MINNEAPOLIS, MN.- PRNewswire Judy Onofrio (oh-noh-free-oh) has been telling sculptural stories for more than 30 years -- stories that begin with collections of found treasures including buttons, bottle caps, and beads, and culminate in grand-scale intricate sculptures. Now, this Rochester artist with a national reputation will receive The McKnight Foundation's Distinguished Artist Award for 2005.

The $40,000 award is given each year to a working artist whose long career has made a significant impact on the arts in Minnesota and beyond.

"Judy Onofrio's work is a testament to Minnesota's vibrant, creative artist community," says Erika L. Binger, McKnight board chair. "With striking vision and storytelling abilities, Judy is able to present some of the most fundamental elements of the human experience -- at times dark and serious, but always with humor and true imagination. She is one of the nation's most innovative, dynamic sculptors and we are proud and honored that she has called Minnesota home for almost 40 years."

As a child in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Onofrio combed the sand and boardwalks for shells, ticket stubs, costume jewelry, and other tourist flotsam. She wrapped imagined stories around the bits and pieces left behind at season's end, which led to her love of storytelling. Today, Onofrio's sculptures allow her to tell stories and re-create memories, and always provide an active narrative for her work. While found objects are the foundation of Onofrio's sculpture, her subject matter is decidedly organic, focusing on people, animals, birds, and fish, and addressing moral themes like good, evil, passion, and desire.

"Judyland" -- the tongue-in-cheek name Onofrio has given to her sculpture-filled Rochester garden -- celebrates Onofrio's art, which is both playful and surreal. The garden, along with her organic approach to building objects, is inspired by the legacy of her great aunt Trude, an artist herself until the day she died at age 90 and the source of Onofrio's first and lasting artistic motivation.

Over the years, Onofrio worked in clay and experimented with everything from painting and drawing to pyrotechnic sculpture. However, Onofrio's found-object, mosaic sculpture focus was established in 1993 when she was offered the opportunity of a lifetime -- her own grand-scale show at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, her first major museum exhibition. Inspired by her garden, the show was aptly titled "Judyland."

Abundant materials and resources and a community of fellow artists as tight-knit as a family are just a few of the things that keep Onofrio rooted in Minnesota. "I simply cannot fathom working anywhere else," Onofrio says. "I'd never have been able to find the connections for materials, the freedom to work on such a grand scale, or such a diverse group of artists who have become my dear friends."

"It is such a privilege to have the freedom and support to do what I do," continues Onofrio. "The Distinguished Artists Award is an example of how supportive the Minnesota arts community is, and I am truly honored and appreciative of this recognition."

Onofrio also has received a McKnight Artist Fellowship (1995) and a Bush Fellowship in the Visual Arts.

The McKnight Distinguished Artist Award recognizes creative individuals who, individually and collectively, have laid the foundation for the rich cultural life Minnesota enjoys today. In many cases, they had opportunities to pursue their work elsewhere, but they chose to stay -- and by staying, they have made a difference.

Onofrio was selected by a four-person panel, which considers several hundred nominated artists every year. Previous recipients are composer Dominick Argento (1998), ceramic artist Warren MacKenzie (1999), writer and translator Robert Bly (2000), choral conductor and arranger Dale Warland (2001), literary artist and publisher Emilie Buchwald (2002), painter Mike Lynch (2003), and orchestra conductor and composer Stanislaw Skrowaczewski (2004).

This autumn The McKnight Foundation will publish a commemorative volume about Onofrio's work, and will formally present the 2005 Distinguished Artist Award to Onofrio at a private reception.