JURIED EXHIBITION PRESS DOSSIER · MALVERN, PENNSYLVANIA · 2008–2018
ART ABILITY
Art Ability is an international juried exhibition and sale hung through the corridors of Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital in Malvern, Pennsylvania, for ten to twelve weeks each winter—more than 400 works in 2008, chosen by jurors from institutions such as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Barbara, a Philadelphia art-school graduate, sent work from Los Angeles in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
The press did not name her. The record is the organizer’s: the 2008 release, the calls, the 2017 jury letter, and the hospital’s own confirmation to the Estate in 2026 that In My Front Yard hangs in one of its conference rooms, accessioned in 2009. Alongside it, her own statements for the show, written in 2011 and 2015.
THE VENUE
Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital
414 Paoli Pike, Malvern, Pennsylvania; part of Main Line Health. The exhibition hangs in the hospital corridors at wheelchair height, free and open daily. Works from past editions form the hospital’s permanent collection.
THE EDITIONS
2008 – 2018
Barbara’s editions, per the organizer: 2008–09 (13th annual) · 2011–12 · 2012–13 · 2015–16 · 2016–17 · 2017–18 (22nd). The Portfolio also records 2013–14. Eligibility: work made after the onset of disability; jurors from the region’s museums and art schools.
THE WORK
In the permanent collection
In My Front Yard, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 36 × 24 in., was donated to the hospital by two of its supporters at the close of the 2008–09 exhibition and is accessioned as 2009.001. It hangs in a conference room, where the hospital’s patients and staff pass it.
WORKS FEATURED
In My Front Yard, acrylic on canvas, 36 × 24 in., 2007 · 2008–09 · permanent collection, Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital
Field, acrylic on canvas, 18 × 14 in., 2011 · 2011–12 and 2016–17
Frost Flowers, acrylic on canvas · 2011–12
Hand Jive, acrylic on canvas, 36 × 24 in., 1995 · 2011–12
Mother Earth, acrylic on canvas, 36 × 24 in., 2011 · 2011–12
The Magic Mountain, acrylic on wood, 36 × 24 in., 2003 · 2011–12
Tweet, acrylic on canvas, 18 × 14 in., 2010 · 2011–12
Day of the Drum, acrylic on canvas, 36 × 24 in., 2005 · 2012–13
Geometry, acrylic on canvas, 24 × 24 in., 2009 · 2012–13
Color Haikus #2, acrylic on eight wood panels, 24 × 48 in., 2011 · 2013–14
Navajo Monoprint, mixed media on paper, 15 × 16 in., 2011 · 2015–16
Be Bop Monoprint, mixed media on paper, 10 × 16 in., 2011 · 2015–16
Scroll Monoprint, mixed media on paper, 17 × 16 in., 2011 · 2015–16
Goddess Head Monoprint, mixed media on paper, 14 × 16 in., 2011 · 2015–16
Internet Monoprint, mixed media on paper, 7 × 16 in., 2011 · 2015–16
Moonsun Rise Set, acrylic on canvas, 24 × 36 in., 2009 · 2017–18
ARTIST STATEMENT
Barbara, in her 2011 statement
My paintings explore this state of flux—accidental encounters of forms and colors within a structure of layered symbols and texts, which are both quoted from a variety of sources such as songs, news headlines, junk mail, fortune cookies, and works of literature, as well as original texts such as alphabet poems, haikus, reflections of personal experience and streams of consciousness. Themes are often universal, but explored on many levels, from an urban, female viewpoint.
The inspiration for my paintings is often derived from audio sources, particularly musical compositions. Elements of landscape and nature combine with urban graffiti, pop icons, pictographs, hieroglyphics and other ancient language texts in these often large color field acrylic paintings. The thrill of color upon color which I can see in varying degrees, drives layer upon layer. I create original stencils to incorporate symbols and icons of imagery which I can no longer draw free hand.
These layered images often require visual “digging” by the viewer to unearth, and texts and meanings may not all be immediately apparent. The viewer is invited to traverse the canvas and create his/her own poetry. For this exhibition I have entered a series of monoprints that I created in printmaking workshops at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles.
“Gestures of my body replace the precision of my eyes in making marks on the canvas.”
— Barbara Romain, artist statement for Art Ability, 2011
THE RECORD · 2008–2018
What was written, printed and photographed
Filter by kind. Each box opens its source; grey boxes are held in the Estate archive and open on request.
2026
Art Ability, Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital · Malvern, PA (to the Estate, August 2026)
2017–2018
Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital · Malvern, PA (November 4, 2017 – January 28, 2018)
2015–2016
Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital · Malvern, PA (winter 2015–2016)
2012–2013
Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital · Malvern, PA (winter 2012–2013)
2011–2012
Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital · Malvern, PA (winter 2011–2012)
2009
Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital · Malvern, PA (call for the 2009–2010 exhibition)
2008–2009
Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital · Malvern, PA (November 9, 2008 – January 18, 2009)
2008–2009
Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital · Malvern, PA (November 9, 2008 – January 18, 2009)
RELATED
Portfolio: In My Front Yard · Field · Mother Earth · Geometry · Goddess Head Monoprint · Related dossiers: Shared Visions, 2004–2018 · Passionate Focus, 2003–2022 · InSights, 2003–2008