Written by Colin Secore
Photography by Micah Fornari, Nick Carroll, and Colin Secore
Ben Wigfall (1930-2017) was an artist, printmaker, college professor, and gallery owner. Being the first Black professor to be hired at SUNY New Paltz, he was an integral part of the local arts community. In the 1970s, Ben ran Communications Village a printmaking studio in Kingston’s Ponckhockie neighborhood that recruited mostly Black artists from New York City to work with local youth. “Ben Wigfall & Communications Village,” an exhibition at SUNY New Paltz’s Dorsky museum, celebrates his legacy with a display of Ben’s paintings and prints, artwork from other artists who worked with him, and memorabilia from Communications Village. The D.R.A.W. is uniquely connected with Ben: many of D.R.A.W.’s instructors and educators knew Ben. The D.R.A.W. studio also reflects Ben’s life work and values, in its openness to the community and support of young artists.
The Wigfall exhibit has brought PUGG to action. The PUGG interns have visited Ben’s archives, attended a reunion of the artists who worked at Communications Village, documented the installation of the exhibition, visited the building where Communications Village was located, and attended the exhibition opening. All these activities immersed us into the community that Ben built. We understand ourselves better as a result.
Back in August, PUGG visited the archives, which are located at Wigfall’s house and studio in New Paltz. Richard Frumess, founder of R&F Handmade Paints and a friend of Ben’s who has been instrumental in preserving Ben’s legacy, shared multiple series of prints Ben made over the course of his life, many of which were represented at the museum. Ben’s son, Gino, was present to answer questions and filled in intimate details of Ben’s life and process. Gino also showed the group Ben’s collection of African art.
A couple of weeks later, PUGG visited the Dorsky Museum and shadowed the curators during the installation of the exhibition. We brought our cameras to document the decision making. We interviewed Drew Thompson, one of the curators of the show, and heard how he became a curator and why Wigfall’s story appealed to him. “I firmly believe that exhibitions are the best way of answering certain questions and engaging the communities around you,” Drew said. We learned of the many factors that go into curation. One larger piece needed a full corner of a room, which forced the team to move around several other pieces. Other spaces were left with too much or too little room as a result and required major adjustments. I’m starting to understand how stressful curation can be.
On the day of the gallery opening, PUGG was invited to Richard’s house for brunch. We were given the incredible chance to speak with the group who utilized Communications Village as children all those decades ago. It was a heartfelt reunion. They expressed their shared fondness for those days, and how Ben would encourage them to reflect on their own work. We learned of parallels between Communications Village and the D.R.A.W., for example both groups having the keys to our respective studios. Those kinds of connections made the brunch empowering.
After that, we drove down to the old studio in Ponckhockie. Formerly a mule barn, the brick building was humble but inspiring given we had learned what went on here. We didn’t get to go inside, but the Communications Village veterans were happy to share their memories of the building and the neighborhood. Many of them had lived within walking distance of each other, and Communications Village was the center of the small community. Before printmaking, they would play games with coins. I can relate to that joy of having a studio where I can hang out, work, and create.
At the end of the day we went to the exhibition opening. Ben’s thoughtful use of form and color was lined up through different eras of his life’s work. His artwork was splendid on its own, but reading the text labels accompanying each piece made them even more fascinating. During our tour of the installation, we learned that putting together the information to be put beside each piece was a particularly challenging task, and I give credit to those writers for making me want to read each one. The exhibition concluded with a room filled with art from Black artists that worked with Ben. It was an exhibition that Ben had always wanted to bring about and so, fulfilled his vision. This particular section of the show spoke to me the most about the real influence Ben Wigfall has had on local history and art culture.
PUGG is now putting together a documentary from all the footage we’ve gathered. We want to show the full life Ben Wigfall has lived and his importance. We are also working with the Eureka House, a creative residency for artists located in Kingston, on our Ben Wigfall Project, which is an exhibition at the African Burial Ground featuring pieces inspired by Ben’s ideologies. I found this adventure we’ve taken through his life to be engaging. It demonstrated how one man spoke to America’s dark history of racism and worked to fight it. Our gratitude for his effort will likely go on forever, as Ben Wigfall will never be forgotten.
