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About

“The essence of being an artist is to confront the thing you’re trying to do, to tackle it head-on and if in wrestling with these things, you manage to make something that’s good, it will have its own beauty…but its not a kind of beauty you can predict, you know, it’s nothing you can strive for. What you have to strive for is to engage with your materials as deeply as you can.”            

Paul Auster, quoted from interview on the Louisiana Channel 

Lucy Barber, an award-winning artist, has been creating art for over fifty years, building a career marked by national and international exhibitions, critical recognition, and numerous grants. Her work has been reviewed in leading publications such as The New York Times, The New York Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, Art New England, and the Maine Sunday Telegram.

 

Barber's work has been shown across the United States since the late 1980s, abroad in Italy, and at the American Embassy in Nicosia, Greece, through the U.S. Department of State’s Art in Embassies Program. Her paintings and drawings are held in private, corporate, and museum collections, including the United States Department of State.

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She has received multiple awards and fellowships, including two Pollock-Krasner Foundation grants, two Halo Arts Fellowship grants, two Maine Arts Commission grants, and several research grants from Bowdoin College, including a travel grant to paint in Italy.

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Born in New York, Barber earned her MFA in painting and drawing from Brooklyn College, City University of New York, and her BFA with a concentration in photography from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. She lived in Brooklyn for 23 years before beginning her teaching career at colleges across the Northeast and in Florida.

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An experienced and dedicated educator, Barber has taught at esteemed institutions such as Pratt Institute, Rhode Island School of Design, Maine College of Art, Ringling College of Art & Design, The College of William & Mary, and Bowdoin College. She continues to teach students of all ages through online courses, private instruction, studio workshops, and classes in educational venues.

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Lucy Barber now lives and works in Sarasota, Florida, and is represented by Soft Water Gallery in St. Petersburg, Florida.

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EDUCATION

Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, Brooklyn, N.Y.  MFA Painting. Graduated with Honors, received graduate fellowship in painting.

Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N.Y., BFA Photography / fine arts. Graduated with Honors.

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GALLERY REPRESENTATION 

Soft Water Gallery, 515 22nd Street, Unit F, St. Petersburg, FL 33712. Lisa Lippincott, Director 727-318-3223

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SOLO EXHIBITIONS and Two-Person Exhibitions

2018   12 x 12 Observed, two-person show, Origami Air Art Gallery, Sarasota, FL. 

2015   The Way I See It; A Nested Unfolding, Sarasota Bay Club Gallery, Sarasota, FL. 

           Paintings, Burns Court Cafe, Sarasota, FL. 2014 and 2015

2006   Paintings and Drawings, Mow Hall Gallery, Riverdale Country School, Bronx, NY.  

2004   Paintings of Italy, The Painting Center Project Room, New York, NY. 

2003   Italian landscape, Lucy Barber and John Moore.  Cimabue Gallery, Montecastello di Vibio, PG, Italy. 2003

2002   Recent Paintings, Denise Bibro Gallery, New York, NY.  2002

2000   Landscape Views In And Around Portland, Davidson & Daughters Gallery, Portland, ME.  2000

1997   Paintings and Drawings, Andrews Gallery, The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA.  1997 

1992   Landscape Paintings, First Street Gallery, New York, NY.  1992

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Selected GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023   - Mixed Messages; Five New Voices. Soft Water Gallery, St. Petersburg, FL 2023

           - Birding: Obsession of Observation. Tenth Street Gallery, Sarasota, FL.

           - FLORA: The Impermanence of Beauty. Tenth Street Gallery, Sarasota FL, 2022-2023

2022   - Past Influences of Present Work. Zeuxis and invited artists. There, New York, NY. 

           - Out of Scale, Zeuxis and invited artists. There, New York, NY. June-July 2022. 

           - For the Love of Chardin; Zeuxis artists. Traveling exhibition, June-October 2022, color catalog. The Miller Art                - Museum, WI June 2022; First Street Gallery, NYC Oct 

           - Distance and Arrival: Petticoat Painters, June 2022, Willis Smith Gallery, Ringling College, Sarasota, FL.

           - Enduring Paths:The Petticoat Collective, Dunedin Fine Arts Center, Dunedin, FL 

2020   - Women’s Work:The Petticoat Collective, Crescendo Gallery, Art Ovation Hotel, Sarasota FL 2020. 

2019   - 25th Anniversary Exhibition, The Painting Center, New York, NY 

           - INTRO: Summer Invitational, GAZE Modern Gallery, Sarasota, FL  

           - Florida’s Finest, Art Center Sarasota, 2019. Juror: Chris Jones, Ringling Museum of Art.

2017   - RISD Faculty Exhibition, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence RI. July, 2017.

2016   - Observation-Reference-Gesture, Willis Smith Gallery, Ringling College of Art & Design, Sarasota.

           - Wish You Were Here, Annual Postcard Show, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. 2016

2015   - Recent Paintings (2014), and Winter Roses for February (2015), Burns Court Café, Sarasota, FL.

           - Art Center Gallery, Sarasota, FL. 2015  

2014   - Faculty Exhibiton, Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota, 2014, 2012

2012   - Lois Dodd, My Students, Firehouse Gallery, Damariscotta, ME. 2012

           - The Common Object, Zeuxis travelling exhibition, 2010-2012, color catalog available.

2009   - Faculty Exhibition, Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota, Fl.  2009

2008   -Small Takes, First Street Gallery, New York, NY.  2008

           -Outside the Box: Zeuxis Paints the Landscape. Delaware College of Art & Design, Wilmington, DE. 2008

2007   -On Board. Lori Bookstein Gallery, NYC.  2007

2006   -A Salon Show with Henri Matisse and…Ober Gallery, Kent, CT. 2006

           -Facets of Perception, Zeuxis traveling exhibition:  Weigand Gallery, CA; Newhouse Center, Staten Island, NY;                 Scweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY; Eleanor White Museum, Roanoke, VA; Alexandre Hogue Gallery, Tulsa OK.             Color Catalog available.  2006-2007

           -Still Life, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME. 2006

2005   -Poetic Dimensions in Modern Still Life, Zeuxis traveling exhibition:  Hofstra University Museum, Hempstead,NY;            -Kouros Gallery, NYC; DuPont Gallery, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA.   2005

2004   -Artists Talk, Gallery at Lyme Academy College of Fine Art, Old Lyme, CT.  2004

           -Spring Invitational Exhibition.  Neptune Fine Art Gallery, New York, NY.  2004

           -Table Top Arenas.  Zeuxis traveling exhibition: Colby College, Museum of Art, Waterville, ME; Lori Bookstein                  Gallery, New York, NY; University of New Hampshire Art Gallery, Durham, NH; Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery,                          Haverford, PA; Ohr-O’keefe Museum of Art, Biloxi, Miss.  Color catalogue available.   2004

           -Human Presence.  Zeuxis exhibition, Acquinas College Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI.  2004

           -Biennial Exhibition, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME. 2004

           -Holiday Group Show. Elan Fine Arts, Rockland, ME. 2004

           -Up Front, Elan Fine Arts, Rockland, ME. 2004

           -A Moveable Feast. Zeuxis Exhibition, Westbeth Gallery, New York, NY.  2003

           -Works on Paper.  Pennsylvania Academy Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.  2003

2003   -Portland Museum of Art Biennial. Portland, ME. 2003

           -New York Collection, 2002.  Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.  2002-03

           -Small Treasures.  HBO Corporate Gallery, HBO World Headquarters, New York, NY.  2003

2002   -Still Life, Art Access Gallery, Bexley, OH.  2002

           -Summer Group Exhibition.  Denise Bibro Gallery, New York, NY.  2002

           -Plein-Air Revisited. Landscape paintings. Andrews Gallery, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA.  2002

           -Uncommon Perspectives: A Collaborative Still Life Project.  Traveling exhibition: Denise Bibro Gallery, New                     York, NY; Hermitage Foundation Museum, Norfolk, VA; Washington Art Association, Washington, CT.  2002-03

           -Prospects: 6 Painters and the Landscape.  Denise Bibro Gallery, New York, NY.  2002

           -Still Lives: A Tradition Retold.  The Saco Museum, Saco, ME. 2002

           -Bowdoin Art Department Faculty Exhibition.  Icon Gallery Contemporary Art, Brunswick, ME.  2002

2001   -2001 Portland Museum of Art Biennial, Portland, ME.  Jurors: David Driskell, painter; Cheryl Brutvan, curator,                 MFA, Boston; Nina Nielsen of Nielson Gallery, Boston, MA.  2001

           -Summer Show, The Painting Center, New York, NY. 2001

           -Serial Thinking. Zeuxis traveling exhibition. Kouros Gallery, New York, NY; University Art Gallery, Wright State                  University, Dayton, OH; Purdue University Art Gallery, West Lafayette, IN.  Color catalogue available.  2001-02

           -Zeuxis / Still Life, Richard Stockton College Art Gallery, Pamona, NJ. 2001.   

           -Still Life.  Rittenhouse Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA.  2001

2000   -Winter Show.  The Painting Center, New York, NY.  2000

           -Still Life Paintings.  Olson Larsen Galleries, West Des Moines, IA.  2000

           -Small Works Invitational.  Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY.  2000

           -Negotiating Time: Faculty 2000 Exhibition.  Institute of Contemporary Art, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME.  2000   -Maine College of Art: Faculty Vision at the Millennium, River Tree Arts Galleries, Kennebunk, ME. 2000

           -Small Works, 23rd Juried Exhibition.  80 Washington Square East Galleries, New York University, New York, NY.              Juror: Tricia Collins of Tricia Collins Contemporary Art, New York, NY.  2000

           -Still Life, Bachelier-Cardonsky Gallery, Kent, CT. 2000

           -Still Life: The Human Presence.  Zeuxis traveling exhibition.  University Art Gallery, University of Wisconsin,                     Madison, WI; Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA; Courtyard Gallery, Washington, DC; Erector                       Square Gallery, New Haven, CT; The Painting Center, New York, NY.  Color catalog available.  1999-2000  

           -Maine College of Art Summer Faculty Exhibition, A.J. Bueche Fine Art, Northeast Harbor, ME. 2000 

1999   -Distilled Life / Zeuxis, Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY. 1999

           -Passages: Small Landscapes.  Maine Coast Artists, Rockport, ME.  1999

           -171st Annual Exhibition. National Academy of Design, New York, NY.  1999

           -Zeuxis At Marywood, Contemporary Gallery, Marywood University, Scranton, PA. 1999

           -Still Life, Bromfield Art Gallery, Boston, MA. 1999

           -Zeuxis / Still Life, Butler Gallery, Marymount College, Tarrytown, NY. 1999

          -Almost New To Town, Davidson & Daughers Contemporary Art, Portland, ME. 1999

1998  -Small Works, 21st Juried Exhibition. 80 Washington Square East Galleries, New York University, New York, NY.               -Juror: Ealan Wingate, Director, Gagosian Gallery, New York, NY.  1998

          -Zeuxis: Small Works.  Sherman Gallery, Boston University, Boston, MA.  1998

          -7th Faculty Show. Muscarelle Museum of Art, The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA.  1998

          -Zeuxis, An Association of Still life Painters with Guests.  Erector Square Gallery, New Haven, CT.  1998

          -Second Annual Small Works Invitational, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY. 1998

          -Small Works.  Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA.  1998

          -One Thing On Top of Another. Zeuxis exhibition. Kerygma Gallery, Ridgewood, NJ.  1998

1997  -Object Lessons. Zeuxis exhibition. The Loomis Chaffee School Gallery, Windsor, CT.  1997

1996  -Thresholds, Reflections, Transformations.  Zeuxis exhibition. The Gallery at Kohn, Pedersen, Fox, New York, NY.  1996  -171st Annual Exhibition. National Academy of Design, New York, NY.  1996

          -Out of the Ordinary, Contemporary Still Life Painting. Zeuxis exhibition. Marymount Manhattan College Gallery,               New York, NY. 1996

         -Two-person Show.  Jewett Exhibition Corridor, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH. 1996

1995  -Foundation Faculty Exhibition.  Pratt Manhattan Gallery, New York, NY.  1995

          -Art in Embassies. American Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus, U.S. Dept. of State. Color catalog available. 1995

          -Intimate Spaces, Zeuxis. Gallery II, Blair Academy, Blaristown, NJ. 1995

          -Landscape Paintings. The Putney School Gallery, Putney, VT. 1995

1994  -Landscape: Works by Women Artists.  Centennial Campus Gallery, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA.  1994

         - Landscape Paintings. Salena Gallery, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY.  1994

         -169th Annual Exhibition.  National Academy of Design, New York, NY.  1994

          -American Landscapes. Two-person show. The Richard Stockton College Art Gallery, Pomona, NJ. 1994

          -Recent Landscape Paintings. Courtyard Gallery, Washington, DC.  1994

          -Still Life. First Story Gallery, Louisville, KY. 1994

          -Recent Oils. Courtyard Gallery, The Washington Studio School, Washington, D.C. 1994

1993  -Small Works.  Denise Bibro Fine Arts, Juror: Gerrit Henry, art critic. 1993

          -Five Contemporary Realists. Asage Gallery, Brooklyn, NY.  1993

          -The Art of Discovery. Krasdale Art Gallery, New York, NY.  1993

          -Blue Mountain Gallery First Street Gallery Prince Street Gallery. The Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ.  1993

          -Highlights: Contemporary Art from the Brown-Forman Collection. Actors Theater, Louisville, KY.  1993

1992   -National Juried Competition. Bowery Gallery, New York, NY. Juror: Louis Finkelstein. 1992

          -National Competition. First Street Gallery, New York, NY. Juror Paul Georges, 1992

          -Something Old Something New. First Street Gallery, New York, NY. 1992

          -Through a Glass Darkly.  First Street Gallery, New York, NY.  1992 

1991  -Alienation in the Industrial Landscape.  First Street Gallery, New York, NY.  1991

           -Unexposed: New Gallery Artists.  First Street Gallery, New York, NY.  1991

           -You Can’t Do That, You’re A Girl. The YMCA Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. 1991

1990   -Juried Show. New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Summit, NJ. 1990

           -Still Life Show.  Ammo Artist's Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 1990

           -Lennart Anderson Selects.  National Juried Competition.  First Street Gallery, New York, NY. 1990

1989   -Master of Fine Art Exhibition. Westbeth Gallery 1, New York, NY. 1989

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SELECTED CORPORATE & PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

    Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, ME                   

    Brown-Forman, Inc., Louisville, KY                                                

    Bryn Mawr College, Scott Memorial Study Collection, Brywn Mawr, PA

    General Electric Corporation                                                             

    Lee Beltzer, Brooklyn, NY

    Lenox, Inc., Lawrenceville, NJ

    Christine Neptune, Neptune Fine Arts, NYC                                     

    Pfizer Incorporated, New York, NY

    United States Department of State

    Numerous private collections

 

SELECTED REVIEWS & PUBLICATIONS

  • 2016    Marty Fugate, Sarasota Herald Tribune, review “Observation-Reference-Gesture,” Willis Smith Gallery, Ringling College of Art & Design, Sarasota. 2016

  • 2007  Maureen Mullarkey, The New York Sun. July 2007. “On Board” at Lori Bookstein Gallery. 

  • The New York Times, New York, NY: 

         2005 Helen Harrison, “Poetic Dimensions in the Modern Still Life.” March 2005

         2001  Ken Johnson, “Serial Thinking,” New York Exhibition. July 2001.

        1996  Holland Cotter, National Academy of Design's 171st National Juried Exhibit. August 17,  1996 (end of                    article).

         1992  Holland Cotter, review of Barber’s first solo exhibition. September 18, 1992

  • 2005  Victoria Donohoe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA. January 30, 2005.  “Tabletop Arenas.”

  • 2003  Philip Isaacson, Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, ME. November 30, 2003.  “Maine Seen” at Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME.

  • 2003  Art New England, Aug/Sept 2003.  “Zeuxis: Uncommon Perspectives” at Attleboro Museum, Attleboro, MA. 

 

AWARDS AND APPOINTMENTS

Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grants  2001, 1994.  Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, NY.  Two grants to support studio work.

Art in Embassies Program. American Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus, U.S. Dept. of State. Color catalog available. 1995

Halo Artists’ Fellowship Grant, Sarasota, FL. 2022, 2021. 

Merit Award, Art Center Gallery, Sarasota, Fl.  2015

Good Idea Grants, Maine Arts Commission, Augusta, ME.  For web site development and study of the human figure.  2003-2005

Rusak Fund Coastal Studies Scholar in Residence Research Grant, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME. "Observing Coastal Change, Representing Sense of Place." 2002

Faculty Research Fund Grants, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME.  “Landscape Painting in Umbria, Italy,” “Form and Meaning: Study of The Human Figure.”    2002-2003

Coastal Studies Scholar-In-Residence, Coastal Studies Center, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME.  Stipend/grant awarded. 2001

Grumbacher Award & Gold Medal, 169th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, NY, NY.  1994 

Critics Grant (Lois Dodd), scholarship for month-long residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT.  1990

Readers Digest Fellowship, awarded while in residence, Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, NY.  1989

Graduate Fellowship In Painting, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY. 1988 

Charles G. Shaw Award in Painting, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY. 1987 

 

TEACHING AND WORKSHOPS

Lucy Barber Art Studio – 1989 - present. Teaching online (since 2017) and in workshops.

•Independent artist working studio. 2002 – present. Maintain and run professional artist studio; making artwork; exhibiting; promotion; create courses; teaching courses; create/edit teaching videos; advising and mentoring; open studio events; promotion on social media. 

 

COLLEGE TEACHING

Rhode Island School of Design Providence, RI -  June – August 2017.

Taught Painting Fundamentals to college-age students, a 6-week, 72 hours intensive class; taught two weekend painting workshops. 

Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota, FL  2008 - 2015

•Instructor CSSP, Figure Drawing, Still-life and Landscape Painting, Figure Collage, . 2012 - 2015. Taught adult and high school age students. 

•Instructor, Figure Drawing, Studio Drawing and Painting Wildacres Retreat Center, NC. A special program of Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota, FL. Fall Session, 2013 & 2014

•Full-Time Visiting Artist (2008-2009), Adjunct Professor (2010-2011), Taught in the degree program to full-time college students, Drawing, Figure Drawing, Color

Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME - Visiting Assistant Professor, two-year appointment. Landscape Painting, Drawing I & II, Painting.  2001-2003

Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, Lyme, CT - Visiting Artist.  Landscape Painting and Color Workshop.  March 2004 and September 2004

Maine College of Art, Portland, ME - Assistant Professor.  First Year Painting, Foundation Drawing, Junior Painting.  1998-2000

College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA - Visiting Assistant Professor.  Painting I, II & III, Foundation Drawing. 1997-1998

Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY - Visiting Assistant Professor.  Foundation Light, Color & Design.  1995-1997

International School of Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture, Umbria, Italy.  - Painting Instructor,  Landscape Painting

University of Tampa, Tampa, FL - Visiting Adjunct Professor.  Intro to Design. 2009

State College of Florida, Bradenton, FL - Adjunct Professor.  Drawing I and Drawing II -  Spring and Fall, 2013

Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY - Instructor.  Drawing, 1996

State University of New York At Farmingdale, Farmingdale, NY - Adjunct Assistant Professor.   Intermediate Drawing, 2D Design, Spring and Fall, 1995

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OTHER TEACHING VENUES

•ACE/SCTI Sarasota, FL. 2014-2020 - Instructor, Drawing Essentials, Painting, Color, Drawing with Color Pencils

Workshops, Classes, Private teaching, in-studio and on location  in the Northeast and Sarasota, FL 2003 – present. Still-life and Landscape Painting, Drawing. 

•Venice Art Center Venice, FL  2020. Landscape Painting, Color Pencil

•Art Center Manatee, Bradenton, FL. 2016 –2017. Painting, Portrait Drawing, Color Pencil.

•Riverdale Country School, Riverdale, NY  - Studio Art Teacher/Upper and Middle School students. Drawing, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Ceramics.  2005-2008

•South Portland, ME School District, South Portland, ME - Independent Art Teacher and Consultant to at-risk High School Age students.  2000-2001

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©2025 Lucy Barber

All rights reserved. 

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