Donté K. Hayes

“The first reason I came to Iowa was because my all-time favorite artist who I love and inspires me every day as an artist and a human being is Elizabeth Catlett. The other reason was CAS.” The Center for Afrofuturist Studies, which is housed at PS1, was on Donté Hayes’ radar because of his own Afrofuturist work. 

He was so excited by the possibility of working with CAS that he reached out to PS1 before arriving in town hoping to get involved. They didn’t hesitate to take him up on his offer, asking him to pick up a visiting artist at the airport.

The trip happened to coincide with his arrival in Iowa City following an all-night drive from Atlanta. After unpacking at his new apartment, he stopped by the UI Art Building where one of his professors offered to take him to lunch. “I told him no, ‘I have to drive to the airport and pick up this artist.’ I must have sounded crazy.”

Hayes was soon shocked to discover that the organization he’d been following online was in the basement of a former church. But it didn’t stop him from deepening his involvement. “You’re not an Iowa artist because you attended the university,” he says. “You have to support and get to know the local artists.” 

He served on PS1’s board and showed his work there. Even after graduating and moving east, Hayes has stayed connected. He was one of the central artists on The Oracles Project, the murals on Burlington Street that PS1 shepherded. And each year, Hayes, whose work is now in museum collections, sends a piece for PS1’s annual fundraising auction. “Give back – ya gotta give back,” he says.