Tocqueville Society Live Painting Inner City Baltimore School

Cover of Tocqueville Society's 2018 Book featuring Live Painting by Patricia Bennett

Inset of the Tocqueville Society's 2018 Book

End of Day, Live Painting of Maree Garnett Farring Elementary School Children Playing, photo by Patricia Bennett

Maree Garnett Farring Elementary School Children Playing, painted by Patricia Bennett

The United Way of Central Maryland's Senior Vice President and Chief Principal Gifts Officer Holly Hoey called me in March 2018 to see if I'd be interested in painting children playing on the playground at one of the struggling schools in Baltimore City, a school that the United Way has been involved with, The Maree Garnett Farring Elementary School.

sketch of the playground composition, by Patricia Bennett

I was thrilled and honored to be thought of for this.  The painting of these children playing was going to be used as the cover of the book for the generous people of the Tocqueville Society, a special group of donors to the United Way of Central Maryland.

My homework was to see the playground.  The playground depicted would be at the Boys and Girls Club next to the school, as it was a very nice playground.  Natalie Dixon showed me the area in April.  I took photos and did sketches and figured out a design for the painting which fit the format of the book (the center of the painting was to be the spine of the book, so I made that a pole on the playset, and there needed to be symmetry to the activity in the painting.)


May 3, 2018 was the day.  I arrived around 9:30am and started painting.  I had an umbrella to keep off the sun.  The children arrived with their teachers and Holly from the United Way and ran and played.  It was a very hot day.  They were extremely curious about the painting and enjoyed finding themselves and their classmates in it.

Patricia Bennett painting Maree Garnett Farring Elementary School children playing, photo by Holly Hoey

Patricia Bennett with some of the Maree Garnett Farring Elementary School children depicted in the painting, photo by Holly Hoey

It was a delightful experience for me to meet these children and to be involved in a small way in the wonderful work that the United Way is doing.

Thank you to everyone at the United Way, especially Holly Hoey and Natalie Dixon.  And whoever designed the book is incredibly talented. 



United Way of Central Maryland
1800 Washington Boulevard, Suite 340
Baltimore, MD 21230
Phone: 410-547-8000

Maree Garnett Farring Elementary School
300 Pontiac Ave, Brooklyn, MD  21225, United States

Boys and Girls Club
3560 3rd Street
Brooklyn, Maryland 21225

Gallop to the Garden, Old Line Society at Ladew Topiary Gardens, Concert Live Painting July 17, 2016

Painted for the Old Line Society at Ladew Topiary Gardens "Groovin in the Grass" concert series July 17, 2016.  Painting was auctioned September 16, 2016 to raise money for the Ladew Education Fund.

Ladew Topiary Gardens Concert 2016, 24x30", painted by Patricia Bennett for the Old Line Society

Patricia Bennett painting at Ladew Topiary Gardens Concert, photo by Jeremy Batoff

Process:
Unfamiliar with Ladew, but aware that Gallop to the Garden would involve guests walking from the polo fields to the Barn, I ran to the polo fields and back and determined, with the guidance of Emily Emerick, the Executive Director, that polo, the Barn, and the Sculpture Garden Tour would not work for a live painting: too much movement.  Therefore Ladew Staff set up a tent in the Bowl so I could paint the concert and the estimated 800 guests, due to start at 6pm.  The sun was beating down; without the tent it would have been impossible to paint: Ladew Staff went above and beyond to help me.

After starting the painting at 3, I drove to the adjacent Polo fields to watch part of the exciting Polo match with the Old Line Society.  There I took a few photos, which were later used to add polo players to the painting.  Then, back in the Bowl, I painted until the concert ended at 8pm.

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Old Line Society for raising the funds for the 2013 Artist in Residence Program at Cylburn Arboretum.  As Artist in Residence not only did I find inspiration in the nature and gardens at Cylburn, but I met the people, Karen Smith and Nancy Hill in particular, who make Cylburn what it is.  It was a wonderful life-changing year for me, and the Old Line Society's generosity and philanthropy made it possible.

Address of Ladew Topiary Gardens: 3535 Jarrettsville Pike, Monkton, MD 21111

Website: ladewgardens.com