photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

Artists with arts-based social service nonprofit Van Go's JAMS employment program work on custom-designed benches Thursday, July 6, 2023. The benches being created as part of Van Go's "Benchmark" program will be unveiled later this month.

Arts-based social service nonprofit Van Go has announced the next 20 recipients of custom-designed benches as part of the agency’s “Benchmark” program.

Youths age 14 to 18 employed through Van Go’s JAMS program have been working with clients to design and paint benches since late June. Now, they’re just a week away from the unveiling event staged in Van Go’s parking lot at 715 New Jersey St., which is set for Friday, July 28, at 5:30 p.m. Over the years, Van Go artists have played a part in creating hundreds of colorful benches as part of the Benchmark program.

As the Journal-World reported, some of the benches being crafted this year include a pair dedicated to students displaced by the closures of Pinckney and Broken Arrow elementary schools at the end of the school year and the first-ever bench slated to be sent out of the country. Ahead of the event, Van Go has unveiled the full list of Benchmark clients and their corresponding apprentice artists:

• Barack Bennett-Robinson; Monarch Watch, in memory of Sarah Schmidt

• Mya Buie; Anne Schulman

• Gus Cordova; Meadowlark Estates, in memory of Alan Swarts

• Davon Davis; Draiver

• Oliver Elwell; Kansas Biological Survey and Center for Ecological Research, sponsored by Debbie Baker

• Bridget Escobar; Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lawrence, in memory of Betty Baron

• Eden Faust; Static Hair Salon

• Mariah Flanagan; Lumberyard Arts Center, sponsored by Becki and Gary Dick

• Duffy Hackney; In memory of Bobby Campillo

• June Hackney; Community Children’s Center, sponsored by Kay and Tom Carmody

• Alex Mader; Martha Hodgesmith, in memory of John E. McElroy

• Ro O’Leary; Rachel and Phil Rademacher

• Cornelio Ortega-Perez; Hillcrest Elementary School, in honor of Pinckney students

• Stevie Pfeiffer; Audio Reader, sponsored by Bev Wilson

• Ceci Podrebarac; DCCCA

• Simn Robinson; Deerfield Elementary School, in honor of Pinckney students

• Ariel Sellars; In memory of Hailey Peters

• Nathan Townley; RPG (Restaurant, Pub & Games)

• LeStat Wilson; In memory of the Zeh family

• Ru Yother; In memory of the loved ones of Steve and Marcia Riley