Since the start of fall semester, there have been whispers across campus about the “cool professor with the mohawk.” Over the past few weeks I have tried my best to keep an eye out for this elusive member of the faculty, to no avail.
It turns out that this enigmatic fellow is Professor Chris Barnard, a new addition to the Connecticut College Arts Department, with whom I have recently had the pleasure of sitting down. Not surprisingly, there is much more to Professor Barnard than meets the eye.
Chris Barnard majored in art at Yale University, but his journey towards becoming a professor and artist began long before that. Professor Barnard credits his high school art teacher, Mr. Wheeler, with being the person who most inspired him: “He is someone that I aspire to be like…he was very demanding and when you received constructive criticism that was also praise; you really knew that you had earned it.”
For Professor Barnard, art class was different from all the other classes in high school; it was the class that he wanted to go to every day, the one he most enjoyed. However, upon beginning his studies at Yale University, he didn’t plan on majoring in art. He “kept taking drawing and more and more [art became] the thing that occupied [his] mind and his interests.” After completing his undergraduate studies, Professor Barnard attended University of Southern California and subsequently became interested in depicting scenes of the American Southwest. He began by creating “landscape paintings that somehow had to deal with…the impact that human interventions have had on the [environment].” Professor Barnard was drawn to the region’s really violent history, which he says is “in many ways a really dark history of genocide and colonization.”
He has come to paint works that take a contemporary look at the landscape of the American Southwest, paying specific attention to the existence of a “huge military…and artillery presence.” Professor Barnard explains that the military uses the land for weapons testing and essentially blows it up. He reflects in his work the ways in which “the military industrial complex…either uses or affects the environment.” His current works are not literal landscapes. “I came to the current subjects that I’m interested in through being invested in [painting] that South-Western landscape,” he said.
Professor Barnard is not only a passionate artist, but also a dedicated professor. He came to Connecticut College by way of Denison University, where he last taught. He touts his experience at Denison as the impetus for wanting to teach here at Conn. “I had a really nice experience there,” Professor Barnard said of Denison, “and when I saw the listing for the job [at Connecticut College] I was excited.” Of all the teaching experience he has had, and it has been varied, he shared that he most enjoys “the experience of working at a small liberal arts college.”
As a professor, his project is to be demanding yet helpful. “I hope to be very demanding,” he explained, “because I am a believer that it is a big sign of respect to expect a lot from [students].” To each of his classes, he emphasizes the importance of a respectful environment. “Studio art classes are really communal, because [they] have group critiques,” and Professor Barnard strives to make his students feel comfortable in this environment.
As for that famous mohawk, Professor Barnard understands all the hype but hopes that soon “people will think more than that” and students will say, “Who is that really demanding and engaging professor?” •
