Barbara Gothard

Barbara Gothard, PhD is an African American contemporary Palm Springs artist whose creative practice is focused on contradictions and the challenge/promise of change. She is a productive artist exhibiting locally, nationally and internationally and also enjoyed a high-level corporate career. Having weathered her own dramatic personal changes as an indirect catalyst to significant professional changes, she evolved from one transition to another on her non-linear career path, Gothard, who always wanted to be an artist and dreamed of traveling, grew up in a landlocked town in Illinois and was fortunate that her mother’s recognition of this interest resulted in Saturday art classes starting in the second grade. From modest roots to traditional art training - Mount Mary University (BA Art, Education), Long Island University (MA Art, Education), Michigan State University (Ph.D. Educational Administration), art educator, to global business and residencies, she is compelled to translate these obstacles-as-opportunities into the unfolding mysteries of complex spatial relationships in her artwork.