Creating art isn’t what I do, creating art is who I am.
#BenSchlitz
From a young age Ben was involved in the arts and understood that art was not only a way to communicate, but also a business. In 5th grade, he was commissioned to do a portrait of a family’s home and from that point on he knew that art would be his career. Drawing and painting was Ben’s passion and trying to capture the realism and the essence of the subject was a must. At the age of 16, Ben created and sold his first Chainsaw Carving, marking a major shift in his art. In 1999, Ben graduated from The Chicago Academy for Fine Arts having many attributes under his wings. In his collegiate career, he truly soared. Ben was a scholarship winner, a leader in all forms of art and an innovator through his thesis work.
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To create his thesis, Ben carefully and painstakingly hand installed salvaged trees from forest preserves and placed them in an urban setting. He wanted this to bring attention to the physical labor involved in creating art and manipulate the viewers’ senses as they are confronted with nature in an industrial setting. These themes would become the foundation for much of Ben’s artwork.
In 2003, Ben graduated at the head of his class from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design with a focus on sculpture and public art. After graduation, he established the fine art company in Chicago, BenOfficial Productions. Through this company, Ben was propelled into the arts, bringing his translation of nature and city life to Chicago through the creation of large-scale sculptures and carvings. At 23, Ben participated in the Open Studio Project on State and Lake Street where he filled a gallery with carved trees and performed live daily in a storefront setting. This was one of the largest carving projects BenOfficial Productions had taken on and it allowed Ben to introduce the art of chainsaw carving to the City of Chicago with upwards of a million viewers daily.
Ben’s ideas created such an uproar and good response in the City that an entire project was based around his concept of relocating trees and turning them into art. The site location for his largest carving to date is at 31st Street Beach. This carving was part of a multimillion-dollar project in which Ben was a front runner, leader, and the initial artist to kick off the movement of chainsaw carving large trees in the City if Chicago.