Shadow Lessons

Imagine waking up one morning at age fifty. You're a noted, published artist whose work hangs all over the world. Then imagine finding yourself standing in front of thirty-five at-risk African American high school students in an inner-city classroom in one of the most difficult high schools in the country.

It's your job to teach them, and you've never taught a day in your life.

This is the story of an artist who did just that. It is a moving story of a middle-aged white artist who dared to venture into the inner city of Savannah, Georgia, and attempt to teach in one of the first all-black high schools for children of freed slaves in America. Yet Shadow Lessons is not another ""teacher saves the day"" book. It is a story of beauty and ugliness, life and death, joy and sorrow, laughter and despair.

Shadow Lessons takes us beyond the classroom on a compelling journey of compassion, healing, and transformation.


""Bonnell takes us into an at-risk school with both sacred and kick-ass prose that weaves Steinbeck-like storytelling with art theory, history, practice, and pedagogy. Everyone in need of reconnecting with his or her own humanity should read this book.""
--Stephen Knudsen, contributing editor and critic, ARTPULSE Magazine

""I found myself reading Shadow Lessons very slowly. When I finally finished I realized why. I just didn't want it to end.""
--Phil Ginsburg, writer and performer

""Read, weep, enjoy, and learn. Shadow Lessons is a lot like Bonnell's sacred art: both offer fresh, new, and sometimes hard insights.""
--Steve Starr, photojournalist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for News Photography (1970)

""Shadow Lessons paints an intimate, candid, and harrowing portrait of a desperate corner of America, where dire circumstances mock the very idea of hope. In the midst of this bleak landscape, Bonnell introduces us to one remarkable character after another--with compassion, humility, and humor--and ultimately reveals the indomitability of the human spirit in the face of crushing adversity. An unforgettable read.""
--JohnEdmark, lecturer, Stanford University



Daniel Bonnell is a noted published artist whose work is found around the world, in churches, cathedrals, and private collections. He obtained his BFA from the Atlanta College of Art and his MFA from Savannah College of Art and Design, and he studied under the renowned artists Ansel Adams, Ed Ross, and Milton Glaser. Daniel Bonnell's art may be viewed at www.BonnellArt.com.