“chance encounters” by bonnie O’Connell opens oct. 2

BENSON – Ming Toy Gallery is pleased to present new work by Bonnie O’Connell during the month of October. “Chance Encounters…Assemblage, Collage and Mixed Media Works” will be on display Oct. 2-31. The opening reception is Friday, Oct. 2, from 6:00 to 9:00pm at 6066 Maple Street in downtown Benson. (We’re right between Au Courant and Legend Comics & Coffee.)

O’Connell earned her BA in art from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Master of Art from The University of Iowa. She taught book arts classes and directed The Fine Arts Press, a letterpress teaching laboratory, at the University of Nebraska at Omaha for 34 years until her retirement in 2020.

O’Connell also produces fine press limited editions of contemporary poetry for Abattoir Editions. The Penumbra Press, her private press imprint, has a 35-year background in literary fine printing. In recent years, she has issued mixed media letterpress works on social and art issues as well as sculptural books and assemblages. Her first offset artist’s book, The Anti-Warhol Museum: Proposals for the Socially Responsible Disposal of Warholia, was co-published with Nexus Press, Atlanta in 1993.

O’Connell has taught numerous book arts workshops and exhibited her unique bindings and edition books in libraries and galleries throughout the country. Her work is found in over 40 institutional collections. O’Connell’s essays on the book arts have appeared in Books at Iowa and Abracadabra. She is the recipient of grants from The National Endowment for the Arts, The Nebraska Arts Council, The Nexus Center for Contemporary Art and The Woman’s Studio Workshop.

Regular hours at Ming Toy Gallery are Wednesday and Friday from 1:00 to 6:00pm, Thursday from 4:00 to 8:00pm, Saturday by 10:00am to 1:00pm and by appointment (call or text 402.681.1901).