I am the Wellesley Effect: Anjali Benjamin-Webb Ô20 Transcript

(sound of corn kernels falling against the sides of a bowl, a mechanical clunking can be heard in the background)

Video on Screen: Two hands measure corn kernels, letting some fall back into the bowl beneath. Once a student has the right amount, she takes the kernels out of the shot.

(background electronic music plays, replacing the sounds of machinery and falling corn) 

Video on Screen: A student sorts through corn on a table, chooses a few kernels, and puts them on a sheet of paper.

Anjali Benjamin-Webb: Being at Wellesley has given my practice the ability to breathe.

Video on Screen: The shot widens, revealing the student Anjali Benjamin-Webb, as she carefully takes a kernel of corn from the paper and adds it to her artwork comprised of layers of corn on stenciled paper. 

(background music fades)

{Soft guitar music begins to play}

Text on screen: WellesleyÕs Campaign, dedicated to advancing the Wellesley Effect, increased access to a Wellesley education, empowering students like Anjali Benjamin-Webb Õ18, who are going to change the world. 


Video on Screen: Anjali dips a brush into a container labeled Òwood glueÓ, rotates the brush to remove the excess, then paints a line of glue onto a paper out of the shot.

Anjali: My Wellesley experience has been transformative, in all of the beautiful and painful ways that transformation happens within us.

Video on Screen: Anjali places kernels of corn on the strip of wood glue, carefully arranging them in a line resting against a previous row. The shot moves slightly, panning over the artwork to view it in full. Rows of corn kernels stand vertically in the center of the artwork, surrounded by six rows of corn that follow the ovular outline of the design on paper beneath. The shot again shifts, now level with the artwork as Anjali straightens the last row. 

Video on Screen: The shot widens to Anjali, who looks to the left and smiles before looking back at her work below the frame.

Anjali: ...As an affirmation of who I already was and how that person is meant to navigate the world.

Video on Screen: AnjaliÕs arm and head are in view as she intently focuses on something out of frame, an open booklet beneath her.

Video on Screen: Her work is shown. Anjali draws on cardboard with a Sharpie.

Anjali: IÕm a project-based artist, so I work in every medium. Whatever the idea comes to me as, this place has wonderful resources (starts to laugh) for an artist (laughs) and I have definitely used all of them, every single one. EveryoneÕs like, Òah, there goes Anjali!Ó

Video on Screen: Anjali uses a ruler to draw a straight line on the cardboard with a Sharpie, holding the ruler with her hand.

Video on Screen: AnjaliÕs hand steadies the cardboard is in the foreground as she paints the section of cardboard she had just outlined in Sharpie with white paint. Ê

Video on Screen: Anjali (wearing the the appropriate protective equipment!) operates a saw, slowly lowering the machine to a plank of wood. Ê

Video on Screen: Anjali leans over a large tub and takes out a handful of wet clay, which she puts in a cup. 

Video on Screen: The shot is level with the cardboard from earlier. Anjali now adds clay to the areas she painted. The cardboard dips as she moves the clay around with her fingers. 

Anjali: My work moves, it acts, surrounds the senses -- so itÕs about feeling a story before you know tangibly what it is.

Video on Screen: Anjali irons a clear sheet over a palm frond, then removes the clear material.

Video on Screen: A screen in an exhibit comes into focus. On the screen is a woman, hands on the back of her head as alternating blue and pink lights flash around her. The shot moves to the right, slowly taking the screen out of frame.

Anjali: I have been able to hold space with some of the most incredible people, some of the most incredible minds of our generation. ThereÕs something about a Wellesley education that just confirms your instincts, your opinions, the fact that they should be shared; that is so valuable. 

Video on Screen: Anjali converses (inaudibly) with a fellow student in an art exhibit at the Jewett art gallery.

Video on Screen: Six students are spaced out in the foreground, facing an audience. One of the students speaks (inaudibly) to the audience.

Video on Screen: Anjali, one of the students, speaks (inaudibly) to the audience while her peers turn to listen. She laughs, and continues to present while gestures with her hands.

Video on Screen: Anjali, alone in the shot, speaks (inaudibly) and gestures to artwork on exhibit. 

Video on Screen: A close-up of one of the pieces on exhibit. In focus are characters in another language. Ê

Video on Screen: A bouquet of blue flowers in a plastic sleeve rests against a gray wall.

Anjali: My current body of work talks about my most revolutionary ancestors, and histories of revolution in both the black Sri Lankan and Native American community. ItÕs something that a lot of my family, a lot of my cousins, a lot of my ancestors wouldÕve never had the ability to do, so i come to it with a lot of gratitude. 

Video on Screen: The cut flowers are arranged in a white material, some resting horizontally while others stand tall. The shot pans over the artwork.

Video on Screen: A research article pinned to a wall comes into focus. 

Video on Screen: The shot moves to a drawing pinned beneath the article. The drawing features two large cats facing one another, one a black panther and a tiger in black and white. The shot moves back, then transitions to show the drawing now featured on a wall above AnjaliÕs name and exhibit title.

Text on Screen: Anjali Benjamin-Webb, Of Tigers and Panthers 

Video on Screen: The artwork of flowers among the white material is shown, now in blue and red light. The shot runs along the edge of the piece, with the red light coming from the left and the blue from the right.

Anjali: The process of nurturing my ideas, of finding my materials and sourcing them and of executing are all done in joy and love.

Video on Screen: Anjali is again presenting in Jewett, with the video from earlier of the woman in pink and blue light playing behind her. 

Video on Screen: Audience members/professors speak with Anjali (inaudible) in front of the language artwork earlier shown of the foreign language.

Video on Screen: In focus is artwork featuring a womanÕs head with her tongue out. The artwork is turned to the side, and is on top of another sketch and piece of wood. 

Anjali: For me, my political science and art majors are one and the same.

Video on Screen: Anjali again paints with clay on the white-painted area of cardboard. 

Anjali: We have a responsibility, all of us, to leverage the platforms that we have to make a change that will affect so many people.

Video on Screen: Anjali smiles down at her work then at the camera, showing her iron. The shot switches to her hands, which are straightening out the palm frond.

Video on Screen: Anjali looks at the camera, smiles, then begins to laugh.

Text on Screen: I am the Wellesley Effect

Image on Screen: The Wellesley Effect logo (a ÒWÓ inside a circle) appears.

[soft guitar music fades, concluding with a cymbal]