Lisa Marie Barber

Lisa Marie Barber is a Professor of Art at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, where she also serves as Director of Liberal Studies and Academic Director of the UW Collaborative AAS program. She has been a faculty member since at least 2006 and served as Chair of the Art and Design Department from 2012-2018. Barber earned her MFA from the University of Texas at Austin in 1998 and has established herself as a prominent ceramic artist with national recognition.

Barber's research is deeply rooted in Mexican Folk Art and Latin American Catholic shrines from her childhood in Tucson, Arizona. Her work centers on creating large-scale ceramic sculptures and installations from recycled clay, along with functional vessels, clothing, paintings, and mixed-media quilts. Her aesthetic philosophy embraces ornamentation, excess to denote value, simple tools, and visible evidence of the maker's hand. Her creations explore themes of home, gardens, friendship, peacefulness, playfulness, and celebration as personal meditations on everyday beauty and happiness.

Her recent publications reflect her expertise in borderland art traditions and ceramic installations. Barber's work has been featured in prestigious venues including the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum, which acquired her work for their permanent collection. She has received numerous awards for her ceramic sculptures, including first place at the Workhouse Clay International 2023 and a purchase award from the South Bend Museum of Art.

• Biennial 32 Purchase Award, South Bend Museum of Art (2023)
• First Place Award, Workhouse Clay International (2023)
• Merrick Award, San Angelo National Ceramics Competition (2022)
• Racine Art Museum Fellowship Award (2014)
• Stella Gray Teaching Excellence Award (2022)

As an educator, Barber developed and launched the General Education course 'Lowriders, Kicks, and Graffiti' in 2022, sharing her passion for Mexican American and African American visual culture. She has served in numerous leadership roles including Committee on Academic Planning chair (2014-2022), UW-Parkside's 50th Anniversary Celebration co-chair (2017-2019), and Academic Director of the UW Collaborative Online Associate of Arts and Sciences. Beyond campus, she serves on the Racine Art Museum Board of Directors and the Kenosha Commission on the Arts (2019-2022).