Barbara Januszkiewicz is a

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

–based American multimedia artist, creative activist, and teacher known for her stained neo- Color field

abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

paintings. She works in water-based media, specifically watercolor and diluted acrylic paint on unprepared canvas in the manner of

Morris Louis Morris Louis Bernstein (November 28, 1912 – September 7, 1962), known professionally as Morris Louis, was an American painter. During the 1950s he became one of the earliest exponents of Color Field painting. While living in Washington, D ...

and

Helen Frankenthaler Helen Frankenthaler (December 12, 1928 – December 27, 2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades (early 1950s u ...

. She uses brushes to control her fans of color rather than create pours in her color field works. Januszkiewicz's paintings are inspired by her interest in the overlap of the vocabularies involved with visual art and music. Her visual interpretation in painting employs large color fields that meld and overlap in translucent layers, evoking the rhythm and flow of her musical inspiration. Januszkiewicz is listed as a notable artist presented at the

Artomatic Artomatic is a multi-week, multimedia arts event held in the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It was founded by Washington, D.C. artist and arts activist George Koch. The non-juried, open event has provided a forum for artists of ...

exhibition. She has done a documentary film work with musical composer

Matthew Shipp Matthew Shipp (born December 7, 1960) is an American avant-garde jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader. Early life and education Shipp was raised in Wilmington, Delaware. His mother was a friend of trumpeter Clifford Brown. He began playing ...

, sculptor Hilda Thorpe, and painter

Paul Reed Paul Reed may refer to: * P. Booker Reed (1842–1913), mayor of Louisville, Kentucky *Paul Reed (artist) (1919–2015), American artist *Paul Reed (basketball) (born 1999), American basketball player *Paul Reed (actor) (1909–2007), American actor ...

Education

Januszkiewicz was trained under the Chinese master Mun Quan at

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Located in the city's Arlington (Jacksonville), Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonvill ...

in the late 1970s.

, a member of the

Washington Color School The Washington Color School, also known as the Washington, D.C., Color School, was an art movement starting during the 1950s–1970s in Washington, D.C., in the United States, built of abstract expressionist artists. The movement emerged during ...

, mentored Januszkiewicz.

Career

In 1997, Januszkiewicz began doing research on the Washington Color School by interviewing Hilda Thorpe. The interview was printed in the Washington Review Newspaper Volume XXV1 No.1 June/July 2000, and broadcast on Public Access TV stations as part of a Creative Vision for the Arts around the Metropolitan DC area. It is now archived on YouTube. In 2014, Januszkiewicz continued doing historical research for the documentary film about the Washington Color School titled "Unprimed Canvas".

acted as a historical consultant for the film which was released in 2015. Also in 2015 Januszkiewicz launched a pay it forward, noncommercial gallery space, Metro Micro Gallery in

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several County (United States), counties and independent city (United States), independent cities in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. ...

. In 2016 while continuing to research the Washington Color School Januszkiewicz was granted access to the Melzac Collection, the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

's so-called "secret" collection of works of abstract art. In 2017, Januszkiewicz was commissioned to do a 30 foot long fine art mural, titled "Coming Together". This project was intended to help with the revitalization, preservation, and redevelopment of the Virginia Square area in

Arlington Arlington most often refers to: *Arlington, Virginia **Arlington National Cemetery, a United States military cemetery *Arlington, Texas Arlington may also refer to: Places Australia *Arlington light rail station, on the Inner West Light Rail in S ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. In 2019, Januszkiewicz was commissioned to do several works for the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing Columbia Hills Apartments in

. In 2020 Januszkiewicz's work appeared in "Statecraft: The Bush 41 Team", a TV Movie; which was released on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. In 2021 Januszkiewicz's work was shown internationally at the transcendence themed " Art in Embassies" exhibition in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. In 2022 Januszkiewicz was selected to do the art installation at the new MetroStage theater of the new Alexandria Art District.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Januszkiewicz, Barbara Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Painters from Washington, D.C. Abstract expressionist artists Jacksonville University alumni 21st-century American women educators 21st-century American educators