Early on, Charlotte-born and Harlem-raised Bearden debated whether to be an artist, a musician, or a professional baseball player. As a painter, he used ideas from math and music, especially jazz, in his art, along with aspects of his many other influences. As a result, (more)

Freedom: A fable combines dainty Victorian silhouettes and the pop-up medium ... to contradict the dire situation in which [the book's] heroine finds herself.  The work at first glance appears to be a nineteenth-century children's book, but it is decidedly not. (more)

Between October 2013 and January 2014, HMA exhibited a selection of paintings by the North Carolina artist Juie Rattley III in a show called Chaos and Control. At that time, Rattley spoke about how he experiences his creativity. (more)

In the Spring of 2007, ceramic sculptor Sharif Bey's ornamental yet functional pots and and his necklaces of massive ceremonial beads were exhibited at HMA in a one-person show, amidst some mild controversy. He said of his works that "This series of work combines my interest in African, Indian, Pre-Columbian, Native American, and Modernist sculpture while still applying the rigid functional criteria I acquired as a potter.” (more)

Minnie Reinhardt was often referred to as "the Grandma Moses of Catawba County." She used a primitive style to to paint from recollections of her childhood. She said about wanting to paint that "I was just real interested in it. If you're not, you don't want to mess with it. You can't do nothing without being interested and wanting to do it more than anything else -- that's the main thing."  (more)

In 1954 Paul Whitener received eight Starkweather paintings for consideration, works that Paul Whitener happily acccepted for HMA. You can enjoy these and other of HMA's Starkweather works between October 31, 2015 and August 14, 2016 in the Paul Whitener Gallery. (more)

The professional restorer's initial report was grim, "The painting is in very poor condition. It was painted on poor quality canvas. There are extensive tears with many missing areas of canvas along the edges. The very weak, brittle and torn canvas ... [more]

The Hickory Museum of Art shares space with other Hickory cultural organizations in the SALT Block, the extensively renovated former Claremont High School building. The Museum occupies three floors with nine galleries. Many of the galleries are named for HMA supporters.

"Trees are vital to life, mythic. Their symbolism is woven into our subconscious mind, informing us on a basic level.  The tree image is in our dreams and stories.  The image and meaning is as complex and important to us as we believe we are to the world." (Artist's Statement.)

Between September 19, 2015 and February 28, 2016, HMA welcomes back Hickory artist Joël Urruty in an exhibition that includes gilded sculptures and wall hangings of woven wood strips. Urruty won Best of Show in the Museum’s 2013 Road Trip: A Juried Exhibition, in conjunction with HMA's First AutoLawn Party in 2013.