This biography from the Archives of AskART:
| William C. Bendig (1927-)
He was described as “a new Renaissance man” by Guggenheim Museum Director Emeritus, Thomas H. Messer, long before the phrase became a cliché. Other notables have praised him for his ability to reach out and inspire his associates as well as those who have attended his art seminars.
In any event, Bendig is no stranger to the world of art, business or publishing. For over three decades he dealt successfully with dozens of corporate heads, prominent editors and museum executives. Editor-in-Chief for a quarter century of the international art journal, theARTgallery, he traveled around the world to meet everyone from corporate executives to Heads of State.
His career began early. At 17 he was nationally acclaimed for his youthful success as founding editor of the Erie, (Pennsylvania) Tribune. The 1949 sale of that Sunday newspaper financed Bendig's college career at Hartford's Trinity College, where he graduated with honors. He spent two years of private school teaching before graduate study at the University of London. Returning home, in 1957 he founded theARTgallery Magazine, which when it ceased publication in 1982, following a destructive flood, had attained the second largest American readership in its field.
Active in civic affairs, he was president, for three years, of the Trinity College Alumni Association of New London, Connecticut, an Artist Member of the Essex Art Association since 1956 (past VP), a Trustee of the Ivoryton Public Library, a Founding Trustee of the Ivoryton Playhouse Foundation (where such stars as Katherine Hepburn and Marlon Brando began their careers), and he has served on several Town Commissions. As a member of the Vestry of All Saints' Church for over 25 years, in 1987, he designed and helped fabricate the church's stained glass rose window, The Pentecost Rose.
The following summary of William Bendig's activities since his youth aptly illustrates his remarkable qualifications as an expert in a number of cultural areas:
In Music: Bendig was Program Manager for symphony conductor, Fritz Mahler in 1947 and 1948 and he is one of the three founders of the National Symphonic Choir. A singer, Bendig admits pride in being responsible for the first presentation in America (1953) of Vivaldi's "Gloria" at New York's Town Hall with the Bryn Mawr Choir and the Trinity College Glee Club, of which he was manager.
In Theater: His initiation was in 1947 as Program Manager for the Erie Playhouse, one of the oldest stock companies in America. A decade later he became involved in the activities of the Ivoryton Playhouse and is the biographer of the late Milton Stiefel, its founder. He was one of the Founding Trustees of the Ivoryton Playhouse Foundation.
In Art: For twenty-six years he was editor and publisher of theARTgallery, the international magazine of art and culture. His art and architecture seminars were highly praised. For a decade beginning in 1983, Bendig conducted eminently successful week-long seminars in which he gave hundreds of people a new and dynamic approach to understanding the importance of art, architecture and design in their daily living.
Listed for many years in Who's Who in America, as well as Who's Who in American Art, he has been called "the Dean of Art Editors" by virtue of his accomplishments in furthering art appreciation and promoting artists and special exhibitions, no art editor has had a longer tenure with an art journal. His work has been commended by such political luminaries as Gerald Ford, Nelson Rockefeller, Nancy Kefauver, Nancy Hanks, and Joan Mondale. Scores of Congressmen and 67 members of the United States Senate were regular readers of his magazine.
Bendig arranged for, catalogued, and interpreted, the valuable archive of theARTgallery which the Hollycroft Foundation presented to the Archives of American Art-Smithsonian Institution. His extensive 7,000 volume art research library is now under the care of the Hollycroft Foundation.
During the last five decades Bendig has lectured at colleges, universities and museums and recorded several addresses for the Voice of America. He delivered the esteemed Murdock Lecture at Wichita, (Kansas) following such distinguished presenters as Sir Herbert Read and Vincent Price.
Among the national exhibitions for which he has been juror are: the New Orleans International, the Kansas Annual, the Chautauqua Annual, the Silvermine New England and the Virginia Beach Biennial as well as participating in selections for the Corcoran and Whitney Biennials.
In Autumn of 1991, Director J. Carter Brown invited Bendig to lecture at the National Gallery of Art. Included among the many museums where he has lectured are: the Albright-Knox, the Corcoran, the Detroit Institute of Art, the New Orleans, the Phoenix and the Museums of San Francisco. He has conducted symposia and seminars at Cranbrook, Miami University (Ohio), New York University and Trinity College.
In 1991 The Hollycroft Foundation was founded by Bendig. It is an institution committed to developing a public awareness of cultural values through a wide range of projects from lectures, seminars, multi-media curricula and especially sculpture exhibitions
"The Hollycroft International", a 1996 exhibition of outdoor sculpture by world famed sculptors from twelve states and three nations, brought fame to the fledgling foundation of which Bendig is president. In 1997 he curated an extensive outdoor show titled "The Ivoryton Mile" for which Connecticut's Governor issued a proclamation declaring a special statewide sculpture week to honor the Hollycroft Foundation.. Such an extensive outdoor sculpture exhibition had never before been presented in the United States.
That same year Bendig was appointed Executive Director for Development by.the Board of Directors of the prestigious Sculptors Guild. Founded sixty years ago it has had many of the world's most famous artists among its elected members.
In 1998, he mounted the "Hollycroft Encore -Invitational '98" with thirty works by world-renowned sculptors in the pond-side gardens of the Foundation headquarters in Ivoryton.
In 2003, William Bendig was presented with the “Arts Outstanding” award at the annual ceremony of The Arts Council of New Haven.
Currently, Bendig is Curator for two extensive year-long outdoor sculpture exhibitions named The Sculpture Mile at the Connecticut towns of Madison and Ivoryton. During the past decade the Mile has had exhibits in over a half-dozen Connecticut communities.
In Travel: A world traveler since 1950, Bendig has a thorough knowledge of more than a dozen nations. In addition to extended tours of India, Sri Lanka, and throughout the Middle East; he has lived in Africa (Botswana and South Africa), Denmark, Great Britain, Greece, and Portugal. Most recently he conducted a four month research visit to Greece for future lectures.
Possessing a special sensitivity to the non-urban, non-New York mentality, he has been well acquainted with the most prominent museum-personnel on both sides of the Atlantic. He has traveled to every region of America and his knowledge of much of Europe is unsurpassed.
In February and March 1988, Bendig traveled throughout South Africa on assignment for Harpers Magazine before being appointed cultural consultant to the Africa Arts Foundation in Botswana. As a Life Trustee of that foundation, he founded the scholarly journal, Botswana Review, becoming its publisher and editor-in-chief. He also launched Kuwait In Brief, the official monthly of the State of Kuwait, in 1992.
Diverse Interests: As an active member of the Naval Submarine League he frequently spoke at the graduation ceremonies at the Basic Enlisted Submarine School (BESS) at the U.S.Navy Submarine Base in Groton/New London. He was honored in 1990 to have been invited to inspect the submarine fleet of South Africa at Simonstown, the world's southernmost naval base near the Cape of Good Hope.
He was general editor for an inter-disciplinary teaching guide based on submarines and submersibles in cooperation with the Submarine Force Library and Nautilus Museum and the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Bill has not only gained a reputation as a natural raconteur, but has surprised his friends with his ability as a gourmet cook. He has become known for his writing about oenology and his lively wine tastings have been a delight for neophytes and connoisseurs alike. He has lived in Ivoryton, Connecticut for the past fifty-four years.
Information from the artist, provided by Frederick H. Hockla, The Hollycroft Foundation. |
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