Raised in New Mexico, Christi Bonner Manuelito grew up around art in Santa Fe and graduated with an art history and art studio degree from the University of New Mexico, where she was also amember of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Upon graduating from UNM, she began working in galleries to learn the business of the Art World. In 1996, she started her gallery experience by selling Native American fine art rugs in Scottsdale, AZ. Upon the closure of that gallery, in 1997, she started working at a different fine art gallery also in Scottsdale doing their promotional work and quickly moved into sales for the next 5 years. In 2002, she and partner Clark David Olson opened Bonner David Galleries in Scottsdale, AZ and in 2020, opened their second location in New York City.
For over 25 years she has curated hundreds of gallery exhibitions as well as collections for avid art collectors. In addition, Manuelito has assisted with the cultivation of many now famous artists locally and internationally and has advanced her gallery artists visibility by participating in many well-known contemporary art fairs across the west; Art San Francisco, LA Art Show, Art Santa Fe and Art Aspen to name a few. Manuelito currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona with her son Jett, her pup Daisy, and travels to New York for her second gallery’s exhibitions. Most recently, her gallery in New York & its director Rebecca Rosenfield won the distinguished Otty award given out by Straus News and currently are Patrons Club members at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.