Rory Hayes (he/they) is the Public Programs Manager at One Institute.

Prior to joining One Institute, Rory worked as Coordinator of Community Programs at Occidental College for the Center for Community Based Learning and the OXY ARTS gallery. Rory helped the college maintain community relationships on and off campus by facilitating all community initiatives, educational programs, and engaging with faculty who teach community-based courses. Before working at Occidental College, Rory worked as a Getty Marrow Undergraduate Intern for artworxLA where they solidified their passion for accessible programming and art education.

Rory graduated from Occidental College with a BA in Art & Art History. His academic research was primarily on contemporary digital media topics.

As an artist, Rory has a social practice heavily intertwined with his teaching philosophy and personal manifesto. Not only does he strongly believe in revolutionary art access, he hopes to continue offering free or low cost skill share workshops for his community in his spare time. Rory has a background as a zine artist but also connects to printmaking, mixed media, performance, and fiber arts. He was featured in the Inaugural Black Zine Festival in 2024.

Rory is dedicated to creating space for underrepresented communities. He is passionate about critical service learning and relational models for community engagement. They are driven by their desire to create equitable access at cultural institutions so that the generations behind them can feel represented in ways he wasn’t.

Rory currently lives in Los Angeles with their silly calico cat, Olive Oil.