| ARTIST BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: | Although born on the Rama Ojibwa Reserve at Orillia, Ontario, Melvyn Lance Benson lived in Alberta for fifteen years between 1970 and 1989, residing at the Maskwacis (formerly known as Hobbema) Reserve. He attended Toronto’s Central Technical Art Institute (1971 - 1974) and graduated with a Diploma in Art. The Alberta Foundation for the Arts includes one of his works in its collection, which bears the succinct title of “Buffalos on Plains.” The 1989 scratchboard dichromatically thunders with the power of its subject matter. In the foreground, four of the great beasts stand sentinel around a reclining fifth; their mighty frames and horns rise like pillars holding the weight of the infinite prairie sky above them.
Benson has participated in exhibitions, including with the Alberta Native Arts and Crafts Society and the Peace Hills Trust Art Competition, the latter from which he won first and second prizes. A range of private and corporate collections house Benson’s work, including those of the Peace Hills Trust, Samson Band, Ermineskin Band, Louie Ball Band, the Alberta Native Affairs Secretariat, and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada Aboriginal Art Collection. |