Bonita Ely (b. 1946, Mildura) established her reputation as an environmental artist in the early 1970s through her work on the Murray Darling rivers. She works across various media and has often addressed feminist, environmental and socio-political issues. Ely’s artwork is part of in national and international collections and has been selected for prestigious national and international events. Recent solo exhibitions include the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2009), the Bellas Milani Gallery, Brisbane (2009), the Performance Space, Sydney (2006) and Museum of Art, Brigham Young University, Salt Lake City (2003–2004). In 2010 she was invited to exhibit in the group shows at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, the Australian Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide, and at Cambelltown Arts Centre, Cambelltown, NSW. Ely is Head of the Sculpture, Performance and Installation Department at COFA, University of New South Wales, where she is a founding member of the Environmental Research Institute for Art (ERIA).