[2] She received her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Temple University in Philadelphia and worked in schools on three continents.
[4] Melotti Schmidt is married to Steven Alan Bennett and they have an extensive art collection of works by women figurative realist painters.
The Bennett Collection is composed of historic works including pieces by Mary Cassatt, Artemisia Gentileschi,[19] Elaine de Kooning, Sarah Miriam Peale, Agnes Martin, and Suzanne Valadon.
Among the living artists represented in the collection are major works by Julie Bell, Margaret Bowland, Zoey Frank, Xenia Hausner, Andrea Kowch, Katie O’Hagan, Harmonia Rosales, Alyssa Monks, SuSu, and Kathrin Longhurst,[20] among others.
[23] a school encouraging contemporary figurative realism in Philadelphia as well as the Olmos Ensemble of San Antonio, a classical music group.