WILSON, N.C. — September 29, 2025 — Barton College will welcome home alumnus Benjamin Hawley as the fall 2025 artist-in-residence at the Barton Art Galleries. His exhibition, “A sentence that cannot be taken in or forgotten,” will be on view Oct. 23–Nov. 26 in the Case Art Building.
Hawley, who earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from Barton College in 2017, will return to campus Oct. 20–Nov. 1 to mentor students, share his studio practice, and engage with the Wilson community. Based in Boston, Hawley creates paintings that explore how memory and observation transform familiar forms into new meaning.
The public is invited to a reception on Thursday, Oct. 23, from 5–7 p.m., with a gallery talk at 6 p.m. Additional residency events include community workshops on Saturdays, Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, from 10 a.m.–2 p.m., and a coffee chat on Thursday, Oct. 30, from 4–5 p.m.
The community workshops, titled “Abstraction from Observation,” will guide participants in transforming still-life subjects into abstract interpretations through thoughtful use of composition and color. Attendees are encouraged to bring basic supplies, including charcoal and paper, paint (oil or acrylic), brushes, and rags for wiping. The workshops are offered at no cost for FOVA members and $35 for nonmembers.
Please contact Maureen O’Neill, director of exhibitions and educational programming at the Barton Art Galleries, at [email protected] or 252-399-6476, with any questions about the workshops, materials, or registration.
About the artist —
A Wilson native now based in Boston, Hawley earned his Master of Fine Arts in painting from Boston University in 2022, where he received the Joseph Ablow Memorial Painting Prize. His work has been featured in exhibitions at Kathryn Markel Gallery, The Painting Center, and Morgan Lehman Gallery in New York; Gallery 263 in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Grant Wahlquist Gallery in Portland, Maine. His paintings have appeared in “New American Paintings” (MFA Annual #177), “ArtMaze Magazine,” and “Artsin Square Magazine.”
END