On a Saturday, mid-afternoon, in the University Galleries at Illinois State University, a single person was taking in the latest exhibit, a group show by teachers from the College of Fine Arts.The main gallery was filled with examples of paintings, prints, sculptures, photography, books, drawings, glass work, ceramics, film -- the sum total of the art program, with two dozen contributing artists, at the disposal of the solitary viewer.Down the street, a much different scene unfolded that day.At the McLean County Arts Center in downtown Bloomington, a single-event attendance record was set, with hundreds of people coming to the reception featuring Jessica Benjamin, a Bloomington native and ISU graduate who is painting representational portraits of Americans from her studio in Long Island.Benjamin's paintings occupied the Armstrong Gallery, the smaller of the two at the arts center, and consisted of 12 portraits and an impressionistic portrayal of a parade.Extending from her "The American Series" exhibit -- through the hallway, down stairs and into the arts center's basement classroom space -- were 150 amateur portraits and murals produced by students, from kindergarten to high school.She and the arts center's education coordinator, Tony Preston-Schreck, had spent the preceding week leading workshops in the basement, in schools and at the Boys and Girls Club of McLean County.
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