In early childhood, Dr. Benyshek lived in a farmhouse, amidst a Czech immigrant community in Kansas. She earned a BFA (Wichita State University), an MFA (University of Washington), and a graduate certificate in the psychology of creativity, MA and PhD in humanistic and transpersonal psychology (Saybrook University). Benyshek attended the Pilchuck Glass School on a full scholarship and was an artist-in-resident at the Ucross Foundation, Wyoming. For 15 years, she taught visual art and dance in the bush villages of Alaska. Her research focuses on contemporary artists as shamans, with publications in the USA, UK, Poland, Hungary, and China.

Her artworks were included in group exhibits in west coast museums (Bellevue Museum of Art, Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Yakima Valley Museum, Coos Bay Museum, Corvallis Art Center, Museum of NW Art), with solo exhibits in Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, Sun Valley, ID, and Santa Fe, NM. Dr. Benyshek’s work is in the public art collections of the University of Washington Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center, King County Ethnic Heritage Collection, Glasmuseet of Ebeltoft, Denmark, and Snoqualmie Point Park. In 2022, OpenStudios selected Benyshek as the Botanica gardens artist-in-residence and, in 2024, she was awarded a Koch Cultural Trust grant. Dr. Benyshek recently exhibited at the Clio Art Fair and the Health Hub Gallery, both in New York City.