Seasonal Art of Joan Benjamin on Permanent Display at Southern Vermont College's Greenberg Atrium

September 14, 2011

Southern Vermont College recently unveiled four large murals depicting the four seasons painted by Williamstown abstract artist Joan Benjamin. The work, commissioned by the school earlier this year, is now on permanent display at the school in the Greenberg Atrium. "These seasonal paintings complete the soaring atrium of Hunter Hall and enhance the experience of place,” said SVC President Karen Gross. “Artist Joan Benjamin has captured the beauty of the changing vistas the SVC community experiences across the seasons. She has provided our students with a dramatic set of canvases they can enjoy. What a wonderful gift--a gift that will enrich our space year-in and year-out.”

Benjamin’s abstract paintings and collages have been displayed in galleries from Honolulu to Manhattan. The recipient of an artist-in-residence grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Benjamin studied art at Rochester Institute of Technology, has a B.F.A. from Tyler School of Art, and was enrolled in an M.F.A. from the University of Illinois. Her most recent work, created for SVC, was dedicated to giving the students artwork to ponder in their daily lives. "These paintings, inspired by the unique views from Greenberg Atrium at Hunter Hall, are designed for and meant to be enjoyed by generations of SVC students,” Benjamin said. “It is the opportunity for students to experience art that is most important to me."