Remembering Friendswood ISD as a small, protective community is a favorite memory of Tanna Bennett, artist and Friendswood High School graduate.
            Bennett was selected as a 2011 Distinguished Alumni and will be honored at a special reception Feb. 11 and again recognized at the 2011 Friendswood ISD Education Foundation Havana Blues gala Feb. 12.
            After graduation in 1980, Bennett received her BA in Journalism with a minor in graphic design from University of Houston but it was art that inspired her and became her career.
            She was involved in a 10 month intensive study program in France in painting with artist Ted Seth Jacobs in 2003.
            Bennett is a professional artist since 1995 and presently owns and operates Bennett Fine Art Studio in Houston. She previously owned and operated ArtStudio, A Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico with business partner and artist Ruth Wright Paulsen. Prior to this, Bennett also was part of the Waterstone Gallery, an artists’ cooperative gallery founded in 1992 in Portland, Oregon. She was one of several artists who operated the gallery in the middle 1990s.
            From 1996-2010, Bennett has continued to show her artwork in exhibitions that have been given in Houston, Santa Fe, New Mexico and a variety of cities in Oregon.
            “In creating a work of art, I strive to find the hidden messages and feelings that exist within all of us.  I want the viewer to question his/her own assumptions or experiences with the composition.  Perhaps the exchange will create a strong feeling of remembrance or something that is identifiable,” Bennett said.
     “In many of my still life paintings, I incorporate ordinary objects in the composition.  By manipulating the position of objects, the still life takes on a humanistic explanation of relationships:  some alone, some existing in groups and some ostracized.  I realize we see only the human perspective on life and most things we relate to is based on our life’s experience,” Bennett said.
            Bennett’s art and many awards and accomplishments can be viewed at www.tannabennettartist.com.
            Bennett is married to Mark Harkness and has one son, Stephen Schuler, student and EMT. Her mother Pat has worked for FISD for 15 years.
            Bennett will be joined by the other five Distinguished Alumni at the Feb. events. The other Distinguished Alumni include Lisa Camp (Class of 1979), Chris Henchy (Class of 1982), Kim Reed (Class of 1975), Carol Cline Vaughn (Class of 1945) and Honorary Alumna Joycina Baker, historian and author.