We were lucky to catch up with Audrey Barcio recently and have shared our conversation below.

Audrey , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?

I’ve had the opportunity to hold several different professional positions with non-profits, commercial galleries and museums. Contributing in these spaces and learning more about the “behind the scenes” realities of the art field has empowered me as an artist and educator. I’ve learned first hand how vital everyone is, from the art handlers, to the curators and directors, all working together to exhibit and promote an artist’s work.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I split my time between Chicago, IL and Muncie, IN where I’m an Assistant Professor of art at Ball State University. Currently I’m engaged in a public sculpture commission, my most significant permanent public sculpture to date, which will be completed in late summer or fall of 2024. I’ve been honored to have recently received a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, and to have been nominated for a Joan Mitchell Fellowship. Lee Krasner and Joan Mitchell are such important artists. I have been so inspired by their work in the field of abstraction, and by the legacies they created as female artists. The recognition and support from those two incredible foundations has been a tremendous boost to my confidence.

I earned my MFA from the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) and my BAE from Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis. I’ve completed residencies at the Pont-Aven School of Contemporary Art in Brittany, France, the Vermont Student Center in Johnson, Vermont, and at The Rogers Foundation in Las Vegas. My work has been featured in New American Paintings, and I’m grateful that so several of my solo exhibitions and public commissions have been reviewed by critics at some wonderful publications, including New Art Examiner, Occhi Magazine, PATTERN, NUVO, and Las Vegas Weekly. Some of my major recent exhibitions include solo shows at Tube Factory Artspace, Syracuse University, the Las Vegas Government Center, Echo Arts in Bozeman, Montana, and my biggest show to date, which was at The Studio at Sahara West in Las Vegas last summer. My work has made it into some wonderful institutional collections, including the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art and The Rogers Foundation, and I’m grateful to have so many private collectors who support my practice as well.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think about this question a lot as an Assistant Professor of Art – how can we support the next generation of artists. For me, it comes down to listening to what is important to artists today, and paying attention to what is impacting their research. What do they have to say? How do they share their ideas with others? And how can artists be given the freedom to explore the topics that matter to them? I believe artists are agents of change. Societies flourish when they foster artists’ ability to communicate freely through their art in ways that can spark discussion and conversation.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me the most rewarding aspect of being a painter is when a work is completely resolved. Knowing when a painting is finished and it’s time to stop working on it can be a challenge. Long hours in the studio can play with your mind. The “what if I did this or that” can creep in. The only way to get beyond these thoughts is to either try every avenue and test every idea, or trust your instincts and stay on the path. It can be frustrating to work through these moments (usually alone in the studio) but this is also where the magic lies.

Contact Info:

• Website: audreybarcio.com
• Instagram: @audreybarcio

Image Credits
Artwork images credits -Becca Schwartz