Hill Country Sculpture Ranch

This is a godforsaken land. It only grows what it wants, and it wants sculpture.'

By Heather Brand Schatz

The Texas Hill Country, with its limestone bluffs and undulating landscape of live oaks and cedars, bears some resemblance to the Mediterranean countryside. At least, that’s what Benini, an internationally established artist who goes by his last name, thought when he first laid eyes on the region. This section of Texas evoked Benini’s native town of Imola in northern Italy, though he hadn’t lived there in decades.

Drawn to this familiar landscape, Benini and his wife, Lorraine, moved from Hot Springs, Ark., where they had been active in the arts community, and purchased 147 acres just outside Johnson City in 1999. The remoteness of the site appealed to them. Their new home, perched atop one of the highest spots in Blanco County, offered panoramic views of the rugged terrain, and the property boasted a massive silver Quonset hut that could be fashioned into a studio gallery where Benini, now in his late 60s, could paint undisturbed. “We came here for privacy,” Benini chuckles, acknowledging the irony of transforming his private retreat into a public venue.

Today, the Benini Galleries and Sculpture Ranch draws thousands of visitors every year.

This oasis of art, tucked among the tree-covered hills, features two miles of caliche trails that meander among a surprisingly diverse array of sculptural installations. About 140 works by 40 artists now populate the ranch. When asked how their home evolved from being a reclusive artist’s lair to a popular tourist destination, Benini gives a resigned shrug and says, “This is a godforsaken land. It only grows what it wants, and it wants sculpture.”

The couple installed a few sculptures from their own collection on their property for their personal enjoyment, and word spread quickly. By 2004, curious visitors were lining up at the ranch’s gate and hopeful artists were calling to see if their work could be included in the unorthodox venue. Lorraine, who manages the ranch’s affairs, now receives portfolios from artists as close as Austin and as far away as Europe and South America.

The Beninis select sculptures that are large enough to stand up to the majestic Texas landscape, “because nature will dwarf anything,” and that appeal to them personally. “After all, it’s our own backyard,” explains Benini. 

Benini says that his arrival in the Lone Star State was “the beginning of a playful mood I never had before. Texas has given me the freedom to let go.” This freedom has manifested in the changing style of his color-saturated paintings, hundreds of which are on display in his vast studio gallery, and has induced him to try his hand at a few sculptures of his own. “There are some whimsical things on the ranch, and they usually have my name on them,” he confesses. In one such work, Ubiquitous: Rosso, fused wagon wheels merge into a twelve-foot-tall red cube, set precariously on end.

The Beninis may have lost their privacy at the Sculpture Ranch, but they have gained a community of enthusiastic artists and a legion of curious visitors whose surprise and pleasure upon encountering art in this unexpected locale make all the effort worthwhile. “That’s our reward,” affirms Lorraine Benini, “to know people enjoy it.”

See the full article in the December 2009 issue.

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