David Hayes

David Vincent Hayes (March 15, 1931 – April 9, 2013) was an American sculptor.

Life Hayes received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1953, and a M.F.A. degree from Indiana University Bloomington in 1955 where he studied with David Smith.

He received a post-doctoral Fulbright Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He was a recipient of the Logan Medal of the Arts for Sculpture and an award from the National Institute of Arts and Letters. During his life, he had over 400 exhibitions and his work is included in some 100 institutional collections including those of the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

In 2007, he was conferred an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Albertus Magnus College.

Hayes resided in Coventry, Connecticut, where he had 54 acres of land to exhibit his works

In 2021, Hayes' work and grounds were the subject of an hour-long television broadcast shown on some 200 PBS stations nationwide produced by Legacy List with Matt Paxton.

Work in public collections Source: David Hayes Art Foundation archives

Florida Boca Raton Museum of Art; Boca Raton, Florida Dade County Art Collection; Miami, Florida Frost Art Museum; Miami, Florida Gulf Coast Art Center; Belleair, Florida Lowe Art Museum; Coral Gables, Florida Von Liebig Art Center; Naples, Florida City of Fort Pierce; Fort Pierce, Florida Ringling Museum of Art; Sarasota, Florida Vero Beach Museum of Art; Vero Beach, Florida

Massachusetts Addison Gallery of American Art; Andover, Massachusetts Boston Public Library; Boston, Massachusetts Brockton Art Center, Fuller Memorial; Brockton, Massachusetts DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park; Lincoln, Massachusetts Fitchburg Art Museum; Fitchburg, Massachusetts Gund Hall, Harvard University; Cambridge, Massachusetts Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts; Springfield, Massachusetts Williams College Museum of Art; Williamstown, Massachusetts

New Hampshire Currier Museum of Art; Manchester, New Hampshire Dartmouth College; Hanover, New Hampshire

New York Elmira College; Elmira, New York Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College; Clinton, New York Everson Museum of Art; Syracuse, New York Harry Guggenheim Collection, Nassau County Museum of Art; Sands Point, New York National Trust for Historic Preservation, Nelson Rockefeller Collection; Tarrytown, New York Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University; Hamilton, New York University Art Museum, State University of New York; Albany, New York Yager Museum of Art & Culture, Oneonta, New York

New York City Brooklyn Museum; Brooklyn, New York Museum of Modern Art; New York City Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; New York City

Europe De Porceleyne Fles; Delft, Holland, Netherlands Struktuur 68NV; The Hague, Netherlands Musée des Arts Décoratifs; Paris, France

Solo exhibitions Source: David Hayes Art Foundation archives 2024 Vertical Motifs at the Bushnell Plaza; Hartford, Connecticut David Hayes Small Sculpture with curation by Robert Donston, South Windsor Public Library; South Windsor, Connecticut David Hayes Sculpture at the Peacock House Foundation; Fort Pierce, Florida Vantage Points, Sculpture Field Photos, Booth & Dimock Library Gallery; Coventry, Connecticut

2023 Selection of Relief Sculpture, Spirol Art Gallery at CT State Quinebaug Valley; Killingly, Connecticut Remarkable Works Exhibition, Greenwood Glassblowing Studio Gallery and School; Riverton, Connecticut Vantage Points, Sculpture Field Photography at the Dye & Bleach House Gallery; Willington, Connecticut Fifteen Sculptures at the Busch Library; Annapolis, Maryland David Hayes | MAN OF STEEL: Selected Works from the Estate of David Hayes, Burgess Modern + Contemporary; Fort Lauderdale, Florida David Hayes Small Sculpture, Boccara Gallery; West Palm Beach, Florida

2022 Sculpture in the Circle at the University of Hartford, West Hartford, Connecticut

2021 You Gotta Have Art, a Legacy List with Matt Paxton hour-long documentary broadcast nationally on PBS David Hayes Outdoor Museum; Annapolis, Maryland Sculpture in Downtown Branford; Branford, Connecticut

2020 Sculpture in Downtown Naples, City of Naples; Naples, Florida Sculpture in Danbury, Danbury Connecticut with CityCenter Danbury A Totem grows in Manchester, Town of Manchester Parks; Manchester, Connecticut Sculpture in Northeast Harbor, Mount Desert 365; Northeast Harbor, Maine

2019 The Ventana Series, Muscatine Art Center; Muscatine, Iowa (exhibit travels) Sculptural Adornments: David Hayes Jewelry, Georgia Museum of Art; Athens, Georgia (exhibit travels) 24 Sculptures in Gainesville Parks; Gainesville, Florida David Hayes Jewelry, Fairfield University Art Museum; Fairfield, Connecticut (exhibit travels) Five large sculptures in Muscatine, Iowa; Muscatine Art in Public Places Commission

2018 Outdoor Sculpture in downtown Winter Park, Florida; City of Winter Park, Florida The Ventana Series, Swope Art Museum; Terre Haute, Indiana (exhibit travels) The Ventana Series, Fort Smith Regional Art Museum; Fort Smith, Arkansas (exhibit travels)

2017 Totem Sculpture, Anita Shapolsky Gallery; New York, New York Sabrina, Memphis Brooks Museum; Memphis, Tennessee Radio interview by Connecticut Public Radio's Diane Orson: Connecticut Sculptor David Hayes Transformed Steel Into Art.

2016 Small Vertical Motifs, Commenoz Gallery; Key Biscayne, Florida Straight from the Barn, Emmanoel Lavagnolli Fine Art Gallery in Wynwood; Miami, Florida Small Sculptures and Gouache Studies, Center For Creative Education; West Palm Beach, Florida Small Sculpture and Gouache Studies, Lowe Art Museum; Coral Gables, Florida David Hayes Sculpture, The Perfect Provenance; Greenwich, Connecticut Small Sculpture, Arte Fundamenta; Wynwood, Florida David Hayes Sculpture, Isabella Garrucho Fine Art; Greenwich, Connecticut David Hayes Sculpture at the Dubuque Museum of Art; Dubuque, Iowa

2015 Sentinel Sculptures at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens; Jacksonville, Florida David Hayes Sculpture at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art; Wichita Falls, Texas David Hayes Sculptures, Project Space Gallery, SUNY College at Oneonta; Oneonta, New York Large and Small, Hartford Public Library Gallery; Hartford, Connecticut Sculptures on Campus, SUNY College at Oneonta; Oneonta, New York

2014 Small Sculptures and Gouache Studies, Wiregrass Museum of Art; Dothan, Alabama David Hayes Sculpture at the Jundt Art Museum; Spokane, Washington Maquettes and Gouache Studies at the Housatonic Museum of Art; Bridgeport, Connecticut Dragonfly: Sculpture at the Springfield Museums; Springfield, Massachusetts Recent Small Sculptures at M+V Art Gallery; Miami, Florida Small Sculpture at the Parmigiani Fleurier Gallery; Miami, Florida Sculpture at Northwood Village; West Palm Beach, Florida

2013 David Hayes Sculpture, Contemporary Art Center; Peoria, Illinois David Hayes: A Sculptor of Space and Nature, Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Gallery at St. John’s College; Annapolis, Maryland Hanging Screen Sculptures at the Lutz Children’s Museum; Manchester, Connecticut David Hayes dies April 9, 2013 David Hayes Sculpture, Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame; Notre Dame, Indiana Sentinel Sculptures at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art; Fort Wayne, Indiana David Hayes Sculptures at the Wiregrass Museum of Art; Dothan, Alabama

2012 Small Sculpture, Gouaches, and New Totems, Garrison Art Center; Garrison, New York 20 Sculptures at the Art Museum at the University of Kentucky; Lexington, Kentucky Sculptures at the Westfield State University, Downtown Art Gallery; Westfield, Massachusetts

2011 Sculpture at One North Broadway; White Plains, New York David Hayes Small Sculpture, George Waters Gallery, Elmira College; Elmira, New York Sculpture at Goodwin College; East Hartford, Connecticut

2010 Art to the Avenue; Greenwich Avenue; Greenwich, Connecticut Fathers & Daughters, The Greenwich Arts Council Presents In The Bendheim Gallery; Greenwich, Connecticut Boscobel, in conjunction with the CURRENT show through the Garrison Art Center, Garrison, New York

2009 Hayes Family Show: Three Generations. White Plains Library; White Plains, New York

2008 David Hayes: 60 sculptures in White Plains, New York. 2007 David Hayes: Sculpture. Vero Beach Museum of Art; Vero Beach, Florida Sculpture in Downtown Syracuse; Syracuse, New York The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art; Laurel, Mississippi Ross Art Museum at Ohio Wesleyan University; Delaware, Ohio – Small Sculptures, Drawings and Outdoor Sculpture

2006 Louisiana State University Museum of Art; Baton Rouge, Louisiana – David Hayes Sculpture Erie Art Museum Annex Gallery; Erie, Pennsylvania – Small Sculptures and Drawings Longview Museum of Fine Arts; Longview, Texas – David Hayes Sculpture

2005 8 Vertical Motifs at the Mobile Museum of Art; Mobile, Alabama 12 sculptures on Oyaron Hill, Hartwick College; Oneonta, New York Maquettes and Drawings, Yager Museum; Oneonta, New York Small Sculptures and Drawings, Krasl Art Center; Saint Joseph, Michigan Sculpture in Erie: installation of sculpture in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania via the Erie Art Museum

2004 David Hayes Sculpture at Florida International University, Biscayne Bay Campus; Miami, Florida Outdoor Sculpture, James A. Michener Art Museum; Doylestown, Pennsylvania Exhibition Without Walls; 40 sculptures in downtown Fort Pierce, Florida

2003 Burt Reynolds Museum, Jupiter, Florida – Inaugural exhibition 5 Screen Sculptures at the University of Central Florida; Orlando, Florida David Hayes Sculpture, Sculpture Garden & Studio at Gidion’s; Kent, Connecticut

2002 Lyric Theater; Stuart, Florida – Outdoor Sculpture Bradley International Airport; Windsor Locks, Connecticut – Small Sculptures

2001 Geary Design; Naples, Florida: David Hayes Sculpture and Graham Nickson Paintings Lyric Theater; Stuart, Florida – Outdoor Sculpture Hanging Sculpture Commission: Stalagtite, Nicotra Group; Staten Island, New York

2000 Sculpture at Sasaki, Sasaki & Associates; Watertown, Massachusetts Fordham University Downtown, New York: Wall Sculptures and Drawings David Hayes Steel Sculptures, Denise Bibro Fine Arts Inc.; New York, New York

1999 Sea Forms, Hanging Screen Sculture Commission, Nicotra Group; Staten Island, New York Colgate University; Hamilton, New York: Sculpture in Scenic Landscape: Outdoor Sculpture, Wall Reliefs, Maquette and Drawings

1998 Mercy Gallery, Loomis Chaffee School; Windsor, Connecticut 57 Sculptures in the City of Stamford, Downtown Stamford and Stamford Town Center; Stamford, Connecticut David Hayes Sculpture, Tremaine Gallery, Hotchkiss School; Lakeville, Connecticut Outdoor Sculpture, The Appleton Museum; Ocala, Florida Boca Raton Museum of Art; Boca Raton, Florida: Vertical Motifs, Drawings, Macquettes Paintings, Acrylic Landscapes and Studies, Stamford Center for the Arts, Rich Forum; Stamford, Connecticut

1997 100 Pearl Gallery; Hartford, Connecticut The Gallery, University of New Haven; New Haven, Connecticut Southern Vermont Art Center; Manchester, Vermont Screen Sculptures, Gulf Coast Art Center; Belleair, Florida (exhibit travels) Screen Sculptures, Orlando City Hall; Orlando, Florida (exhibit travels) Five Screen Sculptures, Hines Building; Boston Hayes Modern Gallery; Naples, Florida

1996 Prudential Center; Boston Screen Sculptures, Gulf Coast Art Center; Belleair, Florida (exhibit travels) The Pingry School; Martinsville, New Jersey

1995 Vertical Motif Installation, Boca Raton Museum of Art; Boca Raton, Florida

1994 A Survey of Screen Sculptures, Anderson Gallery; Buffalo, New York

1993 Appointed Board Member, New York Sculptors Guild Elaine Benson Gallery; Bridgehampton, New York

1992 Elected Regent, University of Hartford; Hartford, Connecticut David Hayes—Outdoor Sculpture, Gallerie Françoise; Baltimore, Maryland

1991 Monumental Sculpture Commission: Minotaur, Anderson Gallery; Buffalo, New York PBS Broadcast of The Sculpture of David Hayes, documentary film by Richard Byrnes Neville-Sargent Gallery; Chicago

1990 Monumental Sculpture Commission: The Three Graces, School of Business, Western Michigan University; Kalamazoo, Michigan Welded Steel Sculpture with David Hayes, documentary film by Richard Byrnes Indiana University Art Museum; Bloomington, Indiana

1989 Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame; Notre Dame, Indiana. Exhibition travels to the University of Indiana.

1988 Monumental Sculpture Commission: Griffon, Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame; Notre Dame, Indiana Outdoor Sculpture, Station Plaza; Stamford, Connecticut

1987 Monumental Sculpture Commission: Large Vertical Motif, Hartford Public Library; Hartford, Connecticut Juror, National Screening Committee, Institute of International Education, for Sculpture

1986 Albertus Magnus College; New Haven, Connecticut Vertical Motif Series, Shippee Gallery; New York, New York

1985 The Brooks File: David Hayes’ Sculpture Fields, Channel 3 WFSB; Hartford, Connecticut Visual Images Gallery; Wellfleet, Massachusetts

1984 Visual Images Gallery; Wellfleet, Massachusetts Shippee Gallery; New York, New York

1983 Relief Sculpture Commission, Wilbraham & Monson Academy; Wilbraham, Massachusetts Appointed Trustee, Hartford Art School, University of Hartford; Hartford, Connecticut Wesleyan Potters; Middletown, Connecticut Visual Images Gallery; Wellfleet, Massachusetts Rensselaer County Council for the Arts; Troy, New York

1982 Juror, National Screening Committee, Institute of International Education, for Sculpture Relief Sculpture Commission, Albertus Magnus College; New Haven, Connecticut Sunne Savage Gallery; Boston, Massachusetts Visual Images Gallery; Wellfleet, Massachusetts Elaine Benson Gallery; Bridgehampton, New York

1981 Monumental Sculpture Commission: Large Escargot, Hartwood Acres; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Bard College; Annandale-on-Hudson, New York Old State House; Hartford, Connecticut June 1 Gallery; Bethlehem, Connecticut Visual Images Gallery; Wellfleet, Massachusetts University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus; Catonsville, Maryland

1980 Juror, Scholastic Art Awards, Connecticut, for Sculpture Juror, National Screening Committee, Institute of International Education, for Sculpture Bethel Gallery and Bethel Library grounds; Bethel, Connecticut Art Museum and City of Fitchburg; Fitchburg, Massachusetts Saratoga Performing Arts Center; Saratoga Springs, New York Sculpture on Campus, Skidmore College; Saratoga Springs, New York

1979 Illustrated French Cooking for People Who Can’t by Julia Hayes; Atheneum Publishers Large Sculpture Commission, Lydall Corporate Headquarters; Manchester, Connecticut The Gallery, G. Fox and Company; Hartford, Connecticut White Mountains Center for the Arts; Jefferson, New Hampshire Plymouth State College; Plymouth, New Hampshire Sculpture in the Library, University Library, University of Connecticut; Storrs, Connecticut Mead Art Museum, Amherst College; Amherst, Massachusetts Outdoor Sculpture, Nassau County Museum of Art; Sands Point, New York

1978 David Hayes: Sculptor; Channel 57 television documentary Screen Sculpture Commission, Moriarty Brothers, Inc.; Manchester, Connecticut Choate-Rosemary Hall; Wallingford, Connecticut Vertical Motifs, State University of New York; Albany, New York Manchester Community College; Manchester, Connecticut Sculpture on Tuck Mall, Dartmouth College; Hanover, New Hampshire Sculpture in the City, Museum of Fine Arts and City of Springfield; Springfield, Massachusetts

1977 Monumental Sculpture Commission, Massasoit Community College; Brockton, Massachusetts Franz Bader Gallery; Washington, DC George Washington University; Washington, DC Georgetown University Hospital; Washington, DC Vertical Motifs, DeCordova Museum; Lincoln, Massachusetts

1976 Sculpture for playground: Eagle; Killingly, Connecticut Sculpture in the City, Danbury, Connecticut

1975 Everson Museum of Art; Syracuse, New York Brockton Art Center; Fuller Memorial; Brockton, Massachusetts

1974 Outdoor Sculpture at Copley Square and Dartmouth Street Mall; Boston, Massachusetts Martha Jackson Gallery; New York, New York Columbus Gallery of Fine Art; Columbus, Ohio Sunne Savage Gallery; Boston, Massachusetts

1973 Monumental sculpture commission, Centaur, Columbus Gallery of Fine Art; Columbus, Ohio Juror, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute; Utica, New York – Annual Exhibition Illustrated Varmint Q by Charles Boer; Chicago: Swallow Press Juror, American Academy in Rome – Sculpture Munson Gallery; New Haven, Connecticut Sunne Savage Gallery; Boston, Massachusetts Albany Institute of History and Art; Albany, New York Gallery Five East; East Hartford, Connecticut

1972 Appointed visiting artist, Harvard University; Cambridge, Massachusetts

1971 Harvard University, Hunt Hall; Cambridge, Massachusetts New Britain Museum of American Art; New Britain, Connecticut Agra Gallery; Washington, DC

1970 Monumental Ceramic Wall Commission, Elmira College; Elmira, New York University of Connecticut; Storrs, Connecticut Manchester Community College; Manchester, Connecticut St. Joseph’s College; West Hartford, Connecticut

1969 Bard College; Annandale-on-Hudson, New York Willard Gallery; New York Arizona State University; Tempe, Arizona

1968 Return to live in the United States Galerie De Haas; Rotterdam, Holland

1966 Lyman Allen Museum; New London, Connecticut Houston Festival of Arts; Houston, Texas Willard Gallery; New York David Anderson Gallery; Paris

1965 National Institute of Arts and Letters Award, New York

1963 Represented United States at Forma Viva Sculpture Symposium, Portorož, Yugoslavia Root Art Center, Hamilton College; Clinton, New York

1962 Retrospective Exhibition of Sculpture and Drawing, University of Notre Dame and Indiana University

1961 Chicago Arts Institute; Chicago, Illinois – Logan Prize for Sculpture Post Doctoral Fulbright Fellowship for study in Paris. Guggenheim Fellowship awarded and arranged to follow Fulbright Willard Gallery; New York, New York

1960 New Haven Festival of Arts; New Haven, Connecticut – Best in Show for Sculpture Sharon Creative Art Foundation; Sharon, Connecticut

1959 Museum of Modern Art, New York – Recent Sculpture, U.S.A. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York – Animal and Young, part of inaugural exhibition Boston Arts Festival; Boston, Massachusetts – Drawing Award Lyman Allen Museum; New London, Connecticut New Talent Series, Museum of Modern Art; New York, New York

1958 Silvermine Guild; New Cannan, Connecticut – Sculpture Award New Haven Festival of Arts; New Haven, Connecticut – Best in Show Wesleyan University; Middletown, Connecticut

1955 Thesis Exhibition, Indiana University; Bloomington, Indiana

1955–1957 United States Navy