Benson’s Garage, 1985 (Weston)
Matthew Perry is an artist living and working in Shaftsbury Vermont. He is a co-founder of the Vermont Arts Exchange in North Bennington, a nonprofit arts outreach organization.
Perry once had a studio space above this the garage in Weston and comments on the scene at Benson’s in those days –
The girl in the car, Georgiana, is a friend who used to come up to Weston and visit me. The garage was run by Ray Benson, and I used to get work done on my Volkswagen Beetle there by a mechanic named Butch Jelley. He was a stock car racer, sort of a legend around here. Actually, that’s Ray, the owner of the garage, in the door with a six-pack of beer.
I knew Benson’s was not always going to be around. I still get inspired by seeing places like this. I feel like these people and these places are important to document as a part of our culture.