Education
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, MFA, 2D Fine Art, 2018
Harvard University, Extension, ALM, Linguistics, 1997
Maryland Institute College of Art, BFA, 3D Fine Art, 1985
Swain School of Design, Studio Foundation 1980 - 1982
Lacoste School for the Arts, Vaucluse, France, 1983
Studio Arts Centers International, Florence, Italy, 1984
Academic Appointments
2018 to present - Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Courses in Studio Foundation and Illustration - Visiting Lecturer
Low Res MFA Graduate Program - Mentor in Painting
Low Res MFA Graduate Program - Visiting Artist
Undergraduate Painting Majors - Guest Critic2018 - Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Teaching Assistant, Figure Drawing and Painting
2017 - Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Teaching Assistant, Junior/Senior Major Painting
2001 to 2011 - Harvard University, Preceptor, Institute for English Language, Academic English
1998 to 2001 - Boston University, Senior Lecturer, CELOP, English Language Instruction
1994 to 2000 - Boston Institute of Intercultural Communication, Program Coordinator, Language Programs
1986 to 1988 - Japanese Ministry of Education, Japan, Mombusho English Fellow, English Language Instruction
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibition
2024, As I See It, FORMah Gallery, 42 Allen St., NY, NY, Reception: April 19th, 6-8pm, Artist Talk: May 9th, 6-8pm
Two-Person Exhibitions
2024, FOUNDATIONS, Winter 2024, Artsy.net, Barbara Ishikura & Melanie Vote
2023, Frippery, Finery, Frills: Works in Conversation by Barbara Ishikura and Sam Fields, Elizabeth de C. Wilson Museum, Manchester, VT
2023, Contained, Barbara Ishikura & Debra Cartwright, FORMah Gallery, NY, NY
2023, Between You and Me, Barbara Ishikura & Isabelle Higgins, LaMontagne Gallery, Boston, Ma
2021, Spring Fever, Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT
2016, Shadow Sides, Barbara Ishikura and Patty Hudak, Nishimachi Art Space, Tokyo, Japan
2016, Fractals of Pain, Barbara Ishikura and Kazuko Jingui, AIRY, Yamanashi, Japan
2014, Barbara Ishikura and Sammy Chong, ArtSpace Gallery, Maynard, Ma
Group Exhibitions
2023, Renwick Show Room, FORMah Gallery, NY, NY
2023, A Suitable Accomplishment, Trotter & Sholer Gallery, NY, NY
2022, Little Splinters, MassArt x SoWa, Boston, Ma
2022, I Like Your Work Podcast: Finding a Memory, Piano Craft Gallery, Boston, Ma
2022, We Interrupt This Program, LaMontagne Gallery & Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, Ma
2022, Raw Emotion, Gallery Tempo at Jameson & Thompson, Jamaica Plain, Ma
2021, Yeah, I’m doing great, MassArt x SoWa, Boston, Ma
2021, Anythinggoestober, Bosscritt.com, Online Exhibition
2021, See and Be Seen, Praise Shadows Gallery, Brookline, Ma
2021, Unmasked: Artful Responses to the Pandemic, Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT
2020, Sizzle, Bromfield Gallery, Boston, Ma
2020, Right to Vote, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI
2020, MassArt Auction, MAAM, Boston, Ma
2020, Divine, Skye Gallery, Providence, RI
2019, International Contemporary Art Exhibition, Galleria Le Logge, Assisi, Italy
2019, Shame, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI
2019, JAWS, The Stove Gallery, Charlestown, Ma
2018, New Voices-New Visions, St. Botolph Club Foundation, Boston, Ma
2018, Here to There, MUSA Collective, Boston, Ma
2018, Thesis Exhibition, Bakalar and Paine Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, Ma
2018, Transitions, Survival, Resilience, Doran Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, Ma
2017, Boston Young Contemporaries, Boston University Art Galleries, Boston Ma
2017, Members' Exhibition, Gallery 263, Cambridge, Ma
2017, Surfaces, Art Byte Critique and Nishimachi Artist Space, Tokyo, Japan
2017, All School Show, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, Ma
2016, Call for Bushwick, Bushwick Open Studios, Brooklyn, NY
2016, In With the New, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Doran Gallery, Boston, Ma
2016, Adjacent Realities, Concord Art Association, Concord, Ma
2016, Eighth National Juried Exhibition, Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY
2016, 5th Annual Member's Exhibition, Gallery 263, Cambridge, Ma
2015, Off the Wall, Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, Ma
2015, 14th National Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, Ma
2015, Artifact, ArtSpace Gallery, Maynard, Ma
2015, Members Juried II, Concord Art Association, Concord, Ma
2015, Abstraction, BluSeed Studios, Saranac Lake, NY
2015, Members Juried I, Concord Art Association, Concord, Ma
2015, Chroma, Gallery 263, Cambridge, Ma
2014, 79th Regional Exhibition of Art and Craft, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, Ma
2014, Community of Artists, Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, Ma
2014, National Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, Ma
2014, Red, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, Ma
Artist Residencies & Awards
2024, Mass Cultural Council, Grants for Creative Individuals
2022, Cill Railiag, Artist Residency, Fellowship, Ireland
2019, Arte Studio Ginestrelle, Assisi, Italy
2019, Art New England Emerging Artist, March/April
2019, The Studios at MASS MoCA: An Assets for Artists Program & Grant, North Adams, MA
2019, Jentel, Artist Residency, Fellowship, Banner, WY
2018, St. Botolph Club Foundation - Grant, Boston, Ma
2016, AIRY, Yamanashi, Japan
2016, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2015, New York Studio School, Drawing Marathon, NY
2010, Grand Prize Winner, Excellence in Teaching Award, Harvard University Extension School
Publications & Press
VoyageLA, “Meet Barbara Ishikura”, March 25, 2024.
The Arts Fuse, “Is There a Boston Art?”, by Helen Miller and Michael Strand, March 10, 2023.
The Boston Globe, “Between You and Me” is a Portrait of Two Portraitists. by Cate McQuaid, Feb. 28, 2023.
ArtNet News, “Artists Grapple with the Meaning of Motherhood in New York Gallery Show” by Sarah Cascone, Feb. 17, 2023.
Boston Art Review, Our Favorite Moments of 2022, “We Interrupt This Program”, December 30, 2022
The Boston Globe, "See and Be Seen", Praise Shadows Gallery, Brookline, Ma, January 2021.
Art New England, "Unmasked, Artful Responses to the Pandemic, March 28, 2021.
The Independent, For Shame: Latest Hera Gallery Show Explores Shame in its Many Dimensions, April 18, 2019.
Art New England, 10 Emerging New England Artists, A Jury of Six Selects an Extraordinary Ten, March/April 2019
Boston Voyager, Thought-Provokers Series: Celebrating Artists and Creatives, Life and Art with Barbara Ishikura, August 27, 2018.
Big Red and Shiny, MassArt's 2018 MFA Thesis Exhibition by Stace Brandt, May 8, 2018.
The Global Perspective: Understanding the Past, Looking to the Future, Worcester State University, Worcester, Ma, 2011.
Commissions
The New York Times, T Magazine. “Odalisque on Chaise Lounge”. 2023.