arts Artist Emerging
Shara Bunis Wins Gulfport Merchants Artist Grant By Abby Baker
SHARA BUNIS
It wasn’t long ago that Gulfport resident and artist Shara Bunis was working in the corporate world, managing grant money for the Pennsylvania Department of Education. A seasoned photographer and watercolor artist, Bunis made a full career 180° and is this year’s recipient of the Gulfport Merchant Chamber’s Rise and Shine Emerging Artist Grant. “I was actually really surprised, and a little bit panicked at first,” Bunis said. “It’s not really about the money; it’s about how this helps you grow.”
The initial grant rings in at $500, and equates to lucrative artist resources such as a spot in the juried Gulfport Fine Arts Festival, five booth spots in the Gulfport First Friday Art Walk and a local mentorship program with Brenda McMahon. The subjects in her work are tangible, often life-like – a butterfly or a shipwrecked boat from Hurricane Eta – but painted through the rainy gaze of watercolor. “I tend to be a literal person; I see the world in detail,” Bunis, who has a knack for macro photography, said. “When I started painting, I wanted to
be a loose, flowy, watercolor person. Turns out, my style is more about the details.” The Albany native uses her closeup style to highlight forgotten minutiae like the hairs on an insect’s legs. The Details Bunis first visited the Gulfport area in 2005 for a business trip, and it took her over a decade to set roots in town. After officially moving from Pennsylvania in 2015, she’s let the flavor of the city take her work to new places. “I never intended to sell my work,”
First Friday of Every Month - Downtown Gulfport 3101 Beach Blvd. S.
5 - 9 PM
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