Samantha Wall Awarded the Bonnie Bronson Fellowship

In 2022, for the first time in its history, the Bronson Committee has awarded two fellowships. Since 1992, the Bonnie Bronson Fund has selected Bronson Fellows through a confidential nomination process. The guiding principles are to advance and encourage creative and intellectual growth in a working artist of the Pacific Northwest region, specifically in Oregon or Washington. The award consists of a monetary gift (currently $10,000) and the purchase of the artist’s work for the Bonnie Bronson Collection, which is stewarded by the Cooley Gallery, Reed College, and displayed prominently throughout the Reed campus. Artists do not apply; new Bronson Fellows are informed by a simple phone call from the Bronson chair.

The Bonnie Bronson Fund will honor its three most recent Bronson Fellows at a public reception on Wednesday, July 27 at 6 p.m. on the Reed College campus in the Student Union. Honorees are Ed Bereal, 2021 Bronson Fellow; Dawn Cerny, 2022 Bronson Fellow; and Samantha Wall, 2022 Bronson Fellow.

The Bonnie Bronson Fund was established in 1991 under the aegis of the Oregon Community Foundation to award an annual fellowship to an artist living and working in the Pacific Northwest. The fund was inspired by the memory of Oregon artist Bonnie Bronson who died in a climbing accident in August of 1990. Bonnie's artworks included enamel on steel sculpture, welded and painted steel collages, painting, and carpet design, and were considered a powerful force in the Pacific Northwest art community in her lifetime.