BONNY HILL
Art Discipline(s)
- Visual Arts
Sussex | (506) 433-8289.506
Preferred School District(s)
- ASD-East
- ASD-South
- ASD-West
Preferred Grade Level(s)
- K-2
- 3-5
- 6-8
- 9-12
Can provide residency in
- English
Indigenous Artist
- No
Completed Policy 701
- Yes
Bio
Bonny Hill is a contemporary artist who was selected for the 2017 emerging artists’ series, “Studio Watch” at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery for her series, “I Don’t Know Anything About Art. I Just Want Something Nice to Hang Over My Sofa to Match My Living Room”.
Bonny Hill completed a Bachelor of Arts in Art Education at NSCAD in 1984 and has taught visual arts in public schools for over 30 years. Bonny has also been active in theatre: directing spring musicals, building and designing sets, teaching choreography, and performing.
Residency Project
The work that I really enjoy doing with students has an overarching theme: “How do we illustrate, in a tangible way, the power of the individual to effect change?"
“The Great Big Water Bottle Project” was a cross-curricular, project-based, 21st-century learning unit involving most of the 900 students at Sussex Regional High School. Students began by collecting thousands of plastic water bottles which they assembled as a massive art piece installed on the side of the Sussex Transfer Station. The final piece received the grand prize awarded by ArtsSmarts and Heritage Canada in the first annual Youth Creativity Challenge. As a result of the project, single use plastic water bottle sales have declined rapidly, use of reusable bottles has increased, and filling stations have been installed.
In 2020, Sussex Elementary School received a grant through the NB Multicultural Association and NBEECD to create a mural promoting diversity and inclusion. I designed the mural in such a way that each student in the school was able to work on painting a piece in their classroom Covid bubbles setting, not knowing what the final image was until the official unveiling. Details can be viewed at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/sussex-mural-diversity-1.6035695?fbclid=IwAR1gVTkNBNis78E2dijZCYec0s3TvGFKlUPmdUC1rbMcn16ArtGicSU0Qx4
The work that I am most interested in continuing is in support of the Every Child Matters movement, beginning with an amazing team at QMS working with Sixties Scoop survivor, Minda, (The Minda Project) continuing with a second installation at RHS with Minda’s sister, Joanne, (The Joanne Project) and most recently hosting a week-long project with Phyllis Webstad in Sussex (May 2023) (Phyllis Project).
Teaching Experience
31 years teaching high school and middle school Visual Arts and Theatre Arts
Canadian Art Educator of the Year 2011
Member of the NB Curriculum Advisory Committee from 1999
ArtsSmarts Youth Creativity Challenge 2013 National Winner
NBTA Credit Union Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2018
Amos Tucker Award for Excellence in Teaching sponsored by Frank McKenna, 2018
ArtsNB Creation grants: 2007, 2010, 2019
Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal 2022
Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation Margaret Woodson Nae Mentorship program for Phyllis Webstad mentorship 2023
ArtsSmarts grants:
2022 Quispamsis Middle School, “The Minda Project”
2023 Sussex Middle School and Sussex Regional High School, “Every Child Matters: Phyllis Webstad”