Pittsburgh photographer is The Westmoreland's new resident artist

Gavin Benjamin, the new artist in residence at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, has found a creative haven in Pittsburgh.

The former New York City resident said the Steel City’s affordability gives him the opportunity to live in what he calls “Gavin’s bubble.”

“It’s the only place I found that gave me the space and time to work in the way I want to work,” he said.

According to his website, his work “combines original analog photography and appropriated images with collage, paint, and varnish to create rich and luxurious works that call back to baroque traditions while incorporating elements of current culture to provoke, critique, and explore.”

Benjamin’s residency at the Greensburg museum begins in early April.

During his residency, Benjamin said he will use the museum’s collection as inspiration for a series of portraits of African Americans and immigrants from Greensburg and surrounding communities.

The project will include collaboration with other artists, he said.

Neil Mello will create costumes, props and sets for the photos. Other collaborators will include Demeatria Bocella, founder of FashionAFRICANA; and Brett Yasko, a graphic designer and assistant teaching professor in the Carnegie Mellon University School of Design.

“After meeting with Gavin and learning about his practice, we thought he would be a great fit for the Artist-In-Residency program,” said Anne Kraybill, the museum’s director/CEO. “His ideas to use our collection as inspiration and to engage the community directly as the photographic subject advance our work to reach out to all residents of Westmoreland County to deepen our relationships.”

An exhibition of works created during the residency is planned for 2022, Benjamin said.

Born in Guyana, Benjamin moved to New York City with his family as a child. He earned a master of fine arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Benjamin interned with the late Arnold Newman, known for his environmental photographs of politicians, artists and celebrities. His freelance photography work has included stints with Kenneth Cole productions and Esquire and Good Housekeeping magazines.

Benjamin first came to Pittsburgh with a former partner, who had a residency in the city. He returned on his own about 20 years ago and lives in Lawrenceville.

His recent solo exhibitions include “Downtown Renown: Pittsburgh Sports Greats,” 2020-21, a public art project presented by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership; and “Heads of State,” 2020, at the BoxHeart Gallery in Bloomfield.

The Westmoreland is partnering with BOOM Concepts on a multi-year project that focuses on engaging Black and marginalized artists through the Artist-in-Residency program that includes “insightful community enrichment programming,” according to the museum. Launched in September, the program is supported by The Fisher Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation.

Boom CONCEPTS is a Pittsburgh creative hub “dedicated to the development of artist and creative entrepreneurs representing marginalized voices,” according to its website.