About Me

I am Grace Benfer, the owner & operator of Belle Vue Studio.
As an educated artist, designer and photographer I graduated from SUN Area Technical Institute with a certificate in Advertising Art & Design directly out of high school. I then graduated from the Graphic Design baccalaureate program at Pennsylvania College of Technology. While enrolled in both high school and college I was working co-op and internship with Schindler’s Studio (a professional photography studio).
I wasn't 100% convinced an art studio would feed my family and decided to go back to school to become a teacher. I went on to earn my K-6 Elementary Education certification from Susquehanna University. I substituted for many years to find the teaching field saturated with teachers. I ended up leaving the teaching field to continue my passions in art and Schindler's Studio. 
I always enjoyed breaking up portrait retouching, album design and restoration to work in the frame room. I’m a very active individual and so I found framing breaks up computer tasks with more hands on creativity. I loved framing so much that I am now a Certified Picture Framer, earning the CPF certification in 2023. The Professional Picture Framer’s Association (PPFA) is a nationally recognized organization that requires extensive training and a four-year renewal and recertification process for professional picture framers. The organization teaches appropriate handling and conservation mounting and framing techniques for use in custom art, picture, linen and archival framing. 

   Outside of my studio, I love cooking, baking, sewing, hunting, hiking in the woods. I love watching my two beautiful daughters play soccer and spending time hanging with the dogs near the creek on our family farm. And if I'm being honest, love watching my high school best friend turned husband chop wood by hand...I’m also a bookworm and love loafing on my favorite chair watching movies or reading paperback novels.  

In 2022, I became co-owner of Schindler’s Studio. Mark, (my co-worker, employer, mentor, and basically a dad to me after 24 years side by side), retired in 2024 and out of deep respect to Mark and the Schindler legacy I left the Schindler name to retire with him and transitioned the photography and framing business into Belle Vue Studio, LLC located in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.