Portland, Oregon-based artist and certified Public Joy Creator, Mike Bennett, has always been good at making imaginary friends. His grandma even has the Bennett Buddies comic strips he drew as a kid to prove it.

An imaginative cartoonist and a child at heart, Mike started using reclaimed wood and paint to make eye-catching cartoon cutouts in 2019, while spending his days teaching preschool. What began as a fun hobby in the garage, his cutouts quickly garnered online attention. This led to his silly creations starting to pop up in various places all around town. People fell in love with his unique art style and charming characters, and the requests came pouring in from fans wanting Buddies of their own.

Soon, Mike took on larger projects that would not only bring joy, but benefit the community as well. He created themed scavenger hunts, hiding his handmade works around town and encouraging fans to work together to find them all. He also sold and auctioned his works for charity, with proceeds supporting nonprofits and important causes, like the Oregon Humane Society, Meals on Wheels, and Australian wildfire relief.

When the lockdown started in 2020, going on walks outside was one of the only safe activities people could do. Mike saw this as an opportunity to help provide a wholesome, educational, and, most importantly, fun distraction in a time when it was very much needed. Staged in his front lawn, A to Zoo showed socially-distanced Portlanders 26 alphabetically-assorted caricatures of wildlife creatures. More of these immersive displays followed, including the pseudo-scientific Crypto-Zoo, a sidewalk solar system called Planetary Promenade, and The World’s Longest Dachshund, which invited visitors to collaborate by adding their own artwork to an absurdly long canine canvas.

By 2022, lockdown guidelines began lessening and, after his final front yard display, the aquatic-themed A,B,Sea, Mike’s projects required venues large enough to match his ambition. With a talented crew helping him, an empty retail space in Downtown Portland turned into Dinolandia, an immersive, guided tour through the prehistoric era, featuring massive hand-painted cutouts of dinosaurs done in Mike’s signature style. The three-month long exhibit brought in visitors from around the world, providing an entertaining and enriching experience for children and grown-ups alike.

Most recently, Mike created Wonderwood, a storybook brought to life that leads visitors through a fantasy narrative full of magic and myth. Next door to Wonderwood is Wonderwood Springs, a cafe and event space modeled in the style of Wonderwood, with decor designed and created by Mike.

With a new base of operations opened in NE Portland, Mike is honored and excited for fans to experience the new and amazing creative projects on the horizon, including BennettBuddies.com, the online home for his family of zany characters, Painted Pines, an interactive and comical trip through America’s national parks, and many more wonderful surprises along the way.

When not creating public joy, Mike spends his time in his Portland home with wife Michele, cats Audrey and Frankie, and ever-expanding world of imaginary friends.