Alumni and Friends

Stacy Jo Barber

B.A., '06, Studio Art

2019 Rising Star

Stacy Jo Barber graduated from Benedictine University in 2006 with a B.A. in Studio Art and went on to earn her Master’s in Art Therapy at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2008. Upon graduating, Barber continued her clinical work as a counselor and art therapist at the Youth Campus in Park Ridge,IL; the Counseling Center of Lakeview; and New Horizon Center School for children with severe developmental disabilities and autism in Chicago. While at New Horizon Center, Barber developed a partnership with the Ed Paschke Art Center, which allowed her clients to create a large mural (a recreation of Ed Paschke’s Americani), which is now on permanent display at the center.

From 2013 to 2017, Barber worked as an adjunct professor at Benedictine University, where she taught both Introduction to Art Therapy and Drawing courses for the undergraduate departments of Fine Art and Psychology, as well as an Art Therapy course for the Master’s program in Clinical Psychology. In 2015, she co-coordinated an exhibition for her art therapy students at Lisle Savings Bank, giving students an opportunity to share their work with both the Benedictine and local communities. In 2014 and 2016, Barber exhibited her own artwork at the Benedictine University Art and Design Faculty Biennial shows.

Barber currently lives near her hometown area in Dixon, Ill. with her husband of 10 years, Scooter, and their three young children. She provides clinical counseling and art therapy services at her private practice, Roots & Wings, in downtown Dixon. Barber continues to create and exhibit her own personal artwork, which ranges from photorealistic oil painting portraits to more exploratory and expressive abstract pieces. Her passion is utilizing art and creativity to weave together the intricacies of the human experience, expressing the unique story and emotionality that accompanies each of us along our life’s path.