Creator Record
Images
Metadata
Name |
Steele, Ben |
Dates & places of birth and death |
b. 1917 Roundup, MT d. 2016 Billings, MT |
Nationality |
American |
Notes |
Benjamin C. Steele (1917-2016) Steele was born in Roundup, Montana. Stationed in the Philippines at the onset of World War II, he participated in the first major land battle on the Bataan Peninsula. Japan launched a devastating attack, and the battle ended with the surrender of more than 76,000 men under American command. The Japanese Army forced the prisoners on the infamous Bataan Death March, and many - sick, starving and forced to march under a tropical sun - perished. Steele suffered an ordeal of unparalleled cruelty. He began documenting his experience. The dozens of drawings he created were smuggled out of the camps, but unfortunately were lost, with the exception of two, when the ship carrying them was bombed. He ultimately spent 1244 days as a of prisoner of war during WWII. During his year-long recuperation in a Spokane hospital after the war, Steele recreated the lost drawings. Following his recovery, he pursued a degree at the Cleveland Institute of Art from 1947 to 1950. In 1950, Steele received teaching credentials from Kent State University and subsequently earned an MA in art from the University of Denver. Steele returned to Montana in 1959 to teach art at Eastern Montana College, Billings, where he was a professor until 1982. BR |
Places of residence |
(from 1951), Professor of Art. Emeritus, Eastern Montana College, Billings, MT |
Role |
Artist |
Education |
Cleveland Institute of Art BSE, Kent State MA, University of Denver |
