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Fifty-One Percent
51%

Barbara Benish on "ArtMill" and creativity under censorship

By Jesse King,
Samantha Simmons
Published October 9, 2025 at 8:00 PM EDT

On this week’s 51%, we speak with artist Barbara Benish about how she started the ArtMill Center for Regenerative Arts in the Czech Republic, and how artists continued to work under the totalitarian regime of former Czechoslovakia. Benish came to the Czech Republic from Los Angeles in 1989, just as a revolution overturned the country’s long-running Communist regime. Initially hoping to explore her roots, Benish saw how the arts survived decades of censorship through community, how creativity continued to influence and change society, and how the arts flourished after the revolution. Benish tells the story of this time and the creation of her community in her new book ArtMill: A Story of Sustainable Creativity in Bohemia. 

Guests: Barbara Benish, founder of the ArtMill Center for Regenerative Arts and author of ArtMill: A Story of Sustainable Creativity in Bohemia; Lulu Grey, Dreaming in Grey

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. This episode also contains the track "Deborah" by Jangwa.
 

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51% ArtMill Center for Regenerative Arts in the Czech RepublicBarbara BenishArtMill: A Story of Sustainable Creativity in Bohemia
Jesse King
Jesse King is the host of WAMC's national program on women's issues, "51%," and the station's bureau chief in the Hudson Valley. She has also produced episodes of the WAMC podcast "A New York Minute In History."
See stories by Jesse King
Samantha Simmons
Samantha joined the WAMC staff in 2023 after graduating from the University at Albany. She covers the City of Troy and Rensselaer County at large. Outside of reporting, she hosts WAMC's Weekend Edition and Midday Magazine.

She can be reached by phone at (518)-465-5233 Ext. 211 or by email at ssimmons@wamc.org.
See stories by Samantha Simmons
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