There is an upcoming retrospective exhibit of the artworks of well known Macon artist Hope Hayes to be held beginning with a reception at 6 pm on Thursday, January 16th at the Plunkett Gallery in the Hardman Hall Fine Arts Building on the Mercer campus. The exhibit will then remain on display for the following 30 days.  It was quite unusual for a woman artist of that era to support her family with her artworks and paid commissions. Ms. Hayes is renowned for her painted furniture, landscapes, still lifes, and especially her portraiture, during a distinguished career lasting from the 1940s until about 1990. She painted the portraits of numerous influential Macon citizens, including Sidney Lanier, Mayor Tracy, believed to be Macon’s first Mayor, Mercer Law School Deans Bootle, O’Neal, and McClain, and Mercer Presidents Gambrell, Harris, Sellers, and Smith, as well as a number of Macon families of that period and their children, including The Rader family, the Barfield family, the Cullen Goolsby family, etc. The Exhibit will be curated by Craig Coleman, the Chairman of the Mercer Art Department.