Charles Beneke

Title: Professor, Printmaking Coordinator
Dept/Program: Printmaking
Office: Folk Hall 166
Phone: 330–972–2565
Email: beneke@uakron.edu
Website: http://www.charlesbeneke.com

Biography

Professor Charles Beneke is the printmaking area coordinator for Myers School of Art. He teaches all levels of printmaking. He earned a B.A. in Art and Psychology from Kenyon College in 1990. After working in graphic design in New York City, he attended The University of Connecticut where he received his Masters in Fine Arts in Printmaking and Mixed-media in 1996. He was the 2008-10 president of the Mid America Print Council and now serves as the design liaison for The Mid America Print Council Journal. He is a Member-at-Large on the board of the Southern Graphics Council International for which he also serves as the Awards Committee chair. He is on the advisory board of The Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio.

Beneke’s artwork addresses global warming. “Our current climate change is the result of accumulation—of carbon and greenhouse gasses, actions and inactions, passive disregard and concerted neglect.” Using a broad range of print media, painting, video, and installation, he urges viewers to consider our accumulated effects and question when we will take responsibility for how we are changing the world by changing our behavior?

Among numerous collections in which Beneke’s work is included are La Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid, Spain; The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt; The Frederick and Laura Ruth Bidwell, Peninsula, Ohio; and The Turner Print Museum, California State University Chico, Chico California. Recent exhibitions include The East Coast Screenprint Biennial, Arts Center of the Capitol Region, Troy, NY; OH Letterpress, The Morgan Conservatory, Cleveland, Ohio; DI CARTA / PAPERMADE Biennial International Papermade Art Work Exhibition, Palazzo Fogazzaro, Schio, Italy; Under Pressure: Contemporary Printmaking and Changing Landscapes, Meramec Gallery of Contemporary Art, St. Louis Community College, St. Louis, Missouri; and Charles Beneke: Accumulation, an Installation in Two Parts, The Lost Coast Culture Machine, Fort Bragg, California.           

Education

MFA University of Connecticut, BA Kenyon College