Elton Bennett (1910-1974) attended the Portland Art Museum School of Fine Art immediately following World War II. His first attempt at studying art had been derailed by the onset of the Great Depression, and there were long, hard years of manual labor before a glimmer of the dream could be rekindled. But those years provided the context for his silkscreen work- scenes of the working riverfront, the bustle of the commerce of the wharves, and his unflagging dedication to providing artwork to people of every economic class.
Elton Bennett shunned the elitism of the establishment art world, deliberately placing his art in locations where people would never expect to find exquisite art; hardware stores, tackle shops, paint stores, stationery shops. Even occasionally at the local sandwich lunch counter. His wife, Flora, arrived in Washington in 1945 to manage the county social services agency. The two shared deep intellectual and practical commitments to h
