Dr. Benyshek creates doorways to visionary, ethereal realms,
where viewers create meaning, while connecting intimately
to self, the life cycle, and the cosmos.
where viewers create meaning, while connecting intimately
to self, the life cycle, and the cosmos.
BIO
In early childhood, Dr. Benyshek lived in a farmhouse, amidst a Czech immigrant community in Kansas. She earned a BFA (Wichita State University), an MFA (University of Washington, Seattle), and a graduate certificate in the psychology of creativity, MA and PhD in humanistic and transpersonal psychology (Saybrook University, San Francisco). Benyshek attended the Pilchuck Glass School on a full scholarship and was an artist-in-resident at the Ucross Foundation, Wyoming.
In early childhood, Dr. Benyshek lived in a farmhouse, amidst a Czech immigrant community in Kansas. She earned a BFA (Wichita State University), an MFA (University of Washington, Seattle), and a graduate certificate in the psychology of creativity, MA and PhD in humanistic and transpersonal psychology (Saybrook University, San Francisco). Benyshek attended the Pilchuck Glass School on a full scholarship and was an artist-in-resident at the Ucross Foundation, Wyoming.
For 15 years, she taught visual art and dance in the bush villages of Alaska. In the solitude of the arctic, far from the coastal art scenes, she found her individual artistic voice. During this period, when she returned to Seattle, she also worked as a runway and print model for I. Magnin's and Nordstroms.
In 2018, she was initiated as a shaman, through a traditional Naerim Gut ritual, by three shamans from South Korea. Her research focuses on contemporary artists as shamans, with publications in the USA, UK, Poland, Hungary, and China.
Her artworks were included in group exhibits in west coast museums (Bellevue Museum of Art, Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Yakima Valley Museum, Coos Bay Museum, Corvallis Art Center, Museum of NW Art), with solo exhibits in Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, Sun Valley, ID, Santa Fe, NM, Ann Arbor, MI, and Wichita, KS.
Dr. Benyshek’s work is in the public art collections of the University of Washington Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center, King County Ethnic Heritage Collection, Glasmuseet of Ebeltoft, Denmark, and Snoqualmie Point Park. In 2022, OpenStudios selected Benyshek as the Botanica gardens artist-in-residence and, in 2024, she was awarded a Koch Cultural Trust grant.
Dr. Benyshek’s work is in the public art collections of the University of Washington Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center, King County Ethnic Heritage Collection, Glasmuseet of Ebeltoft, Denmark, and Snoqualmie Point Park. In 2022, OpenStudios selected Benyshek as the Botanica gardens artist-in-residence and, in 2024, she was awarded a Koch Cultural Trust grant.
PUBLIC ART COLLECTIONS
Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, Washington
Ethnic Heritage Collection, King County, Washington
University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, Washington
Snoqualmie Point Park
Glass Museum, Ebeltoft, Denmark
RECENT SOLO EXHIBITS
2026
The Sanctuary: Coming Full Circle, solo exhibit, MARK Arts, Wichita, KS (11/20/26 – 1/29/27)
2025
Mandalandscapes, solo exhibit, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI
Into the Garden, solo exhibit, Reuben Saunders Gallery, Wichita, KS
Cosmic Spirits, Commerce Club at The National, Wichita, KS
RECENT GROUP EXHIBITS
2026
Affordable Art Fair, Artio Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden (upcoming)
Women in Art Biennale London, Chelsea Old Town Hall, Artio Gallery, UK
Contemporary Visions of the West, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO
Lotus and Lion: Contemporary Buddhist and Hindu Art, Shoshoni Retreat, CO
HERstory, Viridian Artists, New York City, NY
Tell Me What You Think of Me, Part 2, Salina Art Center, KS
2025
Visual art exhibit, 12 works, Clio Art Fair, New York City, NY
Calling Down the Gods. Behave as though God Exists performance series, May 8, 2025
opening reception, Clio Art Fair, New York City, NY
MMX: Positive Disintegration, Mixed-Media Group Show, Harvester Arts, Wichita, KS, co-curated with Jo Reinert
HerStory: The Battle Continues, invitational group exhibit, Viridian Artists, New York City, NY
Versus, invitational group exhibit, MARK Arts, Wichita, KS
Creative Labor: The Art of Gestation, curated group exhibit
Invoke, group exhibit, WomensWork.Art at Cunneen-Hacket Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
Rituals, international juried exhibit, Millepiani Gallery, Rome, Italy
Coalesce, 4-person show, @art_up_stairs/Health Hub Gallery, New York City, NY
Lotus and Lion: Contemporary Buddhist and Hindu Art, juried group exhibit, Shoshoni Retreat, CO
Benyshek, D. (2025). The Beginning (The Birth of the Universe), Randall, J. (Ed), The Mama Temple Magazine, (1), color reproduction (pp. 17-18).
Benyshek, D. (2025). The Mother, We are Born of the Earth, Randall, J. (Ed), The Mama Temple Magazine, (1), color reproduction (pp. 7-8).
Benyshek, D. (2025). Invading the boys’ club, Ulrich Art Museum at 50: 1974-2024, T. Mott & V. Zavataro (Eds), Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, KS, p. 90.
Benyshek, D., and Coreopsis (Spring 2025). Interview, Part 1: Family and nature. Coreopsis: Journal of Myth and Theatre, Vol. 13, No. 1, ISSN 2333-0627.
Boles, D., Ed. (2025). VoiceS: Mysticism, Prophecies & Marigolds, Cold River Press, Grass Valley, CA. 12 reproductions of artworks.
2024
Winter Salon in Saffron, Cerbera Gallery, Kansas City, MO
cOLD Times, Viridian Artists, New York City, NY
Horizons, Midwest Center for Photography, Wichita, KS.
Portfolio Platform, Midwest Center for Photography, Wichita, KS.
Benyshek, D. (2024). The art audience as shamanic community. In Y. Owens (Ed.), Trans-Disciplinary Migrations: Science, the Sacred, and the Arts. London, UK: Cambridge Scholars.
2022
Artist moves back to Wichita, Kansas, after living in the Cascade Mountains 25 years.
SELECTED AWARDS
2026
WEAD (Women's Eco Art Dialog) Andrée Singer Thompson Scholarship
Project Grant, The Wichita Arts Council
2025
WEAD (Women's Eco Art Dialog) Andrée Singer Thompson Scholarship
Artist Access Grant, Wichita Cultural Arts, Wichita, Kansas
2024
Koch Cultural Trust Enabling Grant
2022
OpenStudios Artist in Residence Grant, Botanica Gardens, Wichita, Kansas
2019
Mary Lou Panter Scholarship, Creativity & Madness, Santa Fe, New Mexico
