ART EXHIBIT SPOTLIGHT

Cassandra Christensen Barney received her bachelor of fine arts with a teaching certificate in art education and her master of fine arts from Brigham Young University. She resides in Utah Valley where she works side by side with her family of artists: her husband, professor of art at BYU, and her father, James Christensen. Barney expresses, "I love to be a wife and mother but…when the little ones go off to school and I step into my beautiful studio and take that first deep breath of studio smells, I'm as happy as a girl can be. I've never lacked in ideas or a desire to paint. I do, however, find each painting a challenge, wanting it to be better than the last."

Barney's images capture the souls of heroines, everyday women who have found strength and personal victory in their diverse experiences. Her portraits carry a range of emotion reflective of the events that have shaped their character. Ambiguous and poignant, Cassandra's women find strength in their femininity. "They are beautiful and strong, because of the complexity of their feminine nature. My portraits may not always feature the outwardly pretty or majestic, but they all share a quiet beauty that asks us to listen and to feel.”

Barney has held exhibits at BYU-Idaho, Thanksgiving Point’s Plein Air Paint Fest, and in Ohio and Connecticut. She has also been invited to exhibit her artwork at several locations, including the Portrait Invitational, Blue Gallery in Kansas City, Missouri; Holding on to Paradise, Heritage Gallery in Cannon Beach, Oregon; Walled Gardens, Art Access also featuring the works of James Christensen and Emily McPhie in Salt Lake City, Utah; and Works on Paper, Greenwich Fine Art Gallery in Fairfield, Connecticut.

The Women’s Research Institute Art Exhibit is located in 1063 JFSB. It is open to all and will run from August to December 2009.