Member’s Spotlight Exhibitions

The Member’s Spotlight Exhibitions at The Contemporary Dayton celebrate the vibrant creativity of our local and regional artist community. Open to all current artist members, this ongoing series offers participants the unique opportunity to present a focused body of work in a solo exhibition curated by Heather Jones, Interim Director and Chief Curator.

Each exhibition is installed in The T. Chase Hale & Jonathan A. Hale Gallery and remains on view for one month, opening with a public reception on the first Wednesday and continuing through the last Saturday of the month. These exhibitions not only highlight the diverse practices and perspectives of our members but also provide a professional platform for artists to gain visibility and engage directly with audiences.

Most artworks are available for purchase, with proceeds supporting both the artist and The Contemporary Dayton’s mission to advance equity, diversity, and access through contemporary art. Participation in the Member Spotlight series is one of the many valuable benefits of being an artist member of The Contemporary Dayton.

Upcoming

Michael Hicks, On Hold, 2026, archival pigment print, 16 x 24 inches, $450. Courtesy of the artist.

Michael Hicks: Fragments for Memory

November 4-28, 2026
Opening Reception: Wednesday, November 4, 2026, 6-8 pm

Memory rarely returns as a complete picture. Instead, it emerges in fragments: a face, a reflection, the shape of a room, the color of an old car, or a detail that transports us to another time and place.

In Fragments for Memory, Ohio-based photographer Michael Hicks explores the quiet significance of these visual moments. Moving among many different subjects, and the overlooked details of everyday life, Hicks approaches photography with curiosity and an openness to discovery. His images capture not only what he sees, but also the fleeting qualities of a moment—the gesture, texture, or atmosphere that might otherwise go unnoticed or fade with time.

With an early background in drawing and illustration, Hicks brings a keen sensitivity to visual detail to his photographic practice. Rather than focusing on a single subject or genre, he follows the unexpected connections that emerge through observation, finding meaning in the familiar and significance in the seemingly ordinary.

For Hicks, photography offers a way to preserve these moments without prescribing what they should mean. Some images may awaken memories already held by the viewer; others may document something in the present that will take on new significance only with the passage of time. Each photograph becomes an invitation to look more closely, to recognize something of our own experience, and to consider how images shape the ways we remember.

All artworks in this exhibition are available for purchase. Please visit the reception desk or speak to a staff member to purchase. Proceeds support both the artist and The Contemporary Dayton’s mission to connect artists and audiences through accessible, engaging contemporary art experiences.

Artist Statement

Fragments for Memory

Memory rarely returns as a complete picture.

More often, it comes back in fragments—a face, a reflection, the shape of a room, the color of an old car, or some small detail that suddenly takes us somewhere we have been before.

Fragments for Memory grew from my interest in those visual markers and the way photographs can hold onto them.

I don’t always know why something makes me stop and look. Sometimes there is simply a sense of recognition or discovery—a feeling that this particular moment is worth noticing, even if its significance isn’t clear yet.

Photography gives those moments a place to remain.

Some of these photographs may stir a memory already carried by the viewer. Others preserve something happening now that may not become meaningful until years later.

That is the idea at the heart of this work.

These are not fragments of memory, but for memory.

About The Artist

Michael Hicks is an Ohio-based photographer whose work is grounded in observation, curiosity, and a lifelong interest in the arts.

Before photography became his primary creative outlet, Hicks explored drawing and illustration, working primarily in graphite and charcoal. Although this early interest in art eventually led him to photography, it was years later, in adulthood, that he found the camera to be a means of expressing what he saw and felt.

His photographs span people, places, automobiles, architecture, and the often-overlooked details of everyday life. Rather than focusing on a single genre, Hicks is drawn to moments that suggest something beyond the subject itself—a gesture, a reflection in glass, the patina of an old object, or the atmosphere of a place at a particular moment.

This sensibility forms the foundation of his photographic practice: approaching the familiar with curiosity and preserving the fragments that might otherwise go unnoticed or fade with time.

Participating Artists and Dates:

September 2026: Deanna Newsom
October 2026: Elham Bayati
November 2026: Michael Hicks
December 2026: Emery Spina
January, 2027: Jan Heaton
February 2027: Ezra Stinson
March 2027: Judith Huacuja
April 2027: Joey Lotz
May 2027: Rachel Girard Reisert
June 2027: Bil Tipton
July 2027: Olga Evanusa-Rowland
August 2027: Stephen Rumbaugh