I have roamed the shores of the Maine coast since the early 1950’s, when I came to visit my grandmother on Mount Desert Island. With my sisters and father, we climbed the mountains, swam every morning in the sea, and sailed only when it was windy. From there my visual world was formed which I have shared through teaching, raising children, and the making of art. I relish intuition, cherish spontaneity, and strive for beauty. My artistic roots are grounded in abstract expressionism with Kandinsky, Twombly, and Dine. I love color with all its complexities and the evidence of stroke by an emotional hand.
Resume
EDUCATION
Columbia University, M.F.A.
Pacific Northwest College of Art, B.F.A. Colorado College, B.A.
GRANTS – AWARDS
Individual Artist Grant, Connecticut Commission on the Arts, NEA
Charles Voorhies Memorial Drawing Award, Pacific Northwest College of Art
Wilson and Johnson Scholarship; Portland Art Museum Women’s Council Award
MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
Four in Maine: Drawing, Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, ME 2011
Inspiring Sensitivity, Discovery Museum, Bridgeport, CT 1993
Oregon Biennial, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR 1978, 1981
ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS (selected)
Artemis Gallery 2016, 2018, 2021, 2023
Elizabeth Moss Gallery, Falmouth, ME 2012, 2014, 2016
Turtle Gallery, Deer Isle, ME 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2020, 2022
Poetics20 , Pascal Hall, Rockport, ME 2014
North Haven Gallery, North Haven, ME 2013
Ten High Street Gallery, Camden, ME 2012
Andre Zarre Gallery, New York, NY 2012
Giampietro gallery, New Haven, CT 2011
Moss Gallery, Northeast Harbor, Maine 2008
Houston North Gallery, Lunenberg, Nova Scotia, Canada 2003, 2005
Studio 45, Brooklyn, NY 2004
Water Street Gallery, Seamen’s Church Institute, New York, NY 2001
Treasure Room Gallery, The Interchurch Center, New York, NY 1999
Erector Square Gallery, New Haven, CT 1996
Showcase Gallery, Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Hartford, CT 1994
Erector Square Gallery, New Haven, Ct 1993
Jameson / Thomas Gallery, Portland, OR 1993
Erector Square Gallery, New Haven, CT 1990
JURIED – INVITATIONAL EXHIBITIONS (selected)
Sam Sahw MDI Open, Northeast Harbor, ME 2019, 2020, 2021
Artemis Gallery, Bar Harbor, ME 2013, 2014
Continuing Connections , Turtle Gallery, Deer Isle, ME 2012
Peninsula Painters , Shaw Jewelry, Northeast Harbor, ME 2011
Ten High Street Gallery, Camden, ME 2010, 2011
Patterns of Nature , Aarhus Gallery, Belfast, ME 2010
Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill, ME 2010
Gallery Artists , Turtle Gallery, Deer Isle, ME 2006, 2008, 2010
Handworks Gallery, Blue Hill, ME 2006, 2009
Courthouse Gallery, Ellsworth, ME 2009
Blum Gallery, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME 2009
Deer Isle Art Association, Deer Isle, ME 2009, 2010
Never Routine: Women in Their Daily Lives , Grace Institute, NY, NY 2008
Points of View , Tabla Rasa Gallery, Brooklyn, NY 2007
Landscapes and Beyond , MF Adams Gallery, Brooklyn, NY 2005
25th Anniversary BWAC Preview Exhibition , City Hall, Brooklyn, NY 2005
Painters, Musicians and Sculptors , Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY 2004
DUMBO 3, GAle GAtes et al. , Brooklyn, NY 1998
GLSP Faculty Exhibition , Zilka Gallery, Wesleyan University, CT 1994, 1995, 1997
Hilles Gallery, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT 1993,1994
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Kaiser Permanente Foundation
Orbanco Financial Services Corporation
Philip Morris Corporation
State of Washington – Light Works Collection
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS List available upon request
BIBLIOGRAPHY – REVIEWS
Maine Home + Design The Canvas 2012, 2016
Maine Home + Design, Showcase, July 2014
Bangor Metro, “Climbing Over Art”, by Annaliese Jakimides, August 2011
The Coastal Journal, “Mary Barnes: breaking art boundaries with imagination”, by L. Jaye Bell, August 2011
Art New England, “Where to Draw the Line”, by Carl Little, May/June 2011
Maine Sunday Telegram, “Drawing with a Pulse”, by Philip Isaacson, May 15, 2010
Journal of American Pharmacists Association: Nov/Dec 2001, vol. 41, No. 6
St. Ann’s Review, A Journal of Contemporary Arts and Letters: Winter/Spring 2002
Investing In Dreams, CT Commission on the Arts Statewide Museum Collaboration, 1995
New Haven Register: “Grant Keeps Local Artists’ Dreams Alive”, by Lynn Post 1993
New Haven Register: “Erector Square Artists Prove Abstract Worlds Yield Concrete Results”, by Judy Birke, October 17, 1993
Oregonian: “Critic’s Choice“, by Joel Weinstein, May 21, 1993
New Haven Register: “One-Woman Show: Huge Canvases with Heavy Spirit“, by Maxim Olderman, April 15, 1990
New Haven Register: ”Barnes’ Art Speaks Both Control and Power”, by Shirley Gonzales October 9, 1988
Willamette Week: “Another Opinion”, by Alfred E. Hammer March 30, 1982
Willamette Week: “Around the Galleries”, by Paul Sutinen March 9, 1982
TEACHING PROFESSION
Community Arts Program, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME, HS Drawing Workshop 2010
Sound and Sight Drawing Workshop, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME 2007
LandEscapes, Mount Desert Island, ME Expressive Drawing Workshop 2006
Saint Ann’s School, Brooklyn, NY Faculty 1997 – 2005
Wesleyan University, Graduate Liberal Studies Program, Middletown, CT, Visiting Faculty 1992, 1994 – 2003, Thesis Advisor 1994-2004
Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT, Faculty 1986-1995 Department Head – Drawing and Painting 1989-1993
Connecticut Prison Association, Correctional Art Program, Hartford, CT Artist in Residence 1991 – 1993
North Branford Intermediate School – ACES Program, North Branford, CT, Visiting Faculty 1991
Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, Portland, OR, Faculty 1981 – 1983 Department Head – Drawing and Design 1981 – 1983
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
First Light – Cohort II – Peter Forbes Indigenous Learnings Participant 2020 – present
Blue Hill Heritage Trust, ME; President, 2010 – 2015 Director 2009 – present
Somesville Landing Corporation; President, 2014 – 2015 Director 2012 – present
Blue Hill Coop, ME; Art in the Cafe Exhibition Coordinator 2008 – present
Volunteers of Hancock County Jail, ME; Art Exhibition Coordinator 2007
College of the Atlantic, ME; Community Member, Ad Hoc Trustee Arts Committee 2007
Brooklyn Working Artist’s Coalition , NY ;Board of Directors, 2000 – 04; Treas. 2003-04
South Street Seaport Museum, NY; Benefit co-chair 2003, 2004