Identical twins find their niche as teachers, artists
Professionally, identical twins Alan and Aaron Hicks have been inseparable.
After going to high school at Thornton, college at the University of Illinois at both Champaign and Chicago, interning at Richard Rush Studios, working at various places together and opening their own art studio in Evergreen Park, they have rarely left each other’s side.
Until they got into substitute teaching, that is.
When the art business starts to slow down, these 58-year-old twins sub and teach everything from art to music to math to history to you name it, for District 228 schools. They can mostly be found doing their thing at Bremen High School in Midlothian.
No school is in the market, however, for two substitute teachers in one classroom, so the brothers are split apart. They teach in different rooms and sometimes different buildings.
Because they have also subbed in area grade schools over the years, they are often recognized in the high school hallways. Students who had them in sixth grade may have them as seniors in high school as well.
It’s easy for pupils to forget their substitute teachers over the years but it’s not easy to forget the Hicks twins.
“I think the kids are impressed that we are twins and doing this,” Alan said.
He added that some of the students have looked up their artwork online and have appreciated seeing the twins’ work.
But few know of their careers, in which they said they’ve traveled all over the country and met Oprah Winfrey, Mike Tyson, Michael Jordan, Harry Caray, Cindy Crawford, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and other celebrities.
Both are 58 but Alan is older by 10 minutes. Oh, and Alan is a left-handed painter and Aaron is a righty. They work on projects together but also do some pieces on their own.
The Hicks started getting creative when they were 8.
Aaron said their uncle, Warren Hicks, helped kick start their interest in art.
“He can draw. He can paint. He can play the guitar and other instruments,” Aaron said. “A lot of our inspiration came from him and growing up with him. He got the ball rolling and the rest is history.”
Warren Hicks is still around and able to admire the twins’ work.
In subsequent years, they found another mentor who was a key to their careers early in life — Thornton Township High School teacher John Cash.
Coming out of their college years, where they majored in b io communications/ medical illustrations, “We mixed medical with art,” Alan said.
“Our work appeared in text books and biology,” he said. “We took photos of surgical procedures.”
Then, some of the fun stuff started when they worked for the Rush Studios, doing jobs ranging from ads to artwork at the Field Museum including some work on the famous giant heart.
Some of their artwork appeared in Ebony, Jet and Upscale magazines.
They also worked for a Lombard-based company, Artistic Impressions, which featured
artists going into people’s homes for art parties and patrons could select which piece they would like to purchase.
They also opened the Twin Hicks Art Gallery in the Evergreen Plaza and operated it until the mall closed in 2013.
Their business, Twin Hicks Art, is now online at twinhicks.com and they sell a variety of products with many based on family and religious themes. There are paintings but some of their work is sold as throw blankets, coffee cups and jigsaw puzzles as well. They are also available for custom portraits.
“We’re not trying to reinvent ourselves, we’re trying to find our niche,” Aaron said.
The two may have argued a time or two over the years, but they have formed a great bond together.
“When we got older, we became closer,” Alan said. “Once we got married, our wives kind of got upset because after we would see each other all day, we would get on the phone and talk to each other.”
Now, they don’t see each other as much during the day in their teaching roles.
They both said they love teaching and with the demand for substitute teachers, they are busy.
Alan noticed that in recent years, being a sub is not as hard as it once was.
“To be honest, the teachers in the high schools have everything set up,” he said. “When the kids come in, they can operate on their tablets and their phones. The assignments are already there on their computer. In high school it’s really easy.
“Because of the pandemic, when everything was done remotely, again, everything was done on that tablet right there and they could see the teacher through Zoom.”