Cleveland State University Drawing Professor David Hicks recently was on the receiving end of the Grand Jury Award for Manifest Gallery's 21st season for his piece called "Join Our Inseparable States".

Manifest is a well-known gallery and nonprofit visual art organization located in Cincinnati that is widely known for its regular national and international exhibitions. Its mission is to stand for quality in the visual arts, as well as the importance of creative research, meaningful and accessible art-based experiences for the public, deep learning outside academia, the rigorous documentation of exceptional art, and the promotion of visual literacy, critical thinking, and skill development as personal and social catalysts.

"I am extremely honored, excited, and feel validated," said Hicks. "This piece took me around 3 years to complete, including when it sat in a room for months during the covid semester and was so meticulous in its call for detail. After all that, it is validating to win an award like this. I hope to do more someday!"

According to Manifest Gallery's website, the annual Grand Jury Award is a seasonal capstone recognition of one work from among all those exhibited on-site at the gallery across the season, adding the winner is selected by the year's numerous jurors in a final post-process each year.

Hicks noted that his inspiration for the piece was a simple idea: people and how diverse we all are.

"I am fascinated with people [and] there was a strong tension in this drawing between 'the individual' and 'the many'," he said. "Each character was so intriguing in their own way; I tried to treat them as such in my drawing of them. And yet, in the finished piece, every person is somehow, or another, connected to everyone else."

He added:

"I like the way this metaphorically shows how we are also part of a much greater whole, with lots of diverse storylines running together."