Alumna featured for hopeful 'butterfly portraits'

Fine Arts alumna Samantha Bennett (CCAD 1999) was recently featured in Ohio’s Columbus Dispatch for her hopeful portraits commemorating lost loved ones.

In an article written by Gina Potthoff, Bennett talks about her art, her desire to bring hope, and the disease that could have prevented the pursuit of her passion. As an infant, parts of her fingers were amputated due to bacterial meningitis; however, that didn’t stop her urge to create. By age 6, she was drawing with her thumb and index finger.

"Most of the time, I don't feel like I'm handicapped. Most of my life, I've dealt with it myself. … To be who I am as a person, I have to stay positive," Bennett said in the article. "We don't know why these things happen. But everything happens for a reason."

Bennett’s paintings are described as “bright and colorful” and filled with “feeling;” a description that matches her attitude. Her story will be posted next month on the National Meningitis Association website. She hopes her story will be an inspiration to others to protect themselves from the rare but often deadly disease that impacted her life.

Click here to read Bennett’s story in its entirety.