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At first glance, art professor Lee Benson might be mistaken as a mountain man instead of an artist. Tall, with a thick, burly beard, sporting a ponytail and paint-speckled overalls with hiking boots to match, Benson's gruff exterior still doesn't cover up the gentle, soft spirit of the Union professor and the calling he feels so strongly about. “It may sound kind of unusual to some people,” says Benson, “but my one important purpose in life is to tell people about Jesus. It just so happens that I'm doing it through art.” Born in Athens, Tenn., Lee Benson grew up in parts of eastern Tennessee and northern Kentucky where his father, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, and his mother made family life a top priority for their four children . Benson says that though there wasn’t much in the way of material things, there was a great amount of love . “We were extremely poor,” recalls Benson, who remembers eating what his dad could bring in from hunting. “At that time, though, I had no idea how poor we were, because in the things that really mattered, we we re extremely wealthy.” After high school, Benson went on to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where he received his bachelor’s degree in fine arts, his bachelor of art in education as we l l as his master’s in fine arts. While finishing up his master’s , he met his wife Betty at the deaf school in Knoxville where she was the Dean of Students and he was a dormitory counselor. Though at that time he had been a Christian for most of his life, Benson says his faith did not become strong until a serious boating accident in 1986 left him in the hospital. After countless surgeries and months spent as a hospital patient, Benson soon came to a realization. “I knew I had been spared and that God had redeemed something that was useless,” Benson points out. “ Oswald Chambers says the only message man has is the message of redemption. It's not the message of salvation – that's only the beginning – but the message is of being redeemed from death unto life. And that's what I try to take into my classroom .” It's in the classroom that Benson sees his greatest challenge. "God didn't say go into the world if they agree. He just said Go ." “Christian artists, especially students studying to be artists, have a tendency to want to be ‘like the other guys' because that's what's in the magazines,” says Benson. “There comes a point when you have to say that I’ve died to self so that Christ might live in me. And it's at that point when you are free to produce great art.” Christian artists frequently fall into the trap of trying to create art that is sellable by copying the popular styles and techniques that are being used today. By doing that, though, Benson believes artists miss the biblical principle that “Jesus really isn't sellable – though if Christ is lifted up, the scripture says all men will be drawn to Him.” Benson worries about the trend he sees for Christian artists to work with and only promote each other's work. “I think God wonders why we frequently limit ourselves to other believers,” says Benson. He points out that if artists want to take a mission trip, they don't need to go to a foreign country to make a difference. The biggest mission field in the world for art, says Benson, is New York City. “Artists need to go up to New York and paint a gallery, or scrub a gallery floor. Let those people who are lost see the light of Christ in your field. Make every effort to practice not just your art, but the reason for your art.”
Though creating Christian art is not any easier than producing secular art, Benson constantly stresses two main points to his students. First, students must come to the realization that Christian artists will be ridiculed and passionately disagreed with by a secular society. “God didn't say go into the world if they agree. He just said go,” Benson adds. Second, students shouldn’t go into the art world if they can't make great art. It's important that the art that is produced represents excellence in their craft as well as the craft of their contemporaries in the secular market. It is the creation of great art, says Benson, which will provide Christian artists with a platform and a reason to be heard. “Twentieth century sculpture falls apart so easily,” explains Benson. “Artists need to really take the time to learn their craft, whether it's painting, sculpture, or any other form. Once the craft is learned, it needs to be practiced at a very high level.” It’s that level which Benson strives for when creating and sculpting his own creations. Having done several commissioned pieces for various organizations and individuals, Benson enjoys the work he does with sculpture. But it was an experience that happened more than a year ago that has led him to the work of creating one of his most ambitious pieces yet. In January of 1999, after several devastating tornadoes touched down in West Tennessee, inflicting destruction and killing seven in Jackson alone, Benson – along with Union art professor Chris Nadaskay and both of their families – helped with the cleanup effort. Soon after that, he had an idea. “I felt like God was leading me and saying, Lee, you are an artist. You need to do what artists do,” says Benson. He decided to volunteer to build a piece of sculpture that would commemorate both the sense of community that had been cultivated, as well as memorialize those who had died. Benson asked Nadaskay to join him on the project, and a few weeks later, a proposal was made to the mayor of Jackson, which was unanimously agreed upon by the city council. The commissioned sculpture would be titled The Unity Project. One challenge Benson and Nadaskay had to overcome very early on was funding. With the city only committing $100,000, and the actual cost of the sculpture coming close to more than a quarter of a million dollars, both Benson and Nadaskay worked tirelessly in finding local businesses to serve as sponsors for the project. Both professors have volunteered their time for the project .
“This project,” says Benson, “can only be described as the hand and heart of God. I don't know what makes other people most joyful in their profession but what gives me the most joy is being content with Jesus. In my profession, I couldn’t be more joyful then working on this project.” Benson says he loves the idea of working with bulldozers, cranes and larger pieces of equipment to create art, which is very different compared to the smaller sculpture tools he usually works with. With amazing humility, Benson says that even this art that is so time-consuming and which will take almost two years to complete, will also one day be laid at God's feet. “It's pure joy creating this sculpture,” Benson says, “but the bottom line is it’s not my glory or my project. This is for God's glory and His alone.” Though Benson sometimes struggles with his longing to make art full- time, he acknowledges that his gift is teaching. “Teaching is my calling. Even though I want to make art, I can't deny the gift that God's given me for teaching. So I just give it my all,” says Benson, his face showing the face of someone who has thought about this long and hard. “And there could be no better place to do that than at Union, which allows me to proclaim Christ through my work. One thing I admire most is that our president, Dr. Dockery, loves Jesus. He's not ashamed. “So I guess my call in life, ultimately, is to know Jesus. Period. And every-thing else, including teaching art, will fall into place.” Article by Sara Horn. Benson INSIDE On Quality Time Together - “Hiking is a great activity to do with the kids because God is always so evident. And all of the pressures of being cool and looking cool are gone, so as parents, you have a real attentive audience that's very sensitive of God because of where they're at.” On Family - “It's real simple. I'm committed that my children first come to know the Lord. Once that’s accomplished, they need to under-stand that Jesus needs leaders. He doesn't have many followers, and he has even fewer leaders.” On Parenting - “You have 18 years to be an advocate for your children. After that, they have to make the decisions. It’s an absolute priority that we give them every opportunity to be a leader in this role for the service of Christ.” Left to right: The Benson Family — Betty, Aaron, Zac, Mary Elizabeth, Jelly Bean, Sarah & Lee
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