Tritobia Hayes Benjamin (October 22, 1944 – June 21, 2014) was an American art historian and educator. She began teaching in 1970 as professor of

Art History Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

, College of Fine Arts, specializing in African-American art History and American art. Benjamin became the Associate Dean of the Division of Fine Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences at Howard University, and had served as Gallery Director.

Early life

She was born on October 22, 1944, in

Brinkley, Arkansas Brinkley is the most populous city in Monroe County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,700, down from 3,188 in 2010. Located within the Arkansas Delta, Brinkley was founded as a railroad town in 1872. The c ...

, to mother Addie (née Murph) and father Wesley E. Hayes, Sr. She attended secondary school at Horace Mann High School, where she graduated with honors. She went on to attend Howard University, where she met her husband, Donald S. Benjamin, a graphic artist and community activist.

Publications

Benjamin wrote the book ''The Life and Art of Lois Mailou Jones'', published by Pomegranate Artbooks, and had published over 20 articles and exhibition catalog essays including ''Profiles of Eleven African-American Artists'' and ''The Image of Women in the Work of Charles White'', ''Three Generations of African American Women Sculptors: A Study in Paradox'', an exhibition she also co-curated.

Awards and honors

Benjamin received honors and awards for her scholarship including the

Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award The Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award was established under the presidency of Lee Ann Miller (1978–80). Joan Mondale, artist and wife of vice-president Walter Mondale, helped to secure approval for a national award honoring women ...

in 2010; the National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship-in-Residence award; and also from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a fellowship for Faculty of Historical Black Colleges.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benjamin, Tritobia Hayes 1944 births 2014 deaths African-American educators American educators American art historians African-American women writers African-American writers Howard University alumni Women art historians American women historians African-American women academics American women academics People from Brinkley, Arkansas Howard University faculty African-American academics 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people Historians from Alabama 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women