Benji was born in Philadelphia on October 12, 1986, to Bruce Grohsgal and Joan Weinryb, joining older siblings Leah and Dov Weinryb Grohsgal. He graduated from Lower Merion High School in 2004, where he distinguished himself in studio art, math, and science. He then went on to study at Columbia University, where he created sets for university theater productions, carrying whole sheets of plywood home on the subway. He was a regular cartoonist for the Columbia Daily Spectator. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in architecture in 2008.  

During and after college, Benji set out to see–and change–the world. He spent time in Chandigarh, India, as part of the U.S. State Department’s Critical Language Scholarship Program, learning Punjabi. He pursued an Advanced Language Fellowship in Bengali Language and Literature at the American Institute of Indian Studies in Kolkata in 2008 and received a U.S. Fulbright Fellowship for research in Bangladesh from 2010 to 2011. A speaker of Bengali, Punjabi, Hebrew, and Arabic, he also worked and volunteered for organizations combating HIV and homelessness, including Habitat for Humanity/AmeriCorps VISTA and Solidarity and Action Against The HIV Infection in India.  

In the course of his travels and work with various organizations, Benji became interested in government and urban innovation. In 2014, he graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School with a Master of Public Policy in Social and Urban Policy and from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design with a Masters in Urban Planning. During graduate school, he worked in the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation and as a Harvard Ash Center Fellow. His research centered on using data to improve urban design, public policy, and neighborhood transformation. Combining his interest in urban development, design, and data, Benji next worked as a software engineer for a series of startups, including BuzzFeed, Citizen, and Scout. 

Benji split his time between New York and Provincetown, and eventually Philadelphia. He reveled in Provincetown’s LGBTQ+ and artistic communities, and, according to many, was the life of the party. He showed his work in numerous galleries and venues, and designed floats for the Provincetown Pride parade, including the award-winning Octopus Float. 

After his disease robbed him of the use of his right hand and arm, Benji proclaimed that he simply needed to continue to make art. Using only his left hand, he captured his previous artistic style while moving into new terrain, leaving behind a legacy of graphic art, drawings, and photographs, all whimsical but at the same time engaging and substantive. In the month before his death, Benji had an art show at the Provincetown Commons, which he was pleased to attend before his condition worsened. An art opening of his work is scheduled at Studio Lacombe in Provincetown in August. 

Benji lived passionately, jumping into everything with both feet. He was charmingly funny, with a humor that was sometimes acerbic, but always good natured, putting people in stitches with his expressions, gestures, and unique takes on the world. He loved music and dancing, and especially being with people. An avid athlete, Benji competed in cross country in high school, and then embraced fitness for the rest of his life. When he could no longer use the right side of his body, Benji set his mind to strengthening his left. He regained enough strength to take hikes and walks, and even play frisbee and soccer shortly before his death. 

Benji was whip smart, curious, and always seeking to understand the world in all of its glory. His endeavors included learning how to create Buckminster Fuller-inspired geodesic domes, building a hammered dulcimer when he wanted to learn to play one, and travel, reveling in discovering and experiencing the essence of the places he visited. 

A true social animal, Benji combined a love of being with people and a deep caring for his family and friends. He was compassionate and loving to family, friends, and strangers. Benji tried to help all those around him get to where they wanted to go and be the best versions of themselves. To his friends and family, he always spoke his mind bluntly, but both saw and stoked in people a sense of possibility beyond their troubles and shortcomings and strove to help them see the same. He committed always to have their backs and join them on the journey and was deeply grateful that they joined him on his own. He is irreplaceable in his circles of friends and family. 

We will miss him forever. 

In recognition of Benji’s contribution and courage in creating community, art, thirst traps, and a sense of self we created The BWG (Benji) Fund honoring his spirit and serving as a memorial to the next generations of creative souls.