Loretta S. Wonacott Barnett

Professor, Fine and Performing Arts
(603) 526-3668 | lbarnett@colby-sawyer.edu

Joined faculty 1978. M.F.A., Ohio State University. Professor Barnett's art works are visual narratives that are based on still and time-based scenarios that are often not fully realized for the viewer until well after their first encounter. She has long been interested in concept-based sculpture that incorporates drawing, painting, or photography and melds the intellectual and physical aspects of nature. Her current research focus is on the continual breaking down of the barriers between landscape as art and art as landscape and how we as humans connect with the landscape. | faculty profile

Areas of Expertise

• Drawing
• Painting
• Photography
• Sculpture

Teaching Philosophy

I listen to the students and think about their comments; I watch them work, I listen to them present their ideas and formulate their questions, and try to evaluate their learning styles and their capabilities for decision-making and intellectual endeavor. Critiques inform me as to whether or not the course objectives are helping the students understand the content in a way that allows them to develop their own framework for learning.

For the most part, things never get built the way they were drawn. Maya Lin

The concept of process and the connecting of materials in a contextual manner is important, and I try to let the students connect the content to themselves and their histories, all the while encouraging them to listen to what the process of “doing the work” has to tell them every step of the way.

Education

• M.F.A., Ohio State University
• B.F.A., Boise State University