In 1992, Barbara Romain and writer and educator Mira-Lani Bernard co-founded Art Options, an interdisciplinary arts education program built around a different premise: young people whom conventional institutions had already defined by their problems still possessed creative intelligence worth taking seriously.

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The program began at the Museum of African American Art, working with teenagers from alternative high schools and programs, and expanded to serve young children, seniors, and other underserved communities at sites across Los Angeles, including the Los Angeles Theatre Center and La Casa. Barbara directed Art Options through 2007. Over fifteen years, it produced anthologies, exhibitions, theater productions and hundreds of workshops.

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Painting, writing and performance were not treated as enrichment around the edges. They became ways to think, speak, collaborate and take creative responsibility. Art Options described its philosophy simply:  “No one is invisible.”

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The program held a California Arts Council Artist in Residence award for three years and became the vehicle for much of Barbara’s participatory public work, including the large-scale mural at La Casa, ceramic-tile projects along Sunset Boulevard, both editions of What’s in a Name?, and the seminar series developed through the program.

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Barbara’s own studio practices moved into the classroom, and influence moved in the other direction as well. “Much of my inspiration has been derived over the years from my students,” she wrote.