Cory Bennett’s Canvas of Many Colors

What role do you think public art plays in the community?

Public art plays a huge role in the community because it creates ownership of a place. A lot of spaces, especially new spaces that we’re seeing — for example, in Seattle, where it’s almost being gentrified. Obviously, the town is old; it needs to be revamped and rebuilt, but a lot of the time when we do that, we’re getting rid of a lot of the culture and the heritage that has been there for a long time. I think by doing public murals and public art, you’re inviting the community to voice their passions, their beliefs, and it’s giving them the opportunity to own those spaces.

Your work incorporates elements such as old maps and sheets of music. Can you tell us about the significance behind those elements in your work?

When I started using the maps, I noticed people would really look closer into the artwork and be, like, “Oh, I’ve been there before. I know that place. I recognize that,” and so it’s really like a nostalgia thing. It really turned the page when I started seeing it as a reflection of myself. I collect maps of places that I’ve been, and I will highlight paths on the map that I’ve taken, or a road trip that I’ve been on, or sheet music from songs that have a deep, rich meaning to me. So now I feel like when you look at a piece of my art, not only are you seeing the expression of paint, but then you can see a little bit deeper into who I am by connecting the dots of the maps and the paper collages.

Who are some artists who have inspired you and your work?

In the last few years, I feel like I was doing a lot of icons and heroes who had passed already. But then I thought to myself, “I have a lot of heroes that are living, that are still contributing to the arts. I should really start doing more portraits of living legends.” I’d been listening to this Seattle guitarist — his name is Jimmy “Scratch” James — and he’s played in a lot of amazing local bands, like The True Loves. I did this portrait of Jimmy, and I posted it on social media, and he reached out to me. He Facetimed me and just turned out to be the nicest guy ever.

What a connection! Tell us more.

He then came to a show I was in at the Northwest African American Museum, where I had the painting on display, and we were able to connect. It was so serendipitous because a lot of times when I’m putting the sheet music and stuff (into the art), it’s more about me, and who I am. He’s looking at the portrait, and I can see, almost, like a tear coming out of his eye. I had been using a seed catalog with flowers and putting that in the background, and there was a specific flower that he saw in there and was, like, “I go to my mother’s grave every week, and I put tulips on her grave, and those are the exact ones that I put on her grave every week.” I’m, like, “Wow, what are the chances that those types of things just seem to align?”

You are in the early stages of planning a youth mural festival. What can you tell us about that?

The Agency just moved into a new space, and the building needs a mural on the outside. We said, “Why not invite the community out to do this abstract background?” This is especially geared toward kids’ programs at the YMCA or local elementary schools to invite kids to come and partake in making this background, so they can understand that art does belong outside. It does belong in public spaces, and being an artist is a career path. It is a thing that people value, and everyone has this uniqueness. Our goal is to broaden that and have it be a citywide thing where we’re doing closer to 10 murals. But it’s also giving artists, such as myself, the opportunity to inspire the youth and to teach them the ways of doing art. Art is such a therapy for me. I want to share that therapy with the youth, giving them ways to express themselves.

What advice do you have for youth who want to become artists?