Barbara Rogers

Barbara Rogers grew up in a small town in Northern Ohio surrounded by the lush greens of the verdant natural world. Early, formative childhood influences included her mother, an accomplished seamstress and clothing designer. Her young aunts who included her in their love of the worlds of glamor and fashion. Her father who was an inventor and a “fix it all” kind of man and her great uncle who crafted furniture that he then decorated with stencils. Influenced by industrious and creative family members, she filled a proverbial tool box with techniques and materials. But more importantly, she learned the value of a dedicated creative practice supported by a committed work ethic. She graduated with a B.S.E degree in Art Education from Ohio University. In California, she studied painting at the San Francisco Art Institute with Richard Diebenkorn, Elmer Bischoff, and Frank Lobdell. She studied life drawing with Nathan Oliver at California College of Arts and Crafts. She received the Eisner Prize and her MA in Painting from the University of California at Berkeley. At UC Berkeley, she studied with NY painters Michael Goldberg and Angelo Ippolito. Her major professor was the Chicago painter, Felix Revolo. Rogers has been a faculty member or visiting artist at the University of California, Berkeley, CA, University of Chicago, San Jose State University, The San Francisco Art Institute, Cooper Union, New York City, NY, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA. Pusan National University, Pusan, South Korea, and Zayed University in Abu Dhabi. In 2007, after numerous mentoring and teaching awards, Rogers retired from the University of Arizona, and most recently was a Professor Emeritus of Painting and Drawing in The School of Art at The University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ. For Rogers, painting is just another truth. Her work explores ideas of paradise, destruction, vulnerability and beauty — evoking the sublime. She paints to transcend daily life, and hopes her work reminds others to cherish the earth.