UAS faculty Bonilyn Parker art exhibit “Animism Manufactured”
UAS faculty Bonilyn Parker, M.F.A. has been chosen as the featured solo artist during the months of December 2023 and January 2024 at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum.
Juneau, Alaska
Date of Press Release: November 27, 2023
UAS faculty Bonilyn Parker, M.F.A. has been chosen as the featured solo artist during the months of December 2023 and January 2024 at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum. Her exhibition “Animism Manufactured” will feature a collection of ceramic works exploring the significance of connections through objects and imagined histories.
“Embellished with the suggestion of mending, Bonilyn Parker’s pieces commemorate the endangered art of repair. Working in clay, she explores the spaces that exist between maker and user, disposable and reusable, sentimental and material value,” as noted in the museum’s newsletter Past and Present.
Bonilyn expressed, “I am so excited to share my recent work with the Juneau community and honored to be featured at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum. I began my journey in clay in Southeast Alaska 20 years ago before going south to pursue graduate school and professional development. I always planned to come home and was called back to Juneau in 2019. It's no secret that Juneau can be a difficult place to find housing and keep up with the cost of living, so moving back as a teaching artist coming from the non-profit sector meant that it was likely to take me a few years to get on my feet with a functioning ceramics studio. I am proud to share this body of work that was made at my home studio this year with the generous support of the Juneau Community Foundations Individual Artist Award and will be the first time my work has been shown publicly in Juneau since 2012.”
Bonilyn is a teaching artist at the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS), serving as a Term Assistant Professor of Art. She teaches ceramics, ceramic handbuilding, and art appreciation. Bonilyn earned her Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics from Ohio University. She also holds a Bachelor of Art in Ceramics and Sculpture from UAS. She has held several residencies as an artist at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana, Red Lodge Clay Center in Red Lodge, Montana, the International Ceramics Studio in Kecskemét, Hungary, and most recently at Gallery One Visual Art Center in Ellensburg, Washington.
UAS Dean of Arts & Sciences Carin Silkaitis remarked, “I'm honored to congratulate Bonilyn Parker, one of our faculty members at the University of Alaska Southeast, for her upcoming solo exhibition, "Animism Manufactured," at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum. Bonilyn Parker's ceramic works are a testament to her exceptional talent and dedication to the art of repair and the connections between objects and their histories. We are proud to have her as part of our faculty; her exhibit is a testament to her dedication to the craft. I encourage everyone to attend the opening reception on First Friday, December 1st, from 4-7 pm, and explore her thought-provoking and inspiring work. Her exhibition promises to be a remarkable experience for all who attend. Congratulations, Bonilyn, on this well-deserved recognition, and we look forward to seeing your art enrich the cultural landscape of our community.”
The Juneau-Douglas City Museum will host an opening reception for the exhibition on First Friday, December 1, from 4-7 pm. Explore more of Bonilyn Parker’s art at her website. Learn about classes offered at UAS or call and speak with an advisor at 907.796.6000.