Maureen Bennett: Figures & Foliage Exhibition

Even before you enter the Oyster Point Hotel, you’ll see Maureen Bennett’s name on the door. She is a 2021 Artist in Residence at the Hotel and her solo exhibition: "Maureen Bennett: Figures & Foliage" runs through Sunday, May 2, 2021. Please feel free to visit the exhibition at any time as the Hotel is always open.

“Love That Girl 1” which you’ll notice as you check into the Hotel, is from Maureen Bennett’s shop girl series which evolved from her job as an art director at Allied Graphic Arts, and as a freelancer. Many of the images in this beguiling series started as photos of a teenage model.

Another piece, “Shop Girl 1,” has a band saying "Survival Guide" hugging the model's head. The Survival Guide is what you needed to know when you were buying a diamond. “I-800-OFF,” refers to one of Maureen’s former client’s phone number. That client was a well-known Fifth Avenue jeweler. All of these ladies reference the lap of luxury or is it “Lapse of Luxury,” another piece in the series.

As you walk deeper into the Hotel, perhaps to dine in the Pearl Atrium dining room, you’ll notice some woodland scenes - “Beyond the Backyard” - a large pastel painting under glass, being one of them. This is a warm and welcoming piece, but her graphite tree series on the second floor present another perspective.

Maureen was selected as a 2021 Artist in Residence by Kevin Barry, the Oyster Point Hotel Vice President and Ellen Martin, the Oyster Point Hotel Curator. As an AIR, Maureen’s work is hanging in the fifth floor guest rooms of the Hotel for the entire year. Private room tours may be arranged by contacting Ellen at exhibitions@mollypitcher-oysterpoint.com.

The live opening for the exhibit was held Friday, April 9th from 6 - 8 p.m.

Maureen Bennett has had an interesting life. She is an artist, but she is also a community activist. She has been awarded numerous grants to support art as a transformative force for social change. She designs and implements creativity workshops about education, earth awareness, wellness, nonviolence and peace. Maureen created the global traveling art project, Peace By Piece, which is ongoing. The project involves thousands of participants creating canvases and writings that express personal statements about peace. She is also the recipient of the NYC Circle of Mercy Award.

Read on to learn more about Maureen and her accomplishments:
Bennett’s solo exhibitions include:
“Faces That Transcend”, at the Leonard J. Hansen Art Gallery of the Englewood Public Library, Englewood, NJ, 2016
“Nature Observed”, at the Edna Kawulitzki Art Gallery of the Tenafly Public Library, Tenafly, NJ, 2015; and
“Transcendent Faces”, at the Borghi Fine Art Gallery, in Englewood, NJ, 2011.

Her work has been included in numerous prestigious group exhibitions including:
· The “Black & White Show”, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Brooklyn, NY September 2020;
· "Monochrome 2020", an online art exhibition at the J Mane Gallery, in which she won Third Place.
· “Drawn From Life 2”, at the Upstream Gallery, Hastings-On-Hudson, NY, August 2020
· Monmouth Museum Juried Photography Exhibition, Lincroft, NJ, 2019
· “Art & Soul, Dress For Success Hudson County” at Mana Contemporary, in Jersey City, NJ, 2016
· "The Small Works Show", at Boltax Gallery in Shelter Island, NY, 2011

Bennett is a grant recipient from Susan K. Black Foundation, Bronx Council on the Arts, Northern Valley Educational Foundation and Vermont Studio Center Residency. She’s been a Teaching Artist/Creative Consultant Teaching Artist Residency at the Dwight-Englewood School in Englewood, NJ, and the Academy of OLMC in Tenafly, NJ, from 2016-20. She’s a Teaching Artist and Creative Consultant at the Mercy Center in the South Bronx, NYC, from 1993 - to the present.

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