Lee Benz graduated from Bradley University in 1938 and later completed a MFA. She was known primarily for her watercolors, but she was talented in many media including woodcut prints, serigraphs, and sculpture. A nineteen-foot mural painted by her hung in the lobby of the Varsity Theatre on Knoxville Avenue in Peoria, IL for 50 years and then was moved to the Cullom-Davis Library at Bradley University.

Lee Benz taught at Illinois Central College for a number of years. She was born in 1918 and died in 1986. Her maiden name was Lena Mock. She was married to Roland Benz.

Roland was killed when his house burned in 1993. The house contained much of Lee's artwork and the extra copies of her many prints Virtually all of the prints were destroyed in the fire which has led me to my current endeavor. Using my computer technology skills and my SIU BA, I am carefully digitizing and reprinting the works that I have to share with others.