Judy Onofrio

Judy Onofrio (born November 21, 1939) is an American artist who lives and works in Rochester, Minnesota, United States.[1][2][3]

Judy Onofrio
Judy Onofrio in 2016
BornNovember 21, 1939
New London, Connecticut, United States
NationalityUnited States
Alma materSullins College, Bristol, Virginia
Known forsculpture, mosaic

Career

Born in New London, Connecticut, Onofrio studied business law and economics at Sullins College in Bristol, Virginia. She moved to Minnesota in 1967, where she became involved with the arts community in Rochester. In 1970, she became acting director of the Rochester Art Center where she founded the children's art program Total Arts Day Camp.[4][5]

Involved in many other facets of the Minnesota art community, Onofrio also helped found and acted as president of the Minnesota Crafts Council in 1972, and served on the founding committee of the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program at the Minneapolis Institute of Art in 1975.[6]

According to art critic Tanya Hartman, Onofrio explores the relationship between life and death through clay sculpture and found objects.[7] Known for glittery objects and installations, Onofrio began her artistic work in clay in the early 1970s, working out of a clay studio in the basement of her family home. She was strongly influenced by outdoor art and built armatures on which to layer the collections of miscellaneous beads, glass, and hardware. This work was somewhat autobiographic, but humorously so.[8]

By the early 1980s, Onofrio was creating outdoor installations, influenced in part by regional Midwestern attractions such as the Dickeyville Grotto in Wisconsin and Grotto of the Redemption in Iowa. These large-scale outdoor installations led to events such as "fire performances" in at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa in 1984 and Grand Forks, North Dakota in 1985, pieces in which wood-and-paper pyramids laced with gunpowder were set alight.[6][9] Onofrio's first major exhibition, Judyland, opened at the Minneapolis Institute of Art in 1993. [6]

She has also worked with wood and in jewelry. Beginning in the late 2000s, her work became less colorful, with a focus on dried bone sculptures.[10] In 2010, her work was exhibited in a collaboration at St. Olaf College with her daughter, photographer Jennifer Onofrio Fornes.[11]

Awards
  • 1978 - Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship
  • 1991 - Arts Midwest/NEA Regional Fellowship Grant
  • 1992 - Minnesota State Arts Board Career Opportunity Grant
  • 1995 - McKnight Foundation Fellowship
  • 1999 - Bush Artists Fellowship
  • 2000 - Rochester Art Center Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 2001 - Minnesota Crafts Council Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 2005 - McKnight Foundation Distinguished Artist Award[12]

Major exhibitions

References
  1. Searle, Karen (December 1990). "Wild Kingdom: JUDY ONOFRIO". Ornament. 14 (2): 44.
  2. Noll, Elizabeth (August 23, 2005). "Judyland in the limelight: Sculptor Judy Onofrio talks about her work, her life and her new-found fame". Minnesota Women's Press. Minnesota Women's Press. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  3. "Judy Onofrio". MN Original. Twin Cities PBS. January 3, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  4. Reuter, Laurel (1993). JudyLand: The Art of Judy Onofrio. Grand Forks, North Dakota: North Dakota Museum of Art. ISBN 0943107032.
  5. "Total Arts Day Camp - Rochester Art Center". Rochester Art Center. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  6. Frankhart, Colleen (2005). Judy Onofrio: 2005 McKnight Distinguished Artist. McKnight Foundation. p. 47.
  7. Hartman, Tanya (2013). "Judy Onofrio: Earth Bound". Ceramics: Art and Perception. Ceramic Art. 92: 63.
  8. The Circus World of Judy Onofrio. Plains Art Museum. 2011. pp. 57–58. ISBN 0934266387.
  9. Abbe, Mary (13 June 1993). "JUDYLAND: Art whirlwind Judy Onofrio blossoms in Rochester world of old bowling balls and glitter". Star Tribune; Minneapolis, Minn.
  10. Smith-Olson, Norma (April 24, 2013). "From mosaics to bones: Rochester artist Judy Onofrio is taking her work in a new direction". Minnesota Women's Press. Minnesota Women's Press. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  11. Gonnerman, David (February 23, 2010). "Joint mother-daughter art show by Judy Onofrio and Jennifer Onofrio Fornes". Northfield.org. Northfield Citizens Online. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  12. Galbally, Erin (July 22, 2005). "Rochester sculptor wins McKnight Distinguished Artist Award". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  13. "Judy Onofrio". North Dakota Museum of Art. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  14. "Judy Onofrio: Come One, Come All". Daum Museum of Contemporary Art. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  15. Silberman, Robert (April 1994). "Judy Onofrio at the MIA". Art in America. Brant Publications. 82 (4): 132.
  16. "Welcome to JUDYLAND". Rochester Post-Bulletin. April 23, 1993. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  17. Thrun, Neil (July 16, 2014). "Judy Onofrio's cow-bone sculptures confront life and death". Kansas City Star. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  18. "A dozen more collectible Minnesota artists". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. May 1, 2012.
  19. Combs, Marianne (November 9, 2011). "Plains Art Museum recognizes "Mothers of Invention"". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
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