Skip to main content

Columbus Visual Artist Dorothy Gill Barnes Will Receive the $10,000 Award Named in Memory of Former Greater Columbus Arts Council President Raymond J. Hanley

in Press Releases September 23, 2015 3 min read

Columbus, Ohio—The Greater Columbus Arts Council is proud to announce that Columbus visual artist Dorothy Gill Barnes, who works with wood and other natural materials, was selected to receive the 2016 Raymond J. Hanley Award, established in memory of the former Greater Columbus Arts Council President.  An anonymous panel of judges, along with the trustees of the fund chose Barnes as the 7th recipient of the award. The annual $10,000 award from the Raymond J. Hanley Fund at The Columbus Foundation is given to an artist who has demonstrated a high level of achievement while working at least five years in the arts in any discipline. The award money is given without restriction, so that the artist can use it to further his or her career as needed. The award is administered by the Arts Council and supported through the fund created upon Hanley’s death in 2006.

The award will be presented at a private reception Oct. 27, 2015, at the Columbus Museum of Art.

The materials and processes of nature have been a constant presence in Barnes’ art, as she has been shaping and reshaping the possibilities of craft art since the 1970s. Initially known for her intricate and innovative work in basketry, she is now engaged in a wide range of sculptural projects, many of which combine natural materials with glass.

Born in Strawberry Point, Iowa, in 1927, Barnes studied at Coe College, Minneapolis School of Art, Cranbrook Academy and the University of Iowa, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She has lived and worked in Worthington, Ohio, since the late 1950s. She has taught and participated in residencies and workshops in Denmark, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and Canada, as well as throughout the United States, and she continues to work with students as a visiting artist in the glass area of the Department of Art at The Ohio State University.

A Fellow of the American Craft Council and recipient of an individual artist’s Governor’s Award for the Arts in Ohio, she was selected to receive the National Basketry Organization’s lifetime achievement award in 2015. Other awards include the Outstanding/Artist Educator Award from Penland School of Crafts (2013), a lifetime achievement award from the National Museum of Women in the Arts (1993), and several Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowships (1998, 1994, 1986, 1983). Her work is in the collections of the Racine Art Museum, Ohio Craft Museum, Mint Museum, Museum of Arts and Design, New York and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum. Her work is on view through October 17 in the exhibition Flashback to Now at the Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery and has also been exhibited recently at the Ohio Craft Museum (2015), browngrotta arts in Wilton, Connecticut (2014), Wayne Arts Center in Wayne, Pennsylvania (2013), and the Racine Art Museum in Racine, Wisconsin (2011–12).

Says Barnes: “My intent is to construct a vessel or related object using materials respectfully harvested from nature. Some of these objects are basket-like; others are not. Nature’s variety and creativity provide me with almost overwhelming possibilities for design and experimentation. I hope that my works honor the growing things from which they come.”

The Raymond J. Hanley Fund at The Columbus Foundation was created by past chairs of the Greater Columbus Arts Council. The Fund continues the spirit of advocacy and partnership that the Arts Council has encouraged since its inception.

About the Greater Columbus Arts Council: Through vision and leadership, advocacy and collaboration, the Greater Columbus Arts Council supports art and advances the culture of the region. A catalyst for excellence and innovation, the Arts Council funds exemplary artists and arts organizations and provides programs, events and services of public value that educate and engage all audiences in our community. The Arts Council thanks the City of Columbus and the Ohio Arts Council for their continued support. www.gcac.org

CONTACT: Jami Goldstein
(614) 221-8492
jgoldstein@gcac.org