Louis W. Bonsib paintings on exhibit at Tech

The current exhibition in our Franco D’Agostino Art Gallery is comprised of the work of Louis W. Bonsib. All are welcome to view Mr. Bonsib’s work from 8 a.m.-7 p.m. in the D’Agostino Art Gallery, which is located in Indiana Tech’s Academic Center.

Louis William Bonsib is best known in Fort Wayne history as a marketing and advertising pioneer. His Bonsib Advertising Agency, founded in 1924, became one of Indiana’s most highly regarded agencies of its time. Fortunately for the world, and for Indiana Tech, Mr. Bonsib also found time to pursue his passion of putting brush to canvas and become an accomplished painter.

To Mr. Bonsib, his paintings weren’t just artistic expressions. He also used them as tools to help evangelize the significance of the fine arts in our community. It was not uncommon for Mr. Bonsib to donate his works to organizations within the region to enhance its appreciation for the arts. In fact, from 1957-1963, Mr. Bonsib donated 53 paintings to Indiana Tech. The current exhibition in our Franco D’Agostino Art Gallery is comprised of some of Mr. Bonsib’s gifts to the university.

Mr. Bonsib’s works were exhibited frequently, including at the Hoosier Salon, in Carmel, the Herron School of Art and Design, in Indianapolis, and the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, in Ogunquit, Maine. Locally, his paintings have been on display in the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, the Allen County Public Library and Fort Wayne Community Schools. Seven of his paintings were featured in a collection at the Indiana Memorial Union at Indiana University. Mr. Bonsib is mentioned in Peter H. Falk’s 1999 “Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975 : 400 Years of Artists in America,”

Mr. Bonsib retired from the Bonsib Advertising Agency in 1972. He died in 1979 at the age of 87.