Brooklyn-based artist
Stephen Bennett has painted larger-than-life portraits of indigenous people since his first trip to Mexico in 1992. While spending that year in a small fishing village on the Yucatan coast, Bennett shared his art supplies with inquisitive youngsters who came to his door. He found that while they liked to emulate his work, he began to integrate their use of bright colors into his own palate. That sparked the evolution of his brilliant, memorable style, which can be seen at his most recent show, “Kinship,” through June 12 in the lobby of the Conde Nast building at 4 Times Square. The exhibition spans 15 years of portraits from Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Malaysia and other countries where Bennett lived for several months among the locals.
As would be expected of a portrait artist, Bennett is drawn to faces. “When I was a kid, I stared at everyone,” he said. By age 12, he was drawing friends and family. He remembers when artists came to his school and he first realized that they were real people, not just “the famous dead men” in books who made art seem off limits. To continue spreading the message, Bennett founded his non-profit, Faces of the World, to lead art workshops in small and resource-poor schools and orphanages around the world. Since its founding 15 years ago, the organization has reached thousands of children in more than 20 countries. Thursday, Bennett will be going to New Orleans to teach portrait painting in schools affected by Hurricane Katrina.
The Conde Nast exhibit was scheduled to coincide with an event the artist would like to highlight: the 7th Session of the Indigenous Issues Forum at the UN, where indigenous leaders from around the globe meet to push for indigenous rights. Bennett’s primary hope is that his portraits will draw attention to the indigenous people he represents. “I am interested in the diversity of the world, which is under threat right now,” he said. “We have to protect these people. They need to be understood before they disappear, and painting is a way to reflect attention to them.” For more info, visit www.theportraitpainter.com.
HONOREES:
A reception to celebrate the election of Lester W. Young, Jr. as regent was held May 1 at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus. Also an associate professor of education at the Brooklyn Campus, Dr. Young has been a respected leader in urban education for four decades. In addition to being a teacher, guidance counselor and principal, he has been a community superintendent of District 13 and a top administrator for the city's Department of Education. The Board of Regents, made up of 12 representatives for individual state districts and four at-large members, presides over the New York State Education Department and the State University of New York. Dr. Young is serving the last two years of a five-year term held by Dr. Adelaide L. Sanford, who retired.
PRO BONO:
Prospect Park Alliance's Playground Committee, co-chaired by Parks Slopers Catherine M. and Mark A. Varous and Nadia and Christian Wallace, is hosting its annual grown-ups party to fundraise for the park's seven award-winning playgrounds on May 16. Proceeds from the "A Night in Venice" silent auction will go toward playground maintenance, equipment replacement and educational programming as well as raising awareness among elected officials. The committee has raised more than $50,000 toward the park's playgrounds since its formation in 2004.
SCHOOL:
Although he has a 3.94 grade point average, political science and music-jazz studies major Jonathan Kuhr of Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus called his selection as valedictorian "a breathtaking surprise." A talented pianist, the Columbus, Ohio, native is a member of the University Honors Program and the winner of the prestigious Center for the Study of the Presidency and the Jeanette K. Watson fellowships. As a Watson fellow, he will work for a community advocacy organization in Kanpur, India, this summer. The salutatorian is Jacqueline Elaine Wright, a B.S./M.S. business student majoring in accounting. At the University’s 78th commencement on May 15, three outstanding Brooklyn Campus graduates will received Distinguished Alumni Awards. Renowned art collector and real estate entrepreneur Mera Rubell of '68 is a partner in Rubell Hotels, LLC, and the Rubell Family Collection. Veteran executive Jack C. Stokes of '73 is manager of media relations at The Associated Press. Business executive Guy E. Marge of '65/'67 is CEO and president of Storm Industries, Inc. Big-name talk show host and political voice Travis Smiley will be the commencement speaker at the 10:15 a.m. ceremony (at the Campus athletic field).
Nine Brooklyn students recently accepted congratulations from Brooklyn D.A. Charles J. Hynes at Seth Low Community Center for winning a youth essay contest he co-sponsored titled “Bridging the Gap: Stop Illegal Guns Together.” The D.A. met with winners Michelle DeJesus, Brandon Hickman, Brianna Hedge, Derrell Robinson, Lenox Bradley, Bryananlt Sledge, Nadasia Durant, Christopher Stewart and Antanique Williams who best answered the question: “If you were the Commanding Officer of PSA #2, what would do to get illegal guns off the streets in your community?” The competition was co-sponsored by New York City Housing Authority, Police Service Area #2 (Brooklyn’s Housing Police), whose commander, Capt. Corey Pegues, was also present.
The St. Francis College Men’s Water Polo team, under Director of Athletics Irma Garcia, is consistently ranked among the best in the nation in the pool, but now the team is top in the classroom too. The Collegiate Water Polo Association has announced that the Terriers have earned the highest team combined grade point average of any reporting water polo squad in the nation with a 3.73 GPA. Major academic institutions ranked at a distance, including Brown (3.40), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (3.35), Stanford (3.34) and Harvard (3.28). Top achievers among the Terriers are Louis Hamwey, Or Gil, Benjamin Ladanyi, Botond Szalma, Dusan Milanovic, Nemanja Savic, Filip Kisdobranski, Nemanja Pucarevic, Predrag Predin, Stefan Gencic and Nikola Djuric.
--Compiled by Caitlin McNamara
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