Latonya Hicks: When the Lights Came On: Shared Memories and the Things We Keep
Date: January 16, 2026 - February 22, 2026
Gallery: Gamble Family Gallery
When the Lights Came On: Shared Memories and the Things We Keep invites visitors into a space shaped by memory, nostalgia, and the objects that quietly hold our stories. Featuring ten circular mixed-media assemblages by artist Latonya Hicks, the exhibition draws on familiar relics of the 1980s and 90s—beads, lunchboxes, Pez dispensers, and other everyday keepsakes—to reflect on childhood, home, and the rhythms of communal life. The circular form echoes ideas of wholeness, unity, and the looping nature of memory itself.
The exhibition’s title recalls a near-universal experience: the moment streetlights flicker on and playtime gives way to the comfort of home. Hicks captures that in-between glow—where freedom meets belonging, and personal experience blends into shared memory. Her works feel both intimate and collective, offering viewers a chance to recognize fragments of their own past within carefully layered materials.
Rooted in family history and cultural lineage, Hicks’s practice functions as both archive and offering. Inspired by the homes and influence of the women who raised her, she transforms found and gifted objects into richly textured assemblages that honor legacy, resilience, and care. When the Lights Came On asks us to slow down, look closely, and consider what we carry forward—how ordinary objects become vessels for remembrance, identity, and connection across generations.
Latonya Hicks Bio
Born in Macon, Ga and raised in Jacksonville, FL, the middle child of 3 girls. Latonya Hicks is a visual artist who lives and works in Clearwater and St. Pete, FL. Her recent exhibitions include the Gulf Coast Artists’ Alliance, St. Pete, FL; FloridaRAMA, St. Pete, FL; Tampa Museum of Fine Arts, Tampa, FL; Tully-Levine, St. Pete, FL; and The Morean Art Center, St. Pete, FL. Latonya received an MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and is currently the President of the Florida Art Education Association and the Secondary Visual Art Integration Coordinator responsible for guiding 6-12 art teachers in Pinellas County.
