Alumni News

Bennington College announced today that it has received a $5 million gift from the New York City–based Helen Frankenthaler Foundation to support all aspects of Bennington’s visual arts program. The gift, the Foundation’s largest single grant to date, will establish the Helen Frankenthaler Fund for the Visual Arts. In a ceremony on April 12, 2015, the College will name the visual arts wing of its 120,000-square-foot arts facility the Helen Frankenthaler Visual Arts Center, in honor of and tribute to a remarkable Bennington alumna.

Victoria Sammartino '99 was awarded the Dr. Elizabeth Coleman Visionary Leadership Award. Sammartino is the founder of Voices UnBroken, a nonprofit dedicated giving vulnerable young people--including those in juvenile justice facilities, group homes, residential treatment facilities, jails, and other alternative settings--tools and opportunity for creative self-expression. Inspired by her experience teaching poetry readings on Rikers Island while a student, she began the nonprofit one year after graduating from Bennington.

Lucky Alan and Other Stories, the latest collection from Jonathan Lethem ’86, has been reviewed widely and warmly since its publication in February. The New York Times calls him “the king of sentences,” while the Guardian says the best stories offer a daring and affecting connection to the real.

Bennington College President Mariko Silver recently announced that faculty member and alumna Susan Sgorbati ‘72, MFA ‘86 will serve as director of the Elizabeth Coleman Center for the Advancement of Public Action (CAPA), effective July 1, 2015.

The Deseret News recently wrote a profile on Bennington, featuring Max Nanis ’12. The piece discusses how the College's unique curriculum, Field Work Term, and faculty advising structure help students succeed.