Late New Paltz Art Professor Ben Wigfall is focus of Black History Month exhibition at Kingston gallery

A new art gallery in Kingston, New York, is celebrating its grand opening with an exhibition that pays homage to the late Benjamin Wigfall, the renowned artist and beloved SUNY New Paltz professor from 1963-1991, who is widely remembered as the first African-American professor hired at New Paltz in any discipline.

“Ben Wigfall: the Artist Revealed,” on view now at the idea garden, juxtaposes artifacts from Wigfall’s African collection with many of his own rarely exhibited prints and paintings. It is the first of a series of Ulster County-based exhibitions of Wigfall’s work to be planned following his death in 2017.

Benjamin Wigfall earned his MFA from Yale University and was widely recognized as a brilliant printmaker and painter, but he rarely exhibited his own work, focusing instead on his role as an educator and mentor to the many young artists with whom he worked over the course of his career.

For much of his career, Wigfall lived and worked in Kingston and was an important figure in the community. He created the Communications Village art center, which served as a creative space for children and adults alike, and the Watermark/Cargo Gallery in the Rondout district.

He served a particularly influential role for generations of African-American students and faculty at SUNY New Paltz, dedicating time outside of his studio to mentor and collaborate with students, campus leaders and family members who worked to change the course of the College’s history.

“Ben Wigfall was a surrogate father for many of us on the New Paltz campus at that time,” said Lance Seunarine, a student and later a faculty colleague, at a 2017 memorial event held in Wigfall’s honor. ”He was present at all the Black Student Union meetings, and was there when we negotiated with the administration to create the Black Studies Department. On weekends he would find time to interview students for what would eventually become the EOP program, and when we had Family Day, you can bet your last dollar Ben would be there with his recorder, taping everything for our history and our posterity.”

“Ben Wigfall: The Artist Revealed” is on view now at the idea garden, at 346 Broadway in Kingston, New York. The gallery is open to the public on weekends from 4 – 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 12 – 4 p.m. on Sundays throughout February. Showings are also available at other times by appointment. For more information please visit www.theideagarden.org.