Donté K. Hayes Visiting Artist Demonstration

sculpture by Donte K. HayesSaturday and Sunday, October 1 and 2, 2022

10 – 5 each day with a 1 hour lunch break

The sculptural ceramic work of Donté K. Hayes is informed by researching traditional African heirlooms and initiation rites that speak to the greater African diaspora. Hayes uses this research along with his interest in hip-hop culture, history, and science fiction to explore themes in Afrofuturism, a projected vision of an imagined future which critiques the historical and cultural events of the African Diaspora and the distinct black experience of the Middle Passage. Hayes combines ceramics with printmaking, installation, and performance to elevate his ceramic sculptures as a historical and creative base materials to inform memories of the past. In this workshop, Hayes will demonstrate his method of making his sculptural work as well and provide a visual presentation on his influences.

 

Materials List:

  • Notebook/sketchbook
  • Open mind to think and create in new ways

Cost: Free for Harvard College Undergraduates; $125 for adults and Harvard Graduate students enrolled in a fall 2022 course at the Ceramics Program; $150 for those not enrolled in a fall 2022 course at the Ceramics Program.

 

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Bio:

Donté K. Hayes graduated summa cum laude from Kennesaw State University at Kennesaw, Georgia with a BFA in Ceramics and Printmaking with an art history minor. Hayes received his MA and MFA with honors from the University of Iowa and is the 2017 recipient of the University of Iowa Arts Fellowship. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C., The Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Texas, the Newark Museum of Art, Newark, New Jersey, the Stanley Museum of Art, Iowa City, Iowa, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa, and The Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina, among others. Hayes is a 2019 Ceramics Monthly Magazine Emerging Artists and Artaxis Fellow. Hayes has been in residence at the Bemis Center, Omaha, Nebraska, Township 10, Marshall, North Carolina, Penland School of Craft, Penland, North Carolina, the Hambidge Center, Rabun Gap, Georgia, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine and Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, Maine. Donté K. Hayes is represented by Mindy Solomon Gallery in Miami, Florida.

 

collage of three photos: portrait of Donté K. Hayes standing next to a table of his sculptures, and two images of individual sculptures "Guardian" and "Monument"

 

Images, Top: Meander, 2022, Ceramic (brown clay body), 12” x 12” x 12”; Bottom: portrait of Donté K. Hayes by Colin Conces at the Bemis Center in Omaha, Nebraska; Guardian, 2021, Ceramic (black clay body), 17.75” x 14” x 14”; Monument, 2022, Ceramic (brown clay body), 15” x 15” x 15”