Marnie Benney named new PCA&D Gallery Director

Pennsylvania College of Art & Design has announced that Marnie Benney has joined the college in the position of Gallery Director, according to an announcement by Marc Torick, PCA&D’s Academic Dean.

Benney will oversee PCA&D’s Main Gallery, curating exhibitions by nationally renowned artists whose work will enhance the PCA&D student experience and serve as a community cultural resource. In addition, Benney will assist the college on special projects, focusing on relationships within the community to increase PCAD’s participation and visibility.

Benney said, “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to serve as PCA&D’s Gallery Director.  Lancaster is a community where creative practitioners and art enthusiasts can flourish and grow. As such, my hope is to extend and deepen the ways in which the Gallery serves not only the PCA&D community but Lancaster county, the Northeast region and beyond.  I look forward to identifying collaborators across the College and in the community to fully activate the gallery, nurturing a dynamic, innovative and inclusive space for considerations of the visual.”

Benney’s curatorial experience includes serving as Head Curator for the SciArt Center in New York City, NY; contributing curator for the Sandbox Initiative, Chestertown, MD, and the Imaging Research Center at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD.  She has also curated independent projects such as Nature in the Dark, an international, site specific conservation exhibition, held at The National Aquarium, the Station North Arts and Entertainment District’s Ynot Lot in Baltimore, MD and in several locations in Melbourne, AU. In addition, Benney is co-founder of the SeaMuse project and has served as an art consultant for the National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD. She has also served as a selection jury member for John Hopkins University’s Research Remix exhibition in Baltimore, MD.

Benney earned her MFA in Curatorial Practice from the Maryland Institute College of Art, in Baltimore, MD. She received a BA, Media Studies & Environmental Studies, from Pitzer College, Claremont, CA. Before launching her career as an independent curator, Benney developed a deep understanding of the creative market through her work at The National Geographic Society, Anthropologie, lululemon athletica and Ogilvy Public Relations.

Exhibits in PCA&D’s Main Gallery, curated by our gallery director, bring works by nationally and internationally recognized artists to Lancaster.  Upcoming exhibitions scheduled for the 2016-2017 year are: The Quantified Self, January 16 – March 10, featuring the work of data artists Laurie Frick and Katie Lewis; Creativity of Consciousness, March 17 – April 28, featuring digital artist China Blue; the annual Senior Show, May 5 – May 27; and Selected Works from the BFA Program, June 2 – August 4.