UIC MUSE instructor Jeffreen Hayes named new Exec Director of Three Walls

After a competitive nationwide search, Threewalls is thrilled to announce art historian, curator, and UIC Museum & Exhibition Studies instructor Jeffreen M. Hayes as Executive Director. Hayes comes with a wealth of experiences in the field of arts management, merging administrative, curatorial, and academic practices into her cultural practice of supporting artists and community development. Hayes joins Threewalls following the departure of founding Executive Director Shannon R. Stratton earlier this year.

Over the years, Hayes has developed a curatorial and leadership practice that invites community participation. She experienced success with this approach in Birmingham, Alabama as the Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Curatorial Fellow at Birmingham Museum of Art from January 2012 – June 2013. During her tenure, Hayes organized performance art projects and the exhibition Etched in Collective History which commemorated Birmingham’s civil rights history.

Since arriving in Chicago in 2013, Hayes has worked with local artists, supporting their community-engaged projects and leading engagement efforts. She ensures that artists include community members in their projects, encouraging true community collaboration. Her time in Chicago includes working at Rebuild Foundation, where she served as the Executive Director. While at Rebuild, Hayes provided organizational structure and supported Rebuild neighbors in the creation of a space for themselves within the organization.