The UCF Art Gallery, which serves as the university’s center for visual arts experiences and education, is proud to present …no place like home, an immersive solo exhibition by Teneé Hart, winner of the 2024 Pathways: The Carlos Malamud Prize. On view through Sept. 26, the exhibition is open Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free.
Pathways: The Carlos Malamud Prize is a biennial juried exhibition and collaboration between the UCF Art Gallery and the Rollins Museum of Art. Designed to support emerging professional artists across Florida, the program stands out for its focus on sustainable career development and long-term impact.
Finalists gain access to a variety of professional development opportunities including financial consulting, networking with curators and fellow artists, and the opportunity to exhibit their work at both partnering institutions. The winner also receives a $10,000 cash prize, a solo exhibition, and an invitation to serve as a juror for the next edition of Pathways.
In 2024, that honor was awarded to Teneé Hart and this solo exhibition is the culminating experience of the prize. Hart was selected as the prize winner from among six finalists by a panel of jurors, recognized for the strength and quality of her visual work and the clarity with which she conveyed its ideas and vision. Ultimately, Hart demonstrated a strong readiness for a solo exhibition.
This solo exhibition goes beyond a traditional art exhibition – Hart invites visitors to physically and emotionally engage with fragments and abstractions of her childhood home, challenging the romanticized notions of the domestic space. As a result, viewers gain insight into Hart’s vulnerability, as well as her reflections on beauty standards, resilience, and feelings of comfort and discomfort.
Through vibrant technicolor rooms, varied textures and carefully designed winding paths, Hart draws viewers into the comforting, yet sometimes conflicting emotions tied to the idea of “home”.
“…no place like home activates and transforms the gallery space like no previous exhibitions at the UCF Art Gallery,” says Shannon Lindsey, UCF Art Gallery director.
“Physically manipulated, arranged, suspended, and constructed everyday materials and objects flooded with colored light create a fully immersive experience. Every time you look, you’ll notice something different — the details make each visit a unique and rewarding experience.”
This deeply personal exploration of home not only sets Hart’s work apart but also highlights why she was selected as the 2024 Pathways: The Carlos Malamud Prize winner.
Q&A with Teneé Hart
As the exhibition continues to welcome visitors, we sat down with Hart to learn more about her exhibition and vision.
Can you tell us about your experience participating in the Pathways 2024 exhibition and what it meant to be selected as the winner?
Being selected as a finalist and then the winner for Pathways 2024 was an incredible honor. I still replay the moment of hearing my name being announced and the shock and disbelief that flooded over me in that moment. To be selected as the winner meant the world to me, and it meant the judges (Ginger Gregg Duggan, Eugene Ofori Agyei, and Dennis Scholl) deeply believed in me and my work. That acknowledgment is something I think most artists strive for — to feel like what we are doing actually matters. I have wholeheartedly enjoyed my entire experience throughout this opportunity. I’m truly thankful for the lasting friendships and connections I have made along the way and continue to make.
How did you grow from the Pathways experience as an artist?
Winning Pathways 2024: The Carlos Malamud Prize has been a turning point in my career. This recognition gave me more than financial support – it gave me the courage to push my practice further, to take risks I had only imagined, and to expand the scale/ambition of my pieces.
The opportunity to present my solo exhibition, …no place like home, at the UCF Art Gallery has allowed me to dive deeper into the themes that drive my work – the weight of beauty culture, the chokeholds of memory, and the power hidden within domestic space. Beyond the show, the Pathways experience has helped me think about the sustainability of my practice. Working with Gisela Carbonell, Darrell DeVaney, and Shannon Lindsey has given me the tools to plan for the future – which is just as important as making the work itself. I also look forward to stepping into a new role – as a future juror for Pathways 2026 – where I can help recognize and support other artists.
Overall, this experience has given me not only visibility but also momentum. The Pathways journey has amplified my voice as an artist and I step forward now with a clearer vision and an unshakable drive to create work that continues to challenge, transform, and endure.
Your exhibition is titled …no place like home. What themes or personal narratives are you exploring through this body of work?
In …no place like home, I’m working with the theme of “home” and the conflicting ideals of such foundations — this idea of home as comfort or discomfort. To enter the exhibition, you are guided down a central hallway that then leads to various technicolor rooms. The paths of navigation are limited — the space is essentially a dissected house spread across 4,000 square feet, with rooms modeled after my personal childhood home.
The title …no place like home stems from a childhood obsession with The Wizard of Oz. Just as Dorothy discovers the power and beauty in Oz are bound up in illusion, the works within expose the hidden costs of cultural expectations around femininity and the body. I want my work to invite viewers, like Toto tugging at the Wizard’s curtain, to look closer — and to see the facades, burdens and resilience woven into the pursuit of beauty.
Are there any specific stories or anecdotes behind the creation of certain pieces in …no place like home that you’d like to share?
When creating the hidden sequined heels for my piece HEAL/HEEL, I was reminded of when my mother made me my first pair of ruby slippers. I recall her stories of this struggle — how she had to hand glue each sequin by hand and how it fought her every step of the way. So, as I glued each sequin for this piece, I couldn’t help but feel like I was mirroring her labor — her love for me — one sequin at a time.
Are there specific messages or narratives you hope viewers take away from experiencing your installations?
Oz dazzles with spectacle and glamour, but the Wizard is revealed to be an ordinary person behind a curtain. My artwork often plays with this same duality: seductive surfaces — like pearls, glitter, and foils (just to name a few) — all reveal deeper truths about the pressures of beauty and artifice. My hope is that viewers spend time in these spaces, read the descriptions about the works, look deeper for the hidden meanings and take away how the works make them feel.
To learn more about Hart’s artistic practice and the inspiration behind …no place like home, watch her artist talk from the opening reception.
Interested in participating in Pathways: The Carlos Malamud Prize? The call for artists for the 2026 edition is now live! Eligible applicants must be emerging artists aged 18 or older, reside in Florida, not currently enrolled as an undergraduate student, and must not have previously had a solo exhibition at a gallery, arts center or museum.