Biography
Imagine a world of unity
Greta Benavides was born in Denver Colorado. Adopted by a progressive family, she worked on civil rights issues with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez in the Farmworkers Union at a young age with her father. Through this experience and the traumatic events of the Vietnam war, her desire for equality was born. Her talent in the arts help materialize the desire to bring unity and dignity to the viewer through the arts. Using different techniques of colorful images, she hopes to can bring the world a little closer together celebrating culture and the beauty of the world.
From an early age, she began making and selling beautifully woven belts on her Inkle loom, showcasing the creativity and love for the arts. Entering grade school she began painting and learned to use power tools for wood construction. This background gave her the desire to explore more of what the art world had to offer in college.
Earning her Associate degree in Fine Arts and Childhood Development at Santa Ana College she explored art through oak plywood and paint to create abstract wall reliefs. Continued her studies at California State University Fullerton in figurative painting, she earned a Bachelor Degree in fine arts with honors. Finishing her education at Biola University, she earned a Master Degree of Arts in education which led her to teaching elementary school.
For the next 30 years she taught young student the beauty of the arts and education. Throughout her career in education, she continued creating works of art through multiple mediums using college, assemblage, and paint which documented historical events . This became a major focus of her work to document events as they happen through the lens of human dignity. Imagine a world where our past mistakes can be learned bringing unity and peace to the world.
Married to a Mexican citizen for 30 years, she embraced the culture through textiles, watercolors, and oil paintings. After his passing and her retirement, she resumed her creativity through textiles to make beautifully crafted artistic quilts and wall hangings, with colors vibrating throughout each piece. Celebrating the beauty of humanity and serenity of culture has defined her body of work.
Ms. Benavides is now living in Buena Park, California and Santiago, Colima Mexico. Her three children support and embrace the body of creative work that celebrates unity in a world of division.
Embracing various cultures in her series of paintings, quilts and wall hanging, allows the viewer of all cultures to appreciate life around them. Historical events are documented through her political paintings, and the serenity of life in her paintings and textile pieces. She strives to bring the world a little closer together through peace and dignity.
