Photos by Alana Domingo.
Written by Asli Shebe.
“Savannah is typically conservative so if you push the edges just a little people are paying attention and I think that’s cool,” said Savannah native and co-founder of House of Hayes magazine, Maggie Hayes.
On Friday May 1, the magazine had its first exhibition, titled “First Class” at the Starland Dairy Building and Art Rise gallery in Savannah, Georgia. Both locals and SCAD students alike attended the event.
House of Hayes is a quarterly magazine that was founded by Maggie Hayes and her younger sister, Liz Hayes. The sisters were often attending concerts and taking photographs, and soon realized were as good as the ones being published in magazines.
After upgrading their equipment and doing more concert photography, they started a blog posting all their work, and thus began House of Hayes.
House of Hayes has come a long way since the days of hosting concerts in Philadelphia and getting shut down by the mayor. The pair had always wanted to do a magazine and thought it would be a great next step.
After a year of printing the magazines, the duo decided to exhibit the artists works as an attempt to bring to life even more. The event featured a variety of mediums including installation art, sculpture, photography, painting and video projection come of which covered hot topics such as cultural appropriation.
“I want to curate and make art but also have a way to support,” said Hayes. “Whether that’s shining a light on somebody or being like, ‘yo that painting is coming home with me!’ so that cycle can keep going, which I think can be hard in Savannah because of there being so many artists and so few buyers.”
Almost every artist in the four publications was featured in the exhibition. Despite the stress of putting together the show and managing all of the finances and logistics, when things goes well and people enjoy the experience, Hayes is reminded of why they began the magazine.
“This is what I’m really signing up for. This is what I actually want my whole life to be — art and for art and through art and sharing art,” said Hayes.
In terms of the role SCAD plays in the Savannah art community, Hayes is interested in how SCAD and the already present art community of Savannah are intertwining.
“SCAD is like this bank of insanely talented and enthusiastic young people that haven’t had to necessarily cut their teeth in the professional world of art yet… It’d be awesome if Savannah could expand enough to house who it’s developing,” remarked Hayes.
The event took place at the Starland Dairy Farm Building on DeSoto Avenue. “I’ve always had a big crush on that space it’s just so bizarre; green tile and this rolling brick floor,” Hayes said.
Hayes hopes to continue to travel but call Savannah her permanent home. In regards to the magazine, Hayes sees it as something that will continue for a while and hopefully increase in quality.
“Right now they’re professionally printed but they’re magazines and I want them to eventually be art objects or having elements that are art inside of them where you want to frame everything,” said Hayes.
For more information on House of Hayes magazine visit their website or Facebook page.
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- “Facade” by Chris D’Antonio
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- “Soundwave Sculpture #1, #2, and #3” by Kirchin Weston
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- “I’ve done nothing wrong” by Maggie Hayes
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- “Papa Hemingway” by Maggie Hayes
Asli Shebe is a senior writing major from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She began working for District in 2014 as a staff writer, then copy editor, A&E editor, Chief Assignment editor and finally, Editor-in-Chief in 2017. Asli currently holds the record for obtaining the most job titles during her time at District. When she’s not writing for District you can find her biking around the Historic District of Savannah at odd hours of the day.
