50 YEARS OF
THE BENTON
For the past 50 years, The William Benton Museum of Art on the Storrs campus has been Connecticut’s State Art Museum. In that time it has amassed a permanent collection of more than 6,500 paintings, drawings, watercolors, prints, photographs, and sculptures, while serving as host to curated and traveling exhibitions dating from the 15th through the 21st centuries.
Exhibitions at The Benton have included works by Ansel Adams, George Bellows, Mary Cassatt, Salvador Dali, Guerrilla Girls, Winslow Homer, Käthe Kollwitz, Robert Motherwell, Norman Rockwell, Auguste Rodin, Cynthia Reeves Snow, and Frank Stella, among many others. The Museum’s array of special events includes gallery talks, campus art walks, academic and nonacademic discussions, musical performances, and family programs. — KENNETH BEST
In honor of The Benton’s fiftieth anniversary, we’ve culled photographs of pieces from favorite visiting exhibitions.
Below, find examples of pieces added to the museum’s permanent collection, one for each year from 1967 to 2016.
September 1974 I was a UCONN freshman, I had a work-study allotment as part of my financial aid package. I went to the Benton museum to apply for a position that was opened. I did not get the position and I never went back to the Benton (even though for four years I passed the museum on my way to classes) until approximately 2009 when on a very cold January day I happened to be in Storrs. The museum had a very interesting exhibit on Japanese Americans and WWII. At that time I realized I missed the opportunity to have experienced many exhibits that the museum had presented over that 35 year time span. I encourage everyone not to make that same mistake. Visit and appreciate the fine museum you have at your doorstep.
I have fond memories of the Benton Museum. It was always a quiet place of refuge, contemplation, and art.