Monotype Printmaking Workshop Okoboji, Iowa June 2016 (photo by Jennifer Melton)
Born in South Dakota and raised in Mississippi, Benny enjoys a type of dual-citizenship in regions of the country which are rich in both natural beauty and people that share the values of an agrarian society. Not surprisingly, he enjoys painting landscapes, people and people in the landscape.
His first formal art lessons were arranged by Malcolm Norwood at Delta State University in Cleveland, MS in the fall of 1976. Benny set his sites on an Art Education career and transferred, in the Fall of 1978, to Mississippi College in Clinton, MS. He studied drawing, painting and sculpture under Dr. Samuel Marshall Gore until the Spring of 1980 before taking a "full time" job as a lab technician for a large chemical manufacturer.
After a 30-year hiatus from Art School, Benny dropped out of work to return to college. He took several hours of undergraduate work to update his transcript and was accepted into the graduate program for painting at the University of Mississippi in 2011. Painting professor Philip Jackson and the Art Staff at Ole Miss provided essential tools for personal and professional development that went far beyond Benny's original understanding of what it takes to become a professional artist.
Benny has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management (2005) from Belhaven University in Jackson, MS and was employed in Chemical Manufacturing in Yazoo City, MS and Sioux City, Iowa before returning to school and receiving an M.F.A in Painting (2014) at the University of Mississippi. He taught classes at Ole Miss in painting, drawing and two dimensional design. Benny taught Drawing at Memphis College of Art before taking a high school job teaching Art in his home town of Yazoo City. He paints in his home studio and in the local landscape of Mississippi. In his spare time Benny, works as a Training Coordinator at a Manufacturing Facility in Yazoo City. He is represented by Oxford Tree House Gallery http://www.oxfordtreehousegallery.com/. His artwork can be seen in various venues in and around Oxford, Mississippi.
His first formal art lessons were arranged by Malcolm Norwood at Delta State University in Cleveland, MS in the fall of 1976. Benny set his sites on an Art Education career and transferred, in the Fall of 1978, to Mississippi College in Clinton, MS. He studied drawing, painting and sculpture under Dr. Samuel Marshall Gore until the Spring of 1980 before taking a "full time" job as a lab technician for a large chemical manufacturer.
After a 30-year hiatus from Art School, Benny dropped out of work to return to college. He took several hours of undergraduate work to update his transcript and was accepted into the graduate program for painting at the University of Mississippi in 2011. Painting professor Philip Jackson and the Art Staff at Ole Miss provided essential tools for personal and professional development that went far beyond Benny's original understanding of what it takes to become a professional artist.
Benny has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management (2005) from Belhaven University in Jackson, MS and was employed in Chemical Manufacturing in Yazoo City, MS and Sioux City, Iowa before returning to school and receiving an M.F.A in Painting (2014) at the University of Mississippi. He taught classes at Ole Miss in painting, drawing and two dimensional design. Benny taught Drawing at Memphis College of Art before taking a high school job teaching Art in his home town of Yazoo City. He paints in his home studio and in the local landscape of Mississippi. In his spare time Benny, works as a Training Coordinator at a Manufacturing Facility in Yazoo City. He is represented by Oxford Tree House Gallery http://www.oxfordtreehousegallery.com/. His artwork can be seen in various venues in and around Oxford, Mississippi.
