Dana Lynn Louis
2023 Bonnie Bronson Fellow
Dana Lynn Louis has lived a life combining and integrating art making and social activism. Her suspended fragile mixed media sculptures and delicate drawings have been exhibited nationally and internationally. In 2014, the Hoffman Gallery at Lewis & Clark College published Clearing in conjunction with a solo exhibition. In 2016, Louis was included in the Northwest Artists Awards exhibition at the Portland Art Museum. Her work has been recognized and supported with grants from the Pollack Krasner Foundation, Ford Family Foundation, Oregon Arts Commission, and Regional Arts and Culture Council. Louis has participated in numerous extensive residencies including: "Thread" in Senegal West Africa, a project of The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation; The Oregon State Hospital, and Bullseye Glass. Her art has been featured in Sculpture Magazine, Artweek and the German publication Glashaus. Louis is represented by the Russo/Lee Gallery in Portland, Oregon, and the Friesen+Lantz Gallery in Sun Valley, Idaho. http://danalynnlouis.com/about/
Shortly after moving to Portland after graduate school in 1989, Louis became a founding board member of Orlo, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting environmental education through art and humor. In 2017, she founded Gather:Make:Shelter, as she states "to address the human disconnection at the core of the houselessness humanitarian crisis." Art making is at the heart of Gather:Make:Shelter's work addressing houselessness through its programming, including the creation of alternative shelters. https://www.gathermakeshelter.org