Barbara Earl Thomas

Barbara Earl Thomas is a visual artist and a writer. She has exhibited her work for more than 30 years in exhibitions at the Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, and Meadows Museum of Art, and her work is in corporate collections including Microsoft and Safeco. She is the recipient of numerous awards, such as a Mayor’s Arts Award and the Howard S. Wright Award from the Seattle Arts Commission, and residencies at Pilchuck, Tacoma Museum of Glass, and Hedgebrook. Her recent public art commissions include a laser-cut steel screen for Sound Transit and The Story House, a roofless, site-specific structure at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. Thomas studied under renowned painter Jacob Lawrence. She works in many mediums and materials, including painting, glass, paper, metal, wood, and egg tempera. In addition to her work as a visual artist, Barbara is an author, administrator, fundraiser, advisor, and former Executive Director of the Northwest African American Museum. In 2012, she left her post at NAAM to focus on her art. She is currently at work on new pieces for a solo exhibition at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art opening in June.