and Other Stories, Vu, centre d'animation et de diffusion de la photographie, Québec • 1993 When the Mind Hears, le mois de la photo, , Montréal; • 1994 When the Mind Hears, Vu, centre d'animation et de diffusion de la photographie, Québec; When the Mind Hears, part one, Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, Toronto; When the Mind Hears, part two, Garnet Press, Toronto; When the Mind Hears, The Photographers Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; • 1995 Dissonance and Voice, installation and outdoor site work, curated by Richard Rhodes, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Ontario; When the Mind Hears, , Owen Sound, Ontario; New Works, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario; • 1996 Excerpts Photography Narrative, , Aylmer, Quebec; • 1997 Blink, street level photographic installation, Portland and Adelaide Streets, Toronto, Ontario; Utopia/Dystopia, billboard project, Floating Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba; • 1998 Tracings, Prime Gallery, Toronto, Ontario Song, installation, Portland and Richmond Streets, Toronto, Ontario • 1999 Untitled, site specific installation, Portland and Richmond Streets, Toronto, Ontario; • 2000 Within Dialogue, an installation at Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, Ontario; Within Dialogue, site specific installation, St. Norbert Cultural Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba; • 2001 Glance, Leo Kamen Gallery, Project Room, Toronto, Ontario; • 2002 Porcelain, Crystal, Glass, Main Space, Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, Ontario; • 2003 Landscape and Memory, Main Space, Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, Ontario; Landscape and Memory: Point Pelee, an installation at the Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario; • 2006 Drift, Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, Ontario; • 2008 Ritual, Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, Ontario; • 2009 Gather, an installation of five backlit billboards. Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario; • 2010 Compost, Leo Kamen Gallery, Project Room, Toronto, Ontario; • 2012 Vantage, Main Space, Katsman Kamen Gallery, Toronto, Ontario; • 2014 Invasive Species, Katsman Contemporary, Toronto, Ontario; • 2016 April Hickox: Variations Primaries, Surrey Art Gallery; • 2025 Taking Root: Recent Acquisitions, Art Gallery of Hamilton; ==Community involvement==

Hickox served as a member of several charitable and academic organizations in Toronto from 1997 to 2013. In 1997, Hickox served as a founding member of Gallery 44 Center for Contemporary Photography, a non-profit studio in Toronto and held the position of director for seven years. Gallery 44 is an artist-run initiative whose mission statement is providing affordable resources to support photography-based artists. Hickox was also a founding member of the Toronto-based Tenth Muse Studio, and Artscape and served as a committee member for the Founding board of directors in 1998. Through Artscape, Hickox directed artists' residencies and studio rentals on Toronto Islands under the Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts. From 1997 to 2000, Hickox was the Advisor and Training Coordinator for Arts and Crafts at Silent Voice Camp for the Deaf, in honour of Alex, her deaf daughter. Simultaneously she became a part of the Mentoring Artists for Women's Art in Manitoba, Canada. From 2010 to 2011, Hickox was responsible for building an online art collection as part of her role as guest curator for the Line Art Auction held by the LGBT Youth Line at the Art Gallery of Ontario Between 2010 and 2013, Hickox held the position of committee member for Project 31, a fundraising auction that supports OCAD University. In 2013, Hickox also fulfilled the committee membership role as the Co-Curatorial Chair for the Art with Heart event at the Casey House Fundraising auction of Canadian Contemporary Art to support HIV/AIDS. ==Public collections==

Works by Hickox are held in the following public art galleries and funding agencies: • the Art Gallery of Peterborough; • the Art Gallery of Hamilton; • the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery; • the Canada Council Art Bank; • the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; • the Winnipeg Art Gallery; • the Agnes Etherington Art Centre; and • the Burnaby Art Gallery. ==References==