Director of the UWM Art Collection and American Arts Society board member, Linda Brazeau, attended the American Arts Society’s 9th Annual Conservation Event held at the Milwaukee Art Museum on May 7, 2015. The conservation event addressed the recent restoration of MAM’s rare clay maquette for Thomas Hart Benton’s painting Weighing Cotton (ca. 1939). Benton’s unique practice involved creating intricate clay models as studies for his paintings, which he typically destroyed upon completion of the painting. A lecture given by Dr. Randall Griffey, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the MET and an authority on T.H. Benton followed.

The AAS board members have recently decided to honor Jeffrey Hayes for his service and contributions to the American Arts Society, the Milwaukee Art Museum, and art education by dedicating the conservation and re-mounting of the Thomas Hart Benton, Maquette for Weighing Cotton, in his honor.