Spring Break
Benton Museum Celebrates Namesake's 107th Birthday
Sarah Kopman-Fried
Issue date: 4/2/07 Section: Focus
For Billy Benton's 107th birthday, the William Benton Museum of Art hosted a series of festivities to honor its namesake. Born April 1, 1900, William Benton was "one of the few people fortunate enough to be born on April Fool's Day," according to Benton Museum director Steve Kern. In keeping with the spirit of the day, the birthday activities included games like "Pin the Birthday Hat on Billy's Head" and a "Quips, Quotes and Queries" contest. There was also a complimentary cake for all who attended.
Jeanne Mogayzel, the manager of retail operations at the Benton Museum, said this is the second time that the museum has hosted such a celebration. Mogayzel said that, in addition to the free cake, $50 gift certificates would be awarded to the winners of the "Quips, Quotes and Queries" contest. The contest, which took place in March, featured two famous prints. Contest entrants had to come up with a quip, quote or query to be used as a subtitle for each print.
Mogayzel also brought balloons and other decorations to help decorate the museum.
"Although the festival has been advertised in our brochures and we passed out invitations at a few events, we are also hoping to attract more people. We hope that anyone who's out and wants some free cake will stop by," she said.
Another activity being offered during the birthday party was the Open Studio art class. The class meets for two hours every other Sunday and is instructed by first year graduate student Patrick Hammie.
"The class itself is free but participants do need to bring their own materials. Students of all skill levels are invited to join us and you can choose how much instruction you want. Sometimes we have as many as 15 students come for the class, but we're really hoping to make it grow by drawing more attention to the opportunity," Hammie said.
Kern agreed, saying, "William Benton is our namesake. We are hoping to use his birthday as a vehicle to draw attention to the museum."
Kern also spoke about how proud the museum was to be named after someone of Benton's stature. According to Kern, Benton began life working on Madison Avenue and eventually becoming extremely wealthy. He later went on to become President of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. In his later years Benton was also a senator whose politics pitted him against the infamous Senator Joseph McCarthy. Benton was actually voted out of office for taking the then-unpopular position of confronting McCarthy directly.
In addition to all of Benton's other achievements, the museum is named after him because "Benton was a great patron of the arts. William was known for having great collections and especially for supporting the modernist painters. Many of the collections housed in this museum were actually donated by Benton himself. Thus, there are reasons to celebrate Benton at every level and we must remember him as a great philanthropist as well," Kern said.
Jeanne Mogayzel, the manager of retail operations at the Benton Museum, said this is the second time that the museum has hosted such a celebration. Mogayzel said that, in addition to the free cake, $50 gift certificates would be awarded to the winners of the "Quips, Quotes and Queries" contest. The contest, which took place in March, featured two famous prints. Contest entrants had to come up with a quip, quote or query to be used as a subtitle for each print.
Mogayzel also brought balloons and other decorations to help decorate the museum.
"Although the festival has been advertised in our brochures and we passed out invitations at a few events, we are also hoping to attract more people. We hope that anyone who's out and wants some free cake will stop by," she said.
Another activity being offered during the birthday party was the Open Studio art class. The class meets for two hours every other Sunday and is instructed by first year graduate student Patrick Hammie.
"The class itself is free but participants do need to bring their own materials. Students of all skill levels are invited to join us and you can choose how much instruction you want. Sometimes we have as many as 15 students come for the class, but we're really hoping to make it grow by drawing more attention to the opportunity," Hammie said.
Kern agreed, saying, "William Benton is our namesake. We are hoping to use his birthday as a vehicle to draw attention to the museum."
Kern also spoke about how proud the museum was to be named after someone of Benton's stature. According to Kern, Benton began life working on Madison Avenue and eventually becoming extremely wealthy. He later went on to become President of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. In his later years Benton was also a senator whose politics pitted him against the infamous Senator Joseph McCarthy. Benton was actually voted out of office for taking the then-unpopular position of confronting McCarthy directly.
In addition to all of Benton's other achievements, the museum is named after him because "Benton was a great patron of the arts. William was known for having great collections and especially for supporting the modernist painters. Many of the collections housed in this museum were actually donated by Benton himself. Thus, there are reasons to celebrate Benton at every level and we must remember him as a great philanthropist as well," Kern said.
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