Colorado University Athletics
Mary Barnett Exhibit 'From the Heart ... Paintings With Purpose' To Benefit Suicide Prevention
July 28, 2020 | General, Neill Woelk
Exhibit Opens Sept. 3 In Boulder At Mary Williams Fine Arts
BOULDER — When Mary Barnett sits down to paint, there is no "game plan."
"I know who I am and I just start working," she said. "I'll decide, 'I'm going to start with these colors, and get them down.' Then I start to see things ... It's sort of like a Rorschach test. I see things and they develop. Those things relate to ideas that are going on my head — places I've been, things I have and have not loved. Then it just evolves."
What has evolved in the long run is an impressive art career for Barnett. Named as one of America's "Top 10 Artists to Watch" by Watercolor Artists magazine, she has produced a stellar collection of work. Much of that work will be on display when Mary Williams Fine Arts in Boulder hosts an exhibit entitled, "FROM THE HEART… Paintings with Purpose," beginning Sept. 3 and running through Sept. 19.
All of Mary's proceeds from the exhibit will go to the Mary and Gary Barnett Family Foundation to help support prevention of youth suicide in the Boulder area. Mary Williams Fine Arts will also be contributing a portion of their sales.
"What better way to spend your time, especially now," she said. "With all that's going on, people are asking themselves how they can help. I feel like I can volunteer in my own studio. That makes my art have power and purpose."
Art has always been a part of Barnett's life. She began working as an art teacher soon after graduation from college, a career she continued while her husband, Gary (a University of Colorado Athletics Hall of Fame member), climbed the football coaching ladder.
Then, however, she did more teaching than creating.
"Having kids, teaching school and being a coach's wife, I didn't really have much time to devote to my art" she said. "At the time, I didn't think that much about it, but for the past 10 years I have been able to commit myself to creating art. This has enabled me to help our foundation in a meaningful way. I feel great gratitude and pride that I am able to do this."
For Barnett, that came after her husband's time as Colorado's head coach ended following the 2005 season. It was a tumultuous, unsettling period in their lives, and she found refuge in front of a canvas.
"I knew I had to use my talents, especially when I was going through things that were difficult and hard to understand," she said.
Over the years, Barnett has said her work must travel the road of "complexity and confusion before finding clarity and purpose." It is a process she embraces.
"It's like anything that you do that is a question or a problem — everything is thrown up in the air," she said. "It's like when you clean out your closet. What are you going to do with all these things? But if you stay with it, things fall into place. Whether it be gentle or abrupt, there's really no better feeling than when things start to work."
It is, she says with a laugh, virtually the opposite of the process she spent decades watching her husband employ. Football coaches leave nothing to chance and everything is planned down to the smallest detail.
"That's one of the reasons I love Gary," she said. "He is part of the opposite of me, and I may be part of the opposite of him. When I paint, I don't have a start or stop time, a parameter, or a deadline. There's not a game plan … you can't force it. Everything I do is from my head and my heart, mostly from my heart."
But, just like a great athlete, Barnett also knows when she finds her "zone." When that occurs, she catches herself whistling, humming and even singing.
"I can tell when I'm in the zone," she chuckled. "It's kind of crazy, but you are there in the moment and you don't give a rip about anything else. You are just there doing your thing."
Barnett's abstracts often display vivid, bold brushstrokes and colors that encourage viewers to engage their imagination. In 2017, noted artist Katherine Chang Liu called Barnett a "keen observer" with a "poetic and spiritual viewpoint."
"Her images showcase her strong expressive ability and fluid brush marks," Liu said. "We're attracted to these images not just for what she adds, but also what she erases from the surface of the paintings."
As her career has blossomed, Barnett has learned that opinions in the art world are perhaps even more vast and varied than in the world of sport. She has also come to appreciate when a piece resonates with someone.
"It's one of the reasons I love what I do," she said. "I realize people will not always understand my work, but when they do there is no better feeling."
With her latest exhibit, she hopes her work will speak to people and benefit the Barnett Foundation as a result. The foundation, founded in 2004, supports non-profits and their efforts to prevent suicide, including Buffs4Life. The CU football team has been hit hard over the years by suicide and it has become an issue of great importance to the Barnetts.
"When you are in a high-profile position like coaching, you automatically have a voice, whether you want it or not.," Barnett said. "You have to respect that and use it to the best of your abilities."
Mary hopes her upcoming exhibit will produce an equally impactful voice, especially in such a period of turmoil across the nation and around the world.
"This has been a time for people to think outside of the way they normally think," she said. "Owning art is a wonderful way of connecting you to things that are meaningful to you, thus providing all of us with a much needed outlet. I believe this is a welcome opportunity."
Mary Barnett's "FROM THE HEART ....Paintings With Purpose" will be installed at Mary Williams Fine Arts in Boulder on Sept. 3 and runs through September 19. The show and sale can be viewed online as well as in person by appointment. All of Mary's proceeds will go to the Mary and Gary Barnett Family Foundation. Mary Williams Fine Arts will also be donating a portion of its proceeds as well. For more information about Mary's work please visit marywilliamsfinearts.com and marybarnettart.com.
