Hayes received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1953, and a M.F.A.

degree from Indiana University Bloomington in 1955 where he studied with David Smith.

In 2007, he was conferred an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Albertus Magnus College.

Hayes resided in Coventry, Connecticut, where he had 54 acres of land to exhibit his works[1] on the grounds of the David Hayes Sculpture Fields, an open air art museum open to the public.

[3] [4] In 2021, Hayes' work and grounds were the subject of an hour-long television broadcast shown on some 200 PBS stations nationwide produced by Legacy List with Matt Paxton.