Art Director/ Curator/ Educator/
Artist: William Bentley
William Bentley is a Bronx-born artist, storyteller, and educator whose vibrant work bridges fine art, public engagement, and community-based education. His multidisciplinary practice spans painting, illustration, murals, set design, and creative direction — all driven by a mission to connect people through culture, imagination, and narrative.
As the founder of Art With Mr. Bentley and Vaughn Bentley Creative, Bentley leads art initiatives that celebrate heritage, foster collaboration, and bring art into everyday spaces. His projects include large-scale murals, public exhibitions, and partnerships with institutions such as JFK Airport, the NYC Department of Transportation, and educational organizations across New York City.
A cornerstone of his artistic vision is A Traveling Dream — a conceptual painting series inspired by Bentley’s childhood in The Bronx. Through expressive color and symbolic figures like the “dandelion children,” the series explores themes of resilience, innocence, and creative freedom. The work reflects Bentley’s personal journey while resonating with universal experiences of growth and hope.
Website:
William Bentley: A Traveling Dream
William Bentley initially mused A Traveling Dream with his collective agency, Vaughn Bentley Creative as conceptual sketches of dandelions with children blowing their delicate seeds into the air for JFK airports Terminal 8 construction/ public art initiatives. These rough sketches with wildly grown lines, and meticulous details, are rewarded with the guiding light of composition as he sets forth on the intimate task of creating. As the concept became visualized, William introduced new renditions such as paint on canvas, or digital illustration.
The intricacies of their intelligent design evoked memories of his own childhood growing up in the Bronx NY. In spite of certain dark times, and childhood fears, or his uncertainties of the huge undiscovered world, William felt safety in the hopes that his gifts in creating art would transcend into materializing his beaming visions. Of this sweet nostalgia of childhood for William, was seeing such glimmering sun-lit beauty of dandelions, while playing in the grass with friends. It is upon the soft crown of seeds that he would invest his wishes of being a famous artist, as he blew unto them a powerful breath. Watching the seeds travel through the sky, like fairies gliding through clouds was a supreme image of reverie for his eyes. He felt re-connected, and active within his most precious and sacred dreams.
These dandelion children have inspired a series of artwork that William not only depicts as sublime illustrations of his childhood spirit, but a visual reference of hopes and fears, navigated through resilience, perseverance, and illuminated wonder. His paintings are a process of heartfelt discovery within an enlightened future, while reclaiming the vibrant colors often blanketed by the darkness of the past.