Who is
Frank
Hayden?
For over sixty years, the work of sculptor and educator, Frank Hayden, has made a significant mark in Louisiana’s Modern art story.
Hayden's story extends beyond Louisiana, as it takes place in Memphis, Chicago, New York, South Bend, Munich, Copenhagen, and Stockholm.
It all starts in Memphis, where he was born and raised. Hayden's artistic talents were encouraged by the nuns at his school. When he started to win awards, he began to focus more seriously on it and by the time he graduated in 1953, his sight was set on being a sculptor.
His early accomplishments helped earn him a scholarship to study art at University of Xavier New Orleans. He did not quite know how special of a place Xavier was, but he would come to learn this as Hayden’s time at Xavier not only grounded him, but also shaped him into a professional artist, capable in the business of art as well as the purpose of art. There is much to be said about Xavier and the vision behind this institution. It was this vision that made Xavier's Art Department a hallowed and challenging environment to grow as an artist.
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The department was the vision of the architect Ferdinand Rousseve who created a place of purpose and high standards. By the time Hayden got there in the early 1950s, the larger than life figures in the department where Rousseve’s brother, Numa and Sister Lurana. Her talents in many art mediums and her own personal drive challenged students that studied under her. Numa, known by students as 'Prof', also brought talent and professionalism and between the two, they created an inspiring department that produced many life long artists.
It was here that Hayden was able to get a lot of experience and several commissions in his four years there. By time he graduated and was looking at graduate schools, he had several scholarship options. Of these, none was more appealing than the chance to move to South Bend, Indiana and attend the University of Notre Dame. It was here that Hayden studied under one of the most pre-eminent sculptors of the twentieth century, Ivan Mestrovic.
Between the experience of learning from Mestrovic and other academic studies, Notre Dame opened Hayden's mind to new worlds, new ways of seeing and new other ways of thinking. Hayden left this experience a sculptor ready to go to that next level. That came when he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study at the Munich Art Academy. Here he studied under sculptor, Heinrich Kirchner. At the end of this fellowship, Hayden returned to Louisiana to work as a lecturer at Xavier and to continued the development of his art.
His recent accomplishments brought a new prestige to Hayden. Especially to his younger peer, John Scott, whose talents had blossomed in the time that Hayden had been away. Scott looked up to what Hayden had done and was inspired to see that sometimes hard work does pay off.
With Sister Lurana being a mothering mentor to them both, these two artists shared a connection and a common purpose in why they made art. This purpose would inform Hayden’s art and open many doors for him going forward.
In the fall of 1961, a new challenge was presented to Hayden when he was hired to be a professor at Southern University. The Southern University Art Department was actively being revamped by the department chair, Jean Paul Hubbard, who had recently convinced school officials to construct a new building for the arts.
This was a properous time at Southern University, as it was then the largest historically black colleges and universities in the world. By the 1960s, the University was at it's heyday academically. As a result it was an environment of talented and motivated people focused on excelling. It also was an environment in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement. With this there was the daily struggles mixed with the many tragedies of the 1960s.
Here, Hayden would grow as an artist and come to inspire hundreds of students as he passed on his wisdom in a brotherly manner. A few students of note include Al Lavergne, Eugene Wade, Chuck Siler, Ronald Trahan, Randell Henry, Morris Taft Thomas, and Henry Price.
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But in 1964, Hayden still was not finished with his own studies. Dr. Elton C Harrison, who ran Academic Affairs at Southern encouraged Hayden to study abroad. So Hayden applied for a American-Scandinavian Fellowship and took a sabbatical to study at the Copenhagen Royal Academy under Mogens Boggeld. Here, he would refine his understanding of woodworking and sculpture. In the years to come, Hayden’s woodwork would become one of his hallmarks.
When Hayden returned in 1965, he moved to his next milestone by creating and exhibiting a work at the World’s Fair in New York. It was displayed amongst Corita Kent’s 40-foot Beatitude and Michelangelo's Pietà in the Vatican Pavilion.
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Religious art was being re-invented and modernized in the 1960s and some years prior. Architects were redesigning churches and art played a prominent role in these new minimal looks. Having been trained for this, a lot of opportunities opened for Hayden as he received a number of commissions. This allowed him to develop his experience in creating public art and brought him greater notoriety both statewide and nationally. A lot of people were adding this modernized religious art to their home décor. Hayden was aware of this and made not only large pieces for institutions, but small pieces for individuals. Patrons marveled at his ability to manifest his spirituality and scripture into the raw materials he worked with. This of course is what Xavier and Notre Dame had trained him to do, so he had the confidence to be bold and exploratory.
A year after showing at the World’s Fair, in 1966, Hayden was invited to show at Immaculate Conception Seminary, located on the campus of Seton Hall University in New Jersey. Hayden's connection with Immaculate Conception went deeper as this was also his church in Baton Rouge and a place where he drew a lot of inspiration for his art.
1966 was a groundbreaking year for Hayden along with his Xavier compatriot, John Scott, as they became the first African American artists to be accepted into a modern art gallery in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Their talent was breaking down societal barriers and building bridges. Soon, these two artists would become adored by their communities as their personalities mixed with their talent and endless creativity increased their notoriety.
Hayden found another opportunity to study abroad in 1968 when he received a fellowship to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. This experience was a high point in his life as well as a low. It was an opportunity to study at this distinguished arts academy, but during this sabbatical, news would come that Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated two miles from where he grew up.
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Dr. King’s assassination was a deep blow that shook up the country. Frank Hayden would be one of those called upon in the wake of the assassination to create a memorial to Dr. King. His first would be unveiled in 1970 at the front entrance of Southern University’s Catholic Student Center.
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Hayden’s second Dr. King tribute would be seen in 1971 when Hayden had an exhibition in Chicago at the AFAM Gallery and then at the Southside Community Art Center. This 5-foot bust remains in Chicago and is part of the permanent exhibition at the DuSable African American Museum.
The third Dr. King tribute that Hayden sculpted was a monument to be featured in Central City New Orleans in 1975. Known as ‘the Eggshell’, this piece was admired and disliked when it was unveiled. When Hayden delivered a piece without a likeness of Dr. King, many did not know how to react and so resisted appreciating the unique piece of art that Hayden had done for them. This sentiment would be temporary, as this memorial is now a treasured feature in the neighborhood.
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1975 would kick off Hayden's busiest decade. In this year, Hayden unveiled two other major works: the Sequence of Life, a twenty-one foot mahogany relief and a commission by the Chi Omega Chapter at LSU which donated the piece for display at the LSU
Student Union. This piece, using Hondurian mahogany, represented the ideals of the sorority: courage, integrity, knowledge, culture and intelligence.
Also in 1975, Hayden was working on what would become his most iconic pieces. Done in conjunction with the United States Bicentennial, these works would usher in a new era for modern public art in Baton Rouge.
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As downtown Baton Rouge by the Old State Capitol, and LASM was being reinterpreted as the cultural center, Hayden's sculptures would be key features in this landscape. Hayden's sculpture would soon be center pieces for public gatherings, festivals, and daily downtown life.
Two of these commissions would be red stick sculptures: one for the bluffs at the campus of Southern University and one for downtown on the levee. These ‘Red Stick’ sculptures represented the early history and pre-history of Baton Rouge. Having been developing this concept for years, Hayden had explored many approaches. As a result, each 'Red Stick' sculpture is radically different. The first one completed was the one for Southern and it represented a tee-pee, but is very origami-like in character. It is modern, using galvanized steel with a relief of Bauhaus-like words. The other 'Red Stick', on the levee in downtown Baton Rouge, is more traditional. Created in bronze, it features three panels with reliefs done in a classical manner.
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The two other sculptures created would be a 3-D telling of Baton Rouge history, illustrating the story of the 1779 Battle of Baton Rouge led by Bernardo de Gálvez. This is an overlooked battle in the American Revolution that occurred in downtown Baton Rouge when the Spanish seized control of the then British territory.
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These four commissions would take many years to produce, the first being unveiled in 1976 with the Red Stick at Southern, the second in 1979 with the March of Galvez relief, the third in 1980 with the Oliver Pollock's head and the final being the Red Stick on the levee in downtown Baton Rouge, which was unveiled in 1984. The success of these pieces brought Hayden attention around the state and he was approached for numerous public art commissions. One of the last ones completed was for downtown Shreveport, Louisiana.
