Painting by: William Heydt

Biography, AKA BEN BUTLER

Ben Butler was born in Philadelphia in 1943 and spent his youth in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia and Chicago. He graduated from Penn State University in 1967 with a BS in Art Education.

He began his art career as a silver smith in the mid and late 1970’s and early 1980’s in both Milford PA and Newport RI, designing and fabricating unique jewelry pieces sold to specialized markets and individuals. He began as a full-time artist in 1988 and continues to the present, working in sculpture and painting/drawing. He has displayed in numerous one man shows including Island Arts Gallery, Salve Regina University, The Museum of Work and Culture, Little Compton Commons, all in Rhode Island, and at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and the Laconia Gallery in Boston MA. His illustrations in print, Passion: A Parallel Collaboration Between Artist and Poet with poet Susan Dye was featured at the Redwood Library and Athenaeum in Newport RI and included in the Library of Congress in Washington DC. Ben also had numerous one man and group artist openings at his gallery and studio on in Newport.

Outside of his career in art, Ben was founder of the Orson Welles Film School in Cambridge MA in the late 1960’s and worked as a sound engineer on the film Godard in America (1970), a documentary depicting director Jean-Luc Godard’s tour in America. He has lived and travelled extensively in Europe and Asia. In his pursuit of Buddhist teachings, Ben lived in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, India in 1971-72, where he was part of a small group of westerners studying with the venerable Geshe Rabten Rinpoche under the auspices of H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama and was accepted at the Central Tibetan Library for instruction in Dharma and Buddhist philosophy.

Ben continues working and living in Port Jervis, New York as part of the art community.

“What a long, strange trip it has been.”

CV

Ben Butler, more recent showings:

 Museum of Work and Culture, Woonsocket RI

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Dartmouth MA (one-man show)

Laconia Gallery, Boston MA

Island Arts Gallery, Paint for Me, Recent works by Ben Butler and Sasha Kouznetsov, Newport RI

Salve Regina University, Newport RI (one-man show)

Little Compton Commons, Little Compton, RI

Redwood Library and Athenaeum, Newport RI

Library of Congress, Washington, DC, (Passions: A Parallel Collaboration Between Artist and Poet, Ben Butler and Susan Dye)

Up Front Exhibition Gallery, Port Jervis, New York

The ARTery Gallery, Milford Pa

Numerous one-man and multiple artists exhibitions and openings, Ben Butler Gallery, Casino Terrace, Newport RI