Sarah Lawrence College, the Center for the Urban River at Beczak, and Groundwork Hudson Valley Present "But It's Ours": The Redline Between Poverty and Wealth by Shanequa Benitez

Feb 26, 2024

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YONKERS, NY– February 26, 2024 Sarah Lawrence College, the Center for the Urban River at Beczak (CURB), and Groundwork Hudson Valley are pleased to announce artist and Yonkers-native Shanequa Benitez’s solo exhibition “But It's Ours”: The Redline Between Poverty and Wealth. The exhibit will be on display from March 5 to April 10, 2024, in the Barbara Walters Gallery at the Barbara Walters Campus Center (BWCC) and is made possible by a $1.5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to address the climate crisis and environmental justice through the Humanities. This exhibit is co-sponsored by Groundwork Hudson Valley.

“But It's Ours”: The Redline Between Poverty and Wealth, curated by Nina Serrano ’25, is one of four exhibitions on the theme of Care and Climate Justice that will take place at Sarah Lawrence College and Bronx Community College in winter and spring 2024. The exhibitions support the Sarah Lawrence Interdisciplinary Collaborative on the Environment (SLICE), a collaboration to teach climate justice across the humanities at Sarah Lawrence and Bronx Community College.

The opening reception for ‘But It’s Ours’ will be held on March 5, 2024, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Barbara Walters Gallery. A community workshop will be held at CURB on March 9, 2024, from noon to 3 p.m.

A catalog will accompany the exhibitions, with artist interviews by students, an introduction by Art History faculty Sarah Hamill and Literature faculty Izzy Lockhart, and essays by poet and scholar Sumita Chakraborty, educator and community-based researcher alum K. Melchor Hall ‘00, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Public Humanities and History faculty Karintha Lowe, settler scholar and artist Emily Roehl, scholar, curator and writer Camille Georgeson-Usher, and Writing faculty and Strachan Donnelley Visiting Professor in Environmental Writing Kate Zambreno.

Exhibition Details:

Barbara Walters Gallery Hours: Weekdays 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Weekends 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
CURB Hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays noon to 3 p.m., Tuesday evenings 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Under the overarching theme of “care,” these exhibitions explore responses to violent pasts and presents, offering a nuanced perspective on climate justice. The series includes three other exhibitions: Gabriela Salazar: Observed (held January 24 to February 25, 2024), Groundings: Care and Climate Justice (March 26 to May 12, 2024), and Laia Cabrera and Isabelle Duverger: Perennial Land (March 21 to May 16, 2024).

In But It's Ours, Shanequa Benitez uses large-scale, vibrant paintings and documentary photographs to depict the experiences of environmental racism and redlining in Yonkers, New York. The exhibition explores the intersection of systemic oppression, climate crisis, and ongoing impacts on the community, such as financial inequity, food deserts, and inadequate healthcare.

Benitez, a member of Groundwork Hudson Valley’s Climate Safe Yonkers Task Force, connects redlining and the climate crisis, demonstrating that redlined neighborhoods experience extreme heat disproportionately. Through portraits and scenes of urban life, Benitez vividly portrays the experience of extreme temperatures, lack of access to green spaces, and inadequate healthcare, revealing the forms of "slow violence" caused by the climate crisis in her community.

But It's Ours marks a significant chapter in Benitez's artistic journey, reflecting her personal resilience and commitment to storytelling. Raised in the housing projects of Yonkers, she overcame adversity, including involvement in the drug trade, to become a transformative force in contemporary art. Her paintings, stemming from her photographic practice, explore themes of injustice, joy, and healing, capturing the pride and resilience of her community.

Opening Reception: