Rachel Hayes was born in Independence, Missouri and lives and works in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hayes received her BFA in Fiber from the Kansas City Art Institute, and her MFA in Painting from Virginia Commonwealth University. Often using fabric to create large-scale work, she is interested in inserting color and form into both built and natural environments.
She is a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Award in Painting and Sculpture, Augustus Saint-Gaudens Memorial Fellowship in Sculpture, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship in Sculpture, Virginia Commission for the Arts Fellowship in Sculpture, and a Charlotte Street Fund Award. Hayes has attended the Marie Walsh Sharpe Space Program, New York, NY; Sculpture Space Residency, Utica, NY; Art Omi International Artists' Residency, Ghent, NY; Roswell Artist-in-Residence program in Roswell, NM; and the Tulsa Artist Fellowship in Tulsa, OK.
She has exhibited her work at institutions including the SculptureCenter in New York City, NY; Fruitlands Museum + deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Harvard, MA; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY; Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV; Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, KS; Roswell Museum of Art, Roswell, NM; Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, Cornish, NH; and at galleries such as Lowell Ryan Projects, Los Angeles, CA; Marinaro, New York, NY; Bravin Lee Programs, New York, NY, and ADA Gallery, Richmond, VA. Hayes has collaborated with the Italian fashion house Missoni, culminating with a solo exhibition during Milan Design Week. Recently, she exhibited site-specific installations with ISTANBUL74 during the 16th Contemporary Istanbul, in Turkey and at NOMAD in Capri, IT. Her installation “Someday When We Are Dreaming” is currently up in the atrium at the Nevada Museum of Art through 2025.
Her work has been covered by The New Yorker, The New York Times, Architectural Digest, Vogue, The Cut, LA Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Harper’s Bazaar, and Artforum among others.
EDUCATION
2006 M.F.A. – Virginia Commonwealth University - Richmond, VA
1999 B.F.A. – Kansas City Art Institute - Kansas City, MO
1998 Kansas City Art Institute Study Abroad Program, Florence, IT and Paris, FR
1997 Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME
1994 Independence Sister City Exchange, Higashimurayama, Japan
AWARDS
2016 Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant
2009 Augustus Saint-Gaudens Memorial Fellowship in Sculpture
2007 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship in Sculpture
2005 Virginia Commission for the Arts Fellowship in Sculpture Textile Study Group of New York, Nancy and Harry Koeningsberg Award
2004 Charlotte Street Foundation Award
2003 Avenue of the Arts Award PUBLIC ART
INSTALLATIONS AND COMMISSIONS
2023 Klyde Warren Park, round the bend, Dallas, TX
2021 Balkan Cities Network Summit, under the same blue sky, Istanbul, TR
2020 American Dream Mall, stay golden, East Rutherford, NJ St. Louis University Hospital, not fade away, St. Louis, MO
2019 Facebook Headquarters, not fade away, Menlo Park, CA
2017 Missoni Headquarters, milano sky, Milan, IT
2016 Harvester Arts and City of Wichita, sun sails, Wichita, KS
2014 Artsbeat and City of Columbus, swing and sway, Columbus, GA
2013 Rosslyn Business Improvement District, all a flutter, Arlington, VA
2012 Dumbo Art Festival, freestyle canopy, Brooklyn, NY
2009 BravinLee Programs at Lower Manhattan, rainbow connection, New York, NY
2007 Solvent Space, wow and flutter, Richmond, VA
2004 Avenue of the Arts, skywalk, Kansas City, MO
SOLO EXHIBITIONS & SPECIAL PROJECTS
2023
The Momentary, colorscape, Bentonville, AR
Foreland, tomorrow is for you and me, Catskill, NY
Fruitlands Museum + deCordova Museum, transcending space, Harvard, MA
Powell Gardens Kansas City, kindred spirits, Kingsville, MO
CAM Houston + Crossroads Hotel, field of vision, Kansas City, MO
2022
Nevada Museum of Art, someday when we are dreaming, Reno, NV
Oklahoma State Capitol Gallery, field of vision, Oklahoma City, OK
Nomad Capri with Istanbul74, a moment in time, Capri, IT
Cleveland Botanical Gardens, awake in every sense, Cleveland, OH
2021
Contemporary Istanbul + Istanbul74, Istanbul, TR
Wege Center for Art, open windows, Fairfield, IA
San Diego Museum of Art, stay golden, San Diego, CA Color Factory, all that shimmers, Houston, TX
Piper Faust Public Art, slant of light, Round Top, TX
2020
Lowell Ryan Projects, land lines, Los Angeles, CA
2019
Pennsylvania State University, syzygy, State College, PA
Myriad Botanical Gardens, crystal bridge, Oklahoma City, OK
2018
Missoni Headquarters, blowing in the wind, Milan, IT
Missoni Flagship, dreams of being, New York, NY
Fields Sculpture Park at OMI, kindred spirits, Ghent, NY
Philbrook Museum, stay golden, Tulsa, OK
Museum of Contemporary Art, infusing the scene, Indianapolis, IN
Karl Stirner Arts Trail,site-lines, Easton, PA
University of Maryland, almost always, College Park, MD
2017
Oklahoma Contemporary, test patterns, Oklahoma City, OK
2016
Taubman Museum of Art, not fade away, Roanoke, VA
2015
ADA Gallery, straight tipsy, Richmond, VA
Roswell Museum and Art Center, new works, Roswell, NM
Space Gallery, view of a song, Portland, ME
2014
Wedge Center for Art, remix, Fairfield, IA
2011
Coe College, shaping space, Cedar Rapids, IA
2010
Augustus Saint-Gaudens Ntl. Historic Site, wild and wary ways, Cornish, NH
2009
Dolphin Gallery, cold daydream, Kansas City, MO Shaw Center for the Arts, patient persistence, Baton Rouge, LA
2008
ADA Gallery, Richmond, VA Lab Gallery, duality, New York, NY
2006
Sculpture Center, in practice, Queens, NY 2005 Fahrenheit Gallery, revival pavilion, Kansas City, MO
2003
Roswell Museum and Art Center, new work, Roswell, NM
2002
Joseph Nease Gallery, sheer suppression, Kansas City, MO
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
Charlotte Street, 25th anniversary, Kansas City, MO
Ela Excellence Resort, garden of earthly delights, Antalya, TR
Maçakizi Istanbul74, between humankind and nature, Bodrum, TR
2021
Everson Museum of Art, abstranded, Syracuse, NY
Dragon Crab and Turtle, travels to italy, Villa Ranuzzi Cospi, IT
JAG Projects & Marinaro Gallery, LMNOP, New York, NY
2020
Nevada Museum of Art, in the flow, Reno, Nevada
2019
Knotel, somewhere in LA, Los Angeles, CA Gilcrease Museum of Art, recall/respond, Tulsa, OK
2018
Silber Gallery, piece work, Baltimore, MD 108 Contemporary, shelter, Tulsa, OK Joseph Nease Gallery, sweep, Duluth, MN
2017
Piecework Quilt Collective, Soho Space, New York, NY
New Mexico University, fabrication, Albuquerque, NM
University of Montana, two person exhibition, Bozeman, MT
2016
Paragraph Gallery, invest, Kansas City, MO
2015
Outpost Projects, primo lane, Joshua Tree, CA 1708 Gallery, going somewhere, Richmond, VA
2014
Snug Harbor Cultural Center, fluid, Staten Island, NY Outlet Gallery, azzetagh, Brooklyn, NY
2013
University of Mary Washington, anarchist abstraction, Fredericksburg, VA
FELLOWSHIPS/RESIDENCIES
2019 Facebook Artist in Residence, Menlo Park, CA
2017/19 Tulsa Artist Fellowship, Tulsa, OK
2016 Harvester Arts Artist in Residence, Wichita, KS
2014 Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program, Roswell, NM
2011 Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation Studio Program, Brooklyn, NY
2008 Sculpture Space Residency, Utica, NY
2007 Art Omi International Artists' Residency, Omi, NY
2004 Urban Culture Project, Kansas City, MO
2002 Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program, Roswell, NM