Meet Carrie Bennett | Artist & Art Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carrie Bennett and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carrie, what do you want your legacy to be?
If I could look backward from the future, I would want to see not just my art, but my relationships through my artistic career were meaningful. I would want to say that the canvases, walls, and streets I put my hands to were made better and brightened by my touch. As I’m growing in my different roles as an artist, Art Director and educator, I am reminded that the reward of the artist is the gift it brings to the recipient. If my art is created for the sake of my own expression alone, it might be beautiful and true, but fall short of its purpose. I want my legacy to be living, where my students look back and smile at their art experience, and a city feels invigorated by artwork they didn’t realize they needed to see. I believe art is a channel that can refresh, heal, and establish a place. I hope to be an artistic voice and collaborator who has the vision to draw beauty and life into her surroundings, and to ultimately turn the lights on for the people.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I graduated from Furman University in 2004 with a fine arts degree after playing 4 years of collegiate volleyball, and began my career as an art teacher to grades k-8. After dabbling in street art at the Lake Worth street painting festival in 2008, I fell in love with creating art for the community, and the beauty of creating live large scale art on the street at festivals and events. The beauty of the crowd Interaction and sharing my message while the design was unfolding gave my artwork a whole new Storytelling dimension. After traveling the chalk art circuit for a couple years, I soon juggled the balance of being an art teacher, artist, community art director, and mom. My focus the last several years has been investing in my local community and it’s cultural & historic institutions. I’ve helped coordinate local chalk art events in Ft. Lauderdale and Pompano Beach, painted murals in prominent places in my community, and directed a few youth public art installations at the Pompano pier. I am most proud to see kids excited to create And collaborate, and to create public art for my hometown of Lighthouse Point, creating murals and banners for the parks where I grew up playing. When I bicycle around town and see my art hanging from the light poles and painted on walls, I feel proud to share it with my kids and local families. As the Chalk art organizer for Art Lit at the Pompano Beach cultural center the last few years, I’ve been so proud to see adults and children creating art alongside the artists, and participating in the creative experience. The biggest lesson over the past decade is to fearlessly pursue the direction I feel led to go. Whether it means approaching executives of organizations, applying for an international art event, or simply offering my services to a local institution. I’ve learned to not shrink down from giving my heart to my art, even when I may not be the most skilled person in the room or my art doesn’t turn out according to plan. Every move puts us somewhere new, even if it isn’t profitable in the moment.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would start with a tour to the Hillsboro Lighthouse On a Saturday, and spend the day on the beach with a picnic under the sea grape trees. We would dine at Beach House Restaurant by the Pompano Pier Or Nauti Dawg at the Lighthouse Point Marina, stroll along the new river downtown Ft. Lauderdale, and bicycle ride through Birch State Park. I’ve always loved visiting the museum of discovery & science when the weather is too hot.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband Chad Bennett, creative film editor and videographer who encourages me and sharpens me.daily.

Website: www.carriebennett.net
Instagram: @carrie_bennett_
Twitter: @CarrieJBennett
Facebook: Carrie Bennett

Image Credits
Patty Daniels and Lake Worth Street Painting Festival Inc.