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NAVIGATION

HeARTbeats: Will Benson

Screen Shot 2015-05-14 at 9.18.31 AMWill Benson applied for NMSA’s Visual Arts program as an eighth grader, after his mother heard about the school from her friend (and current NMSA science teacher) Acacia McCombs.

“I was raised in visual arts,” says Will. “My dad is a painter, so ever since I could walk I’ve been drawing and painting…my whole family is a bunch of craftsmen from Newport, Rhode Island — we’re all stonecutters.”

With art such a consistent influence on him through his early life, he was eager to develop his skills. “Coming here, I’ve just improved a lot on the skills that I had; I mean, really improved,” he says. “I’ve met a lot of great people and artists in the community who I’ve worked with, amazing crafters — this school has given me the opportunity to just meet these people.”  Will has honed in on and developed specialized skills in pen-and-ink drawings, particularly very linear drawings with crosshatching and lots of detail! “Technically there’s no such thing as a straight line in life,” he smiles, “but all my work revolves around linework.”

Working with the instructors here at NMSA, and spending a couple of years on the fundamentals of visual arts and different types of artistic media, he was glad to be able to explore a wide range of art forms, but loves to have been able to find the type of art he is most passionate about, and find support and expertise in that area from his instructors.

Next year, he will attend Oregon College of Art & Craft in Portland, Oregon. “I always planned to go to art school, even as a kid!” he says.  Many of his family members attended Rhode Island School of Design, and he considered that school, but opted for the opposite coast. “It’s a really funky little school in the hills of Portland, and it’s a fantastic program that they have there.  I’m really looking forward to going there and expanding my artwork and career as an artist!”