A notable maker, Barbara studied art from childhood in New York City. She received her formal training at Carnegie Institute and Parsons School of Design. Barbara enjoyed a career in the graphic arts, including 11 years as an Art Director at Dell Publishing Co. Inc.
In 1976, Barbara, her husband Bernard and 2 children, moved to Denver CO where she began her artistic explorations and creative expression in the fiber arts. Although often abstract, Cohen’s intuitively created art quilts always derive from personal feelings and events. Many prominent shows, including Quilt National and Fiber Arts International, have exhibited Cohen’s work.
In 2005, finding the immediacy of the medium inspiring, Cohen began working in mosaics using her impressive collection of found objects, dishes, and ceramic tiles. Her work is full of color and humor and many pieces are in private collections.
In 2013, after 37 years in Denver, Barbara relocated again, this time to Portland Oregon. She is semi-retired now (can one ever retire from being an artist?) and a member of the Columbia Fiberarts Guild of Portland. She will be their Programs and Workshops chairperson in 2015.
Selected Exhibitions
- The Art of Mosaics, Juried, Broomfield Auditorium Gallery, Broomfield, CO
- MySelf, Original Self-Portraits, Mosaics, Juried, Mizel Museum, Denver, CO
- Don’t Fence Me In, Art Quilts, Longmont Museum, Longmont, CO, Invitational
- Women’s Caucus for Art, Mosaic work, Juried. Lakewood Cultural Center, Lakewood, CO
- Words Within, Art Quilt, JWAN National Juried, Columbia/Barnard University, NYC,
- Colorado Jewish Artists Guild, Mosaics, Juried, BMH Congregation, Denver, CO
- Foothills Gallery, Golden, CO, “Rooted in Transition”, Art Quilt, Invited Artist
- Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. Golden, CO, “Small Works” Juried
- Canaan Gallery, Littleton, CO. Juried
- Longmont Museum, Longmont, CO. Dolls with Altitude, Invited Artist
- Aurora Municipal Center Gallery, Fiber, Aurora, CO. Invited Artist
- Dearborn Rieder Gallery, Fiber, Boulder, CO. Invited Artist
- Art Students League, Denver, CO. Invited Artist
- Longmont Museum, Boulder, CO, Pot Luck. Invited Artist
- Oz Architecture Gallery, Denver, CO. Invited Artist
- DairyCenter for the Arts, Boulder, CO. Quilts=Art=Quilts, Invited Artist
- Fiberart International 01, Pittsburgh, PA, Juried
- Quilt National 01, The Dairy Barn, Athens, Ohio. Juried
- Tu B’Shevat: The New Year of the Trees, Epstein Gallery at the JCC of Metropolitan Detroit, MI, Curator and Commissioned Artist
- All Colorado Art Show 2000, Curtis Arts & Humanities Center, Englewood, CO. Juried
- Piecemakers Show, Thirteen Moons Gallery, Santa Fe, NM. Invited Artist
Publications
Rooted in Transition: Art Quilts from the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, 2005
Fiberarts Design Book Seven, Lark Books, 2004
Fiberarts Magazine, Nov/Dec 2001, Review of Quilt National, page 54.
2001 Fiberart International 17th Biennial Exhibition Catalog, Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh, 2001, page 12.
Popular Patchwork Magazine, London, England, September, 2001, Quilt National Review: pages 28-29.
Quilt National: The Best Contemporary Quilts, Lark Books, 2000.
One Quilt One Moment: Quilts That Change Lives, Primedia Publishing, 2000.
