GO Paint! Chippewa Valley
Paint the rolling farmlands, dramatic river banks, charming down-town areas, prairies and forests of Buffalo, Chippewa, Dunn, Pepin and Eau Claire Counties.
Participating artists will be painting within a 10 mile radius of the Eau Claire & Chippewa Rivers between Augusta, Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Durand, and Nelson, Wisconsin.
GO Paint! Chippewa Valley Awards Juror and Featured Artist
Painter of landscape, still life, portraits in oil, fresco and watercolor; Bonawitz began his art training at the Saint Paul School of The Associated Arts where he earned a degree in graphic design in 1982. The following year Robert entered the Atelier Lack and for five years studied with Richard Lack, Steve Gjertsen and Don Koestner, winning two gold medals for figure drawing. In the summers of 1985-1990 Bonawitz supplemented his studies by an apprentiship with Mark Balma where he learned the craft of Buon fresco. In late 1990, Robert went to work for Evergreen Painting studios where he painted murals and decorative finishes for state buildings. By 1993, Bonawitz had established his own mural company, Studio Intonaco, producing works for state and private clients, winning him the coveted CUE (Committee for Urban Environments) award in 1994.
For the next ten years, Robert worked on various projects, in 2005 he stepped outside to paint a landscape (for the first time in eleven years) and fell, forever, under the spell of plein air painting. In March of 2006, he enrolled in Ray Robert's workshop and in 2007 after receiving a Kenser scholarship from Scottsdale Artists School, Robert participated in Skip Whitcomb's plein air workshop. Bonawitz continues to paint and along the banks of the Mississippi.
Robert lives with wife Cindy in South Saint Paul, MN.
