DIANE BUSH
Diane Olson-Bush was born in Buffalo, N.Y. At the age of 18, she emigrated to the U.K. with a draft dodger, in response to the Vietnam War. After living there for ten years and working as a documentary photographer, she returned to the U.S. to attend to her ailing parents. Once back in Buffalo, N.Y. she obtained her Master’s Degree in Photography from the State University of New York by documenting local boxing gyms and billiard halls.
After graduating, she spent seven years as staff photographer at the local affiliate of the National Public Broadcasting and ABC-TV stations. At the same time she pursued self-imposed artistic projects and established a public arts organization. Diane returned to academia by spending six years as the Coordinator of the Photography Department at a two-year college just outside of Buffalo. While her students were winning numerous national awards and prizes, Diane was doing the same with her own professional and artistic work.
Since her relocation to Las Vegas in 1997, she has been awarded 15 grants and a Fellowship from the Nevada Arts Council. In 2009 she became a U.S.A. Fellowship nominee. Diane has taught and delivered a wide variety of commercial, documentary and fine art photography genres and techniques that span a 40-year career. Internationally published and exhibited, Bush has won numerous grants, awards, fellowships, and commissions from Kodak, Ilford, Puffin Foundation, The Yorkshire Arts Council, Nikon, Cirque du Soleil, Polaroid, and others. Her work has graced the walls of the Photographer’s Gallery in London, the Houston Center of Photography, and Soho Gallery in NYC, to name a few. Her monograph, WARHEADS was published by Kuda Editions in 2006, and her experimental work is once again appearing in Robert Hirsch’s third edition of “Photographic Possibilities”. Her works are in the Helmut Gernsheim, Polaroid, Eastman House, and Cirque du Soleil collections.
Education
City and Guilds Certificate in Studio Photography, Paddington Technical College, London, UK
MFA in Photography, 1981- State University of New York at Buffalo
Select Exhibitions
2009 Instant Gratification, Copro Gallery, Bergamot Arts Complex, L.A.
2009 Ersatz Group Show, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, California
2009 Snap to Grid Los Angeles Center for Digital Arts, L.A., California
2009 Selected Works, Center for the Arts, University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York
2009 WARHEADS, Andre Aggassi Prep. High School, Las Vegas, NV
2009 Your Future Starts Here, The Contemporary Arts Center, Las Vegas
2008 The Im-BLEACHment of George W. Bush, outdoor public art performance, Las Vegas, Nevada
2008 Macro-Micro, California Museum of Photography, Riverside, California
2008 Please Ring Bell, (curated by Rod Slemmons), Photographic Center Northwest, Portland
2008 Best of Polaroid, Soho Photo Gallery, New York City, New York
2008 The War in Iraq, Reconnect USA, Providence, Rhode Island
2008 Juried Show, Palo Verde Art Center, Los Angeles, California
2007 Permission to Speak Freely, The Contemporary Arts Center, Las Vegas, Nevada (solo show)
2007 Live Free, Rhonda Schaller Studio, Chelsea, New York City, New York
2007 Altered Barbie, Market St. Gallery, San Francisco, California
2006 12/24, Burchfield-Penny Arts Center, Buffalo, New York. (solo show)
2005 freedom…response, Gage Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2005 Connections, Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada
2004 BE THE REVOLUTION, The Arts Factory, Las Vegas, Nevada
2004 SNAP, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
2003 Man in Focus, Der Reiss Engelhorn–Museen, Mannheim, Germany
2003 Big Orbit 10 Year Survey /Selections, Big Orbit, Buffalo, New York.
2002 Secrets and Deceptions, The Contemporary Arts Collective, Las Vegas, Nevada
2002 Five Photographers, The Marjorie Barrick, UNLV, Las Vegas, Nevada
2000 BLOCKBUSTER!, Hallwalls, Buffalo, New York.
1999 Mooch, The Contemporary Arts Collective, Las Vegas, Nevada
1998 Read My Lips, The Nevada Institute for Contemporary Art, Las Vegas, Nevada (solo show)
1998 Seven Photographers, Albright- Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
1998 Artists and Architects, UNLV , Las Vegas, Nevada
1997 Small Wonders, C.E.P.A., Buffalo, New York
1996 In Western New York, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
1996 Alert Aesthetics, American Center for Culture and Commerce, Prague, Czech Republic
1994 2nd Annual International Print Biennial , Sapparo, Japan
1992 Icons and Idols, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, Texas
1992 Celebrations of Freedom, Los Angeles Center for Photography, Los Angeles, California
1992 Top Ten, Anderson Gallery, Buffalo, N.Y.
1991 In Western New York, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
1991 Portfolio Show, The New York Society of Publication Designers, N.Y., N.Y.
1986 Taking Liberty, The Burchfield Art Center, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, N.Y.
1982 The Taking of Niagara, (curated by Tony Bannon) Buscaglia-Castellani Art Gallery, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
1981 In Western New York, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
1981 Main Street, Big Orbit Gallery, Buffalo, New York (solo show)
1978 Women at Work, Bradford University, Bradford, United Kingdom (solo show)
1977 Stand-up, Hang-up, Put-Down, Artists’ Space, London, United Kingdom
1976 Men by Women, Half Moon Gallery, London, United Kingdom
1975 Women by Women, Half Moon Gallery, London, United Kingdom
1974 Down Wapping, The Photographer’s Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Select Awards and Public Site Commissions
2009 U.S.A. Fellowship nominee
2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2000, 1999, and 1998 Jackpot! Grant, Nevada Arts Council, Nevada
2008 Honorable Mention, Lucie Awards, N.Y.C.
2007 Bright Lights City, new work commissioned by Jerry Schefcik, C.H.A.C., Las Vegas, Nevada
2006 Artist Grant Puffin Foundation, N.Y.C. , New York
2002 Individual Artist Fellowship, Nevada Arts Council, Nevada
2002 “Toy Capsule” Interior Wall commission, the Friends of the Henderson Library, Henderson, Nevada
2002 Honor Award, American Institute of Architects for “Toy Capsule”
2000 Aerial Gallery, public art commissioned by the City of Las Vegas, N.V.
1996 Color Photography Award, “In Western N.Y.” Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, N.Y.
1994 Kodak Educators’ Scholarship to attend Santa Fe Photographic Workshops
1994 Artists Residency, C.E.P.A., Buffalo, N.Y.
1994 Kodak Educators’ Grant to attend Camden Imaging Center, Rockport, Maine
1992 Gold Award for Photography, Art Directors/Communicators Club of Buffalo
1989 Main Street, Bus Show, public art commissioned by C.E.P.A. , Buffalo, New York
1988 and 1989 Portfolio Award, Women in Photography Annual Award
1981 Graduate Teaching Assistantship tuition grant, S.U.N.Y., Buffalo, New York
1971-1979 U.K.
Artist Grant, Yorkshire Arts Association, Yorkshire
The British National Photographic Competition Award, Nikon, London
Best Photography The Royal Photographic Society Award, London
Bibliography
1997 Artweek, U.S.A. (“Artists and Architects”)
1996 FUSED, London, U.K.
1995 Photo District News, New York, U.S.A. (“DigITALY”)
1992 Camera Austria, Austria (“Brits”)
1989 P/F, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (“Brits”)
1987 Photo/Design, U.S.A. (Brits)
1986 American Photo, U.S.A.
1976 Time Out, London, U.K. (“Women by Women”)
1974 The British Journal of Photography, London, United Kingdom (“Down Wapping”)
Select Collection
Helmut Gernscheim, Mannheim, Germany
George Eastman House,Rochester, New York
The Polaroid Collection, Boston
Burchfield Penny Art Center, Buffalo, N.Y
Yorkshire Arts Council, Leeds, U.K.