Barnes, Dorothy
peacefully on Monday,
Methodist Hospital, after a short battle with COVID-19.
Known to some as Ducie or Grandma Dot, she was surrounded by the voices of her loving family at the time of her passing. Dorothy was an internationally recognized fiber artist and sculptor who called the Columbus area home for over 60 years. The third of four sisters, she was born in 1927 in Strawberry Point,
Iowa. She showed her creative spirit early by making dolls from paper bags and playing with her younger sister Mary in the asparagus patch. Over the years, she had some interesting chores, including sweeping up in her father’s funeral home/furniture store business and, in the summer, de-tasseling corn. As a teen, she loved going out dancing to big bands. Dorothy studied at Coe College,
Minneapolis School of Art, and Cranbrook Academy, as well as at the University of
Iowa, where she earned BA and MA degrees in art education. She met Marshall
Barnes of Fairfield, Iowa, at
Parsons College where they were both teaching. They were married in Manchester, Iowa, in 1952, and made their way to Columbus in 1957 when Marshall joined the music faculty at
Their family grew, and Doryear teaching industrial arts at Worthington Junior
High School and was an instructor for many years at Capital University in exhibit basketry and other artworks internationally.
As her work evolved, she became widely known for innovative sculpture using natural materials including bark, wood, and stone. She was inspired by the forest and made a point of gathering respectfully, often using trees that were already marked to be thinned from a property. Dorothy taught and participated in residencies and workshops in Denmark, New Zealand,
Australia, Fiji, and Canada, as well as throughout the passed by. Dorothy had a long history of activism in the civil rights and anti-war aged others to think globally and have empathy for all, regardless of differences.
She supported environmenway to be good and kind to each other.” Dorothy never new ideas, which made her a wonderful mother nature and her imaginative spark with her students, who used other media.
She continued to work with students as a visiting artist in the glass area of the Department of Art at
American Craft Council, the National Museum of
Women in the Arts and the
National Basketry Organizavidual Artist Governor’s
Award for the Arts in Ohio, and four Ohio Arts Council
Individual Artist Fellowships. Her work is in the collections of the Columbus
Museum of Art, de Young
Museum of the Fine Arts
Museums of San Francisco, the Renwick Gallery of the
Smithsonian’s American Art
Dorothy’s work is represented by browngrotta arts in
Wilton, Connecticut. She
J. Gill and Dorothy Moninger Gill, and two of her sisters, Rosalee Huebner and Margaret Van Dyck.
She is survived by her chiland Juliet (Robert Kaeding) Barnes; grandchildren and Clara Barnes, and Eliza and Eleanor Kaeding; sister
Mary Teschner; numerous leagues, and devoted helpers and caregivers. Friends are invited to attend a virtual celebration of life to honor Dorothy Gill Barnes on
Sunday, December 13 from 3-5 PM EST. Details will be posted on the Schoedinger website when available.
Donations in her memory can be made to The Nature
Conservancy (www.nature. org), Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org), or to a charity of your choice. Please visit www.schoedinger.com to send online condolences.