Yonkers Artist Shanequa Benitez Spotlights Climate Justice

Artists have the profound ability to convey powerful messages through their work. Art allows the audience to see the world through their eyes and convey a necessary message.

The ongoing climate crisis, healthcare, financial disparity, and systemic racism impact our community in significant, damaging ways. Through an artist's chosen medium, the importance our choices make on the environment have the power to make a difference.

About the Artist

Shanequa Benitez is an artist and student at Sarah Lawrence College . She also is a member of Groundwork Hudson Valley's Climate Safe Task Force .

Raised in the housing projects of Yonkers, her involvement in the drug trade and exposure social injustices laid the foundation for her current role as a compelling force in contemporary art.

Benitez's new exhibit explores the themes of joy, hardship, and healing; capturing the pride and resilience of her community. Through documentary photographs and vibrant paintings, she tells a story of the “ slow violence ” caused by the climate crisis. With a lack of green spaces in a suffocating urban layout, her portrayal of this reality is timely and critical.

But It's Ours: The Redline Between Poverty and Wealth

Sarah Lawrence, Center for the Urban River at Beczak , and GHV present this insightful new work called, “But It's Ours.” Curated by Nina Serrano, this is one of four exhibits under the theme of Care and Climate Justice . This series was created in support of the Sarah Lawrence Interdisciplinary Collaborative on the Environment –a program that teaches humanities and climate justice.

Shanequa Benitez illustrates the enduring effects of environmental racism in Yonkers through “But It's Ours.” She depicts how discriminatory housing policies from the 1930s segregated the city along racial lines, resulting in ongoing challenges such as financial disparities, food deserts, and limited access to healthcare. Her connecting the dots between redlined neighborhoods and the challenges faced by present-day residents make the viewer confront these racial, socio-economic, and environmental battles.

The exhibit is displayed at the Barbara Walters Campus Center Gallery in Sarah Lawrence College from March 5 through April 10. The opening reception for “But It's Ours” runs from 5pm to 7pm on March 5. Additionally, The Center for the Urban River at Beczak will host a community workshop on March 9 from 12pm to 3pm.

For more information, visit careandclimatejustice.org