Hayes received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1953, and a M.F.A. degree from Indiana University in 1955 where he studied with David Smith.
Smith pioneered sculpture in metal and Hayes also made his sculpture using metal, formed in graceful curves, shapes abstracted from sketches of objects and ideas.
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 300 exhibitions and his work is included in 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 since 1958, where he had 57 acres of land to exhibit his works. He died of leukemia at his home there on April 9, 2013. He was 82.
Museum of Modern Art; New YorkSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum; New YorkHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture GardenAddison Gallery of American Art; Andover, MassachusettsCurrier Museum of Art; Manchester, New HampshireMusée des Arts Décoratifs; ParisDetroit Institute of Arts; Detroit, MichiganMuseum of Fine Arts; Houston, TexasChase Manhattan Bank, N.A.University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MichiganArizona State University; Tempe, ArizonaCarnegie Institute Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaWadsworth Atheneum; Hartford, ConnecticutElmira College; Elmira, New YorkBrockton Art Center, Fuller Memorial; Brockton, MassachusettsRingling Museum of Art; Sarasota, FloridaFleming Museum, University of Vermont; Burlington, VermontFirst National Bank of Chicago; Chicago, IllinoisDe Porceleyne Fles; Delft, HollandUniversity of Connecticut; Storrs, ConnecticutColumbus Museum of Art; Columbus, OhioUniversity of Notre Dame; Notre Dame, IndianaMichael Schiavone and Sons; New Haven, ConnecticutIndiana University; Bloomington, IndianaSmithsonian American Art Museum; Washington, D.C.Struktuur 68NV; The Hague, NetherlandsBoston Public Library; Boston, MassachusettsDartmouth College; Hanover, New HampshireEverson Museum of Art; Syracuse, New YorkDade County Art Collection; Miami, FloridaDeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park; Lincoln, MassachusettsWilliams College Museum of Art; Williamstown, MassachusettsGeorge Washington University; Washington, D.C.New Britain Museum of American Art; New Britain, ConnecticutBrooklyn Museum; Brooklyn, New YorkPricewaterhouseCoopers; Hartford, ConnecticutRussell, Gibson, Von Dolen, Inc.; Farmington, ConnecticutThiokol Corporation; Newtown, PennsylvaniaUniversity Art Museum, State University of New York; Albany, New YorkLynch Motors; Manchester, ConnecticutHousatonic Museum of Art; Bridgeport, ConnecticutBoca Raton Museum of Art; Boca Raton, FloridaMuseum of Fine Arts; Springfield, MassachusettsWichita State University; Wichita, KansasGund Hall, Harvard University; Cambridge, MassachusettsThe Norton Company; Worcester, MassachusettsNational Trust for Historic Preservation, Nelson Rockefeller Collection; Tarrytown, New YorkHarry Guggenheim Collection, Nassau County Museum of Art; Sands Point, New YorkFitchburg Art Museum; Fitchburg, MassachusettsOhio Wesleyan University; Delaware, OhioHunter Museum of American Art; Chattanooga, TennesseeWilbraham & Monson Academy; Wilbraham, MassachusettsWestmoreland Museum of American Art; Greensburg, PennsylvaniaWondriska & Russo Associates; Farmington, ConnecticutThe Woodlands, TexasPhilbrook Museum of Art; Tulsa, OklahomaPfizer; New YorkWestern Michigan University; Kalamazoo, MichiganHollister Corporation; Libertyville, IllinoisAlbertus Magnus College; New Haven, ConnecticutPepperidge Farm; New Haven, ConnecticutOlin Corporation; Cheshire, ConnecticutManchester Community College; Manchester, ConnecticutHartford Public Library; Hartford, ConnecticutBKM; East Hartford, ConnecticutHartford Art School; West Hartford, ConnecticutUniversity of Hartford; West Hartford, ConnecticutGerwun Jewish Heritage Foundation; New JerseyUniversity of Connecticut Health Center; Farmington, ConnecticutWestminster School; Simsbury, ConnecticutUniversity of New Haven; West Haven, ConnecticutJames A. Michener Art Museum; Doylestown, PennsylvaniaHartwood Acres; Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaGulf Coast Art Center; Belleair, FloridaVon Liebig Art Center; Naples, FloridaPicker Art Gallery, Colgate University; Hamilton, New YorkEmerson Gallery, Hamilton College; Clinton, New YorkYager Museum of Art & Culture, Oneonta, New YorkCity of Fort Pierce; Fort Pierce, FloridaOffice of Charles Moore; Owensboro, KentuckyFrost Art Museum; Miami, FloridaVero Beach Museum of Art; Vero Beach, FloridaUniversity of Kentucky, Kentucky2016Small Sculpture and Gouache Studies, Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, Florida
Art Miami art fair at the Cynthia Corbett Gallery, Miami, Florida
Context art fair at M+V Fine Art Gallery, Miami, Florida
The Original Miami Beach Antiques Show, Miami Beach, Florida with Alpen Art & Antiques
Small Vertical Motifs, Commenoz Gallery, Key Biscayne, Florida
Art Palm Beach fair with Alpen Art & Antiques; Vail, Colorado
Straight from the Barn, Emmanoel Lavagnolli Fine Art Gallery, Wynwood, Miami, Florida
Small sculptures and gouache studies, Center For Creative Education, West Palm Beach Florida
Clio Art Fair at Ale Berni Gallery, New York, New York
Sabrina, Dubuque Art Museum, Dubuque, Iowa
2015Art Wynwood fair, Cynthia Corbett Gallery; Miami, Florida
Sentinel Sculptures at the Cummer Museum and Gardens; Jacksonville, Florida
Art Miami New York Fair, Cynthia Corbett Gallery; New York, New York
David Hayes Sculpture at the Wichita Falls, Texas Museum of Art
David Hayes Sculptures, Project Space Gallery, SUNY College at Oneonta; Oneonta, NY
Large and Small, Hartford Public Library Gallery; Hartford, Connecticut
Art Hamptons Fair, Cynthia Corbett Gallery; Southampton, New York
Sculptures on campus, SUNY College at Oneonta; Oneonta, New York
2014Small Sculptures and Gouache Studies, Wiregrass Museum; Dothan, Alabama
David Hayes Sculpture at the Jundt Art Museum; Spokane, Washington
Maquettes and Gouache Studies at the Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Sculpture at the Springfield Museums; Springfield, Massachusetts
Recent Small Sculptures at M+V Art Gallery, Miami, Florida
Sculpture at Northwood Village; West Palm Beach, Florida
2013David 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 Sculpture at the 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; Dothan, Alabama
2012Small sculpture, gouaches, and new Totems; Garrison Art Center, Garrison, New York
20 Sculptures at Art Museum at the University of Kentucky; Lexington, Kentucky
Sculptures at the WSU Downtown Art Gallery; Westfield, Massachusetts
Sculptures at the Governor’s Mansion, Hartford, Connecticut
2011Sculpture at One North Broadway; White Plains, New York
Huntsville Museum of Art in conjunction with Huntsville’s Spaces Sculpture Trail
David Hayes Small Sculpture, George Waters Gallery, Elmira College; Elmira, New York
Sculpture at Goodwin College; East Hartford, Connecticut
2010Art 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 Garrison Art Center
2009The Sweeney Decade: Acquisitions At The 1959 Inaugural. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
Hayes Family Show: Three Generations. White Plains Library, White Plains, New York
2008David Hayes: 60 sculptures in White Plains, New York.2007 Vero Beach Museum of Art; Vero Beach, FloridaSculpture in Downtown Syracuse; Syracuse, New YorkThe Lauren Rogers Museum of Art; Laurel, MississippiRoss Art Museum at Ohio Wesleyan University; Delaware, Ohio – Small Sculptures, Drawings and Outdoor Sculpture2006LSU Museum of Art; Baton Rouge, Louisiana – David Hayes SculptureErie Art Museum Annex Gallery; Erie, Pennsylvania – Small Sculptures and DrawingsLongview Museum of Fine Arts; Longview, Texas – David Hayes Sculpture2005Mobile Museum of Art; Mobile, Alabama – Eight Vertical MotifsHartwick College; Oneonta, New York – 12 Sculptures on Oyaron HillKrasl Art Center; St. Joseph, Michigan – Small Sculptures and DrawingsYager Museum of Art & Culture; Oneonta, New York – Small Sculptures and DrawingsErie Art Museum; Erie, Pennsylvania – Art Around Erie2004FIU Biscayne Bay Campus; Miami, Florida – David Hayes Sculpture at Florida International UniversityJames A. Michener Art Museum; Doylestown, Pennsylvania – David Hayes Outdoor Sculpture InstallationFort Pierce, St. Lucie County and Core Developers, Florida – Exhibition Without Walls2003Burt Reynolds Museum; Jupiter, Florida – Inaugural exhibitionOrlando, Florida – 5 Screen Sculptures at the University of Central FloridaSculpture Garden & Studio at Gidion’s; Kent, Connecticut – David Hayes Sculpture2002Lyric Theater Sculpture Garden; Stuart, Florida – Outdoor SculptureBradley International Airport; Windsor Locks, Connecticut – Small Sculptures2001Geary Design; Naples, Florida – David Hayes Sculpture, Graham Nickson PaintingsLyric Theater Sculpture Garden; Stuart, Florida – Outdoor Sculpture2000Sasaki, Inc.; Watertown, Massachusetts; Sculpture, Maquettes, Wall ReliefsFordham University Downtown; New York, New York – Wall Sculptures and DrawingsDenise Bibro Fine Arts Inc.; New York, New York – David Hayes Steel Sculpture1999Screen Sculpture Commission, Nicotra Group; Staten Island, New YorkColgate University; Hamilton, New York – Sculpture, Maquette Reliefs1998Mercy Gallery, Loomis Chaffee School; Windsor, Connecticut – Drawings, Maquettes, Reliefs, and Screen SculpturesCity of Stamford, Connecticut and Stamford Town Center – Stamford Sculpture Walk: 59 Sculptures in Stamford, ConnecticutTremaine Gallery, Hotchkiss School; Lakeville, Connecticut – Drawings, Maquettes, Reliefs and Polychrome SculpturesBoca Raton Museum of Art; Boca Raton, Florida – Vertical Motifs, Drawings, Maquettes and Large Vertical MotifsAppleton Museum of Art; Ocala, Florida – Large Vertical MotifsStamford Center for the Arts, Rich Forum; Stamford, Connecticut – David Hayes: Paintings, Acrylic Landscapes and StudiesDowntown Stamford and Stamford Town Center; Stamford, Connecticut – Sculpture in Stamford1997100 Pearl Gallery; Hartford, Connecticut – Sculpture, Drawings and MaquettesThe Gallery, University of New Haven; West Haven, Connecticut – Sculpture and PaintingsSouthern Vermont Art Center; Manchester, Vermont – Screen SculpturesGulf Coast Art Center; Belleair, Florida – Screen SculpturesOrlando City Hall; Orlando, Florida – Screen SculpturesHines Building; Boston, Massachusetts – Five Screen SculpturesHayes Modern Gallery; Naples, Florida – Sculptures, Drawings and Macquettes1996Prudential Center; Boston, Massachusetts – Screen SculpturesGulf Coast Art Center; Belleair, Florida – Screen SculpturesThe Pingry School; Martinsville, New Jersey – Sculpture, Drawings and Macquettes1994Anderson Gallery, Buffalo, New York – A Survey of Screen Sculptures – Sculptures, Macquettes and Drawings.1993Elaine Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, New York – Screen Sculptures1992Gallerie Françoise; Baltimore, Maryland – David Hayes—Outdoor Sculpture1991Neville-Sargent Gallery; Chicago, Illinois – Sculpture, Maquettes, Drawings and Installation Photographs1990Indiana University Art Museum; Bloomington, Indiana – Sculpture, Maquettes and Gouaches1989Snite Museum of Art; University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana – Sculpture, Maquettes and Gouaches. Exhibition travels to Indiana University Art Museum1988Station Plaza; Stamford, Connecticut – Outdoor Sculpture1987Albertus Magnus College; New Haven, Connecticut – Outdoor Sculpture and Wall Reliefs1986Shippee Gallery; New York, New York – Vertical Motif Series1985Visual Images Gallery; Wellfleet, Massachusetts – Sculpture, Gouaches and Small Vertical Motifs1984Visual Images Gallery; Wellfleet, Massachusetts – Sculpture, Gouaches, and Painted ReliefsShippee Gallery; New York, New York – Recent Sculpture and Works on Paper1983Wesleyan Potters; Middletown, Connecticut – Sculpture, Drawings, and CeramicsVisual Images Gallery; Wellfleet, Massachusetts – Sculpture, Drawings, Ceramics and Small BronzesRensselaer County Council for the Arts; Troy, New York – Sculpture, Drawings, and Reliefs1982Sunne Savage Gallery; Boston, Massachusetts – Sculpture and DrawingsElaine Benson Gallery; Bridgehampton, New York – Sculpture and ModelsVisual Images Gallery; Wellfleet, Massachusetts – Sculpture, Drawings, and Ceramics1981Bard College; Annandale-on-Hudson, New York – Outdoor SculptureOld State House; Hartford, Connecticut – Sculpture on Old State House LawnJune 1 Gallery; Bethlehem, Connecticut – Sculpture and DrawingsVisual Images Gallery; Wellfleet, Massachusetts – Sculpture, Gouaches, CeramicsUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore County Campus; Catonsville, Maryland – Cross Section, Drawings, Ceramics, Tapestries, Sculpture1980Bethel Gallery and Bethel Library grounds; Bethel, Connecticut – Sculpture Inside/OutsideArt Museum and City of Fitchburg; Fitchburg, Massachusetts – Sculpture, Drawings, and CeramicsSaratoga Performing Arts Center; Saratoga Springs, New York – Outdoor SculptureSkidmore College; Saratoga Springs, New York – Sculpture & Drawings1979Amherst College; Amherst, Massachusetts – SculptureNassau County Museum; Sands Point, New York – Outdoor SculptureThe Gallery, G. Fox & Co.; Hartford, ConnecticutWhite Mountains Center for the Arts; Jefferson, New HampshirePlymouth State College; Plymouth, New HampshireUniversity Library, University of Connecticut; Storrs, Connecticut – Sculpture in the Library1978Museum of Fine Arts and City of Springfield; Springfield, Massachusetts – On Loan to Springfield: Sculpture, Ceramics, DrawingsChoate Rosemary Hall; Wallingford, Connecticut – Outdoor SculptureState University of New York; Albany, New York – Sculpture and DrawingsManchester Community College; Manchester, Connecticut – Outdoor SculptureDartmouth College; Hanover, New Hampshire – Sculpture on Tuck Mall1977Franz Bader Gallery; Washington, D.C. – Sculpture and CeramicsGeorge Washington University; Washington, D.C. – Outdoor SculptureGeorgetown University Hospital; Washington, D.C. – Five SculpturesDeCordova Museum; Lincoln, Massachusetts – Outdoor Sculpture1976Danbury, Connecticut – Sculpture in the City1975Everson Museum of Art; Syracuse, New York – SculptureBrockton Art Center; Fuller Memorial, Brockton, Massachusetts1974Copley Square and Dartmouth Street Mall; Boston, MassachusettsMartha Jackson Gallery; New York – CeramicsColumbus Gallery of Fine Art; Columbus, OhioSunne Savage Gallery; Boston, Massachusetts1973Munson Gallery; New Haven, ConnecticutSunne Savage Gallery; Boston, MassachusettsAlbany Institute of History & Art; Albany, New YorkGallery Five East; East Hartford, Connecticut1971Harvard University, Hunt Hall; Cambridge, MassachusettsNew Britain Museum of American Art; New Britain, ConnecticutAgra Gallery; Washington, D.C.1970University of Connecticut; Storrs, ConnecticutManchester Community College; Manchester, ConnecticutSt. Joseph College; West Hartford, Connecticut1969Bard College; Annandale-on-Hudson, New YorkWillard Gallery; New YorkArizona State University; Tempe, Arizona1968Galerie De Haas; Rotterdam, Holland – Ceramics1966Lyman Allen Museum; New London, ConnecticutHouston Festival of Arts; Houston, TexasWillard Gallery; New YorkDavid Anderson Gallery; Paris1963Root Art Center, Hamilton College; Clinton, New York – Sculpture and Drawings1962University of Notre Dame and Indiana University; Notre Dame and Bloomington, Indiana – Retrospective Exhibition of Sculpture and Drawing1961Willard Gallery, New York1960Sharon Creative Art Foundation; Sharon, Connecticut – Two-man show with Cleve Gray1959 Lyman Allen Museum; New London, ConnecticutMuseum of Modern Art; New York – New Talent Series1958Wesleyan University; Middletown, Connecticut 
