Bonnie Sherk

Bonnie Ora Sherk is an American landscape architect, planner, educator, international artist, and founder of "The Farm" and "A Living Library." Sherk is a professional artist who exhibits her work in museums and galleries around the world. Her work has also been published in art books, journals, and magazines.

Sherk is a developer of a systemic, place-based approach to environmental transformation and education which links systems - biological, cultural, technological. Integrated with such innovations, like Green-Powered Digital Gateways, Sherk's approach incorporates interdisciplinary, standards-based, hands-on learning, community ecological planning and design, and state-of-the-art communications and technologies. Sherk's goal is to integrate local resources: human, ecological, economic, historic, technological, and aesthetic - seem through the lens of time - to make relevant ecological transformations, which are integrated with hands-on learning opportunities and community programs.

Beliefs

In an interview with Peter Cavagnaro, Sherk shares her love and passion for the environment. She believes that the environment is a "beautiful" and "diverse" place and that it is the most practical place for art and to create transformation, because it has the ability to reach communities near and far.

A Living Library

A Living Library was Sherk's work that consisted of transforming buried urban streams and asphalted public spaces into thriving art gardens. She transformed these spaces in order to build education centers for children in communities in San Francisco and New York City.

Public Lunch

Public Lunch was one of Sherk's most well-known performance pieces. The piece consisted of Bonnie eating lunch in cages with various animals, such as lions and tigers, at the San Francisco Zoo. She did this on a Saturday at 2pm, during normal feeding time and prime spectator watching.