Barbara Leahy-Edwards is an artist and an advocate for women. With her work’s primary focus on that of the abstract, she specializes in vibrant colors and energetic shapes. Her pieces are influenced by a wide range of emotions, with the common underlying theme of overcoming obstacles and persevering. She takes inspiration from life experiences and challenges, nature, and the current climate of the world in which we live. Many of her pieces include an element of texture from various mediums including recycled materials as well as items taken directly from the earth.
In addition to over 30 years of teaching and coaching women’s sports, Barbara is the Founder of the Triumphant Spirits Scholarship Award. Created in 2012 with her late husband, this program provides college tuition assistance to help young women who exemplify a “triumphant spirit” as they journey towards their future.
Barbara has participated in a long list of shows, including the SeeMe ‘Art Takes Times Square’ competition, where two of her paintings were digitally imposed on a 25-story billboard in Times Square. Her popular Triumphant Spirits series “Joy” painting won both the Best Painting Award and the People’s Choice Award in the Lincoln Park Artrageous Competition. Besides the Chicagoland area, she has participated in several shows and galleries in New York City, as well as internationally in the UK and Paris. For a complete listing of her past shows, please visit her website at www.blartgallery.com.
In addition to her own unique artwork, Barbara plans on exhibiting fellow women artists’ work in her space.