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Benning was born March 25, 1947, in Clearwater. She was the daughter of Bernard and Monica Conter Benning. After living in several locations, the family moved to Greenwich, Conn., where she spent her formative years and graduated from Greenwich Academy.
After two years at Manhattanville College, in Purchase, N.Y., she transferred to Washington University in St. Louis, where she received a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Art. She then studied at the Tyler School of Art and received a master of fine arts degree from Temple University in Philadelphia, where she was also awarded a graduate teaching assistantship.
She was an associate professor of painting at the Portland School of Art, now Maine College of Art, and the University of Southern Maine. After moving to Florida in 1993, she continued to paint
Benning is survived by her brothers, Joseph Phillip (Carol) Benning and Gregory Conter Benning of Fort Myers; nieces, Melanie and Lauren. She was predeceased by her parents; and husbands, William C. Collins and Kenneth Winfield.
According to her wishes, Benning has been laid to rest at the Conter family plot in Magnolia Cemetery in Apalachicola,Fla. A celebration of her life and work will take place in Maine later in the spring.
For more information, visit: www.horizonfunerals.com.
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