- cshayes@uwm.edu
- Mitchell Hall 371
- She / Her
Cynthia Hayes
- Teaching Faculty IV, First Year Program
- Teaching Faculty IV, Painting & Drawing
- Director, First Year Program
- Co-Coordinator, Hubei University of Technology
Education
- MFA, Painting, Michigan State University, 1992
- BFA, Painting and Drawing, UW-Milwaukee, 1987
Biography
Cynthia Hayes, a UW-Milwaukee alumna, has been a Lecturer in the Peck School of the Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee since 1998. Courses she has taught for the Department of Art and Design include Figure Drawing, Drawing I & II, 2D Studio, and Color Theory. Besides teaching, she serves as the Director of the Art & Design First Year Program. She is also the coordinator for the school’s partnership with the Hubei University of Technology in Wuhan (HBUT).
Hayes is an active figurative painter who prefers working in oil paint and chalk pastes. She exhibits her work locally, regionally, and internationally. Notably, she held two solo exhibitions in Kolkata, India, sponsored in part by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Mary L. Nohl Fund Suitcase Export Fund for Visual Art.
Her process in both painting and pastel drawing begins by covering the surface intuitively with a non-objective composition of color blocks. Later, the canvas is matched with a concept previously drawn in a sketchbook. This pairing occurs when the color palette is appropriate for a certain theme. For example, a canvas might have a large red spot that corresponds perfectly with the placement of a giant crayfish in a sketch. The random placement of hues in the underpainting offers surprises as the image evolves. Intuition plays a role in how much those colors remain uncovered to sparkle through the finished work.
Her latest series, entitled “The Fantastic Mundane,” features vibrant, large-scale oil paintings and smaller ink drawings inspired by observations made during month-long research trips to China as a visiting scholar at HBUT in 2019, 2024, and 2025. She juxtaposes historical and contemporary images, merging Western and Eastern visual traditions.
The series examines the prevalence of mascots used in Chinese commerce. The ubiquitous mascots, found at temples, palaces, and shopping districts, blend modern “cute” aesthetics with auspicious symbolism. This mix makes them effective marketing tools deeply integrated into present-day culture. They appeal to kids of all ages, offering a sense of escapism and emotional comfort. The giant, whimsical statues also provide endless photo opportunities for social media. Often they seem out of place in their historical settings, shocking, amusing, and delighting viewers.
The theme of living statues, common in myth and fiction, fascinates Hayes. Examples include Pygmalion’s statue and Pinocchio, both of which come to life due to the artists’ deep desires, and the frightening stone statue of the Commendatore, which leads Don Giovanni to his just demise. In her series, the mascot statues appear animated, interacting with passersby in her painted scenes.
Links
Recent & Selected Works
Artistic Exhibitions & Artwork
- Hayes, Cynthia. 2026 Wisconsin Artists Biennial 2026. 7 Feb.- 19 Apr., 2026, Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend, WI.
- Hayes, Cynthia. Featured Member Solo Exhibition. 6 Jan.- 30 Mar., 2026, Walkers Point Center for the Arts, Milwaukee, WI.
- Hayes, Cynthia. Human Condition: A Study of the Body. 4 Sept. - 11 Dec., 2025. Charles Allis Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI.
- Hayes, Cynthia. SumTotal 2025 Department of Art and Design Faculty Exhibition. 5 Sept.-28 Sept., 2025. KSE Gallery, University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, WI.
- Hayes, Cynthia. Visiting Scholars’ Exhibition. 15 May-15 Jun. 2025, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Notable
Hayes, Cynthia. 2025 Commencement Address. 27 May, 2025, School of Arts & Design, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan China