Simmons College

Barbara O'Brien is an Assistant Professor of Art at Simmons College where she is both Head of the Arts Administration Program and Director of the Trustman Art Gallery. O'Brien is a curator and art critic with a track record of scholarship, influence, and advocacy for artists.

As head of the Arts Administration program, she teaches State of the Arts:  an introduction to the field of arts administration, Art in the Community:  the senior seminar in arts administration, and the New York Institute, a program that offers students the opportunity to live for a month in New York City while they get a "back-stage" first-hand view of the field of Arts Administration.

As Director of the Trustman Art Gallery, O'Brien curates exhibitions of contemporary art by professional artists.  The Trustman Gallery presents art within the context of the liberal arts tradition and the Simmons College mission of leadership for women.

From 2002 to 2006 O'Brien was the editor-in-chief of Art New England Magazine, the publication of record for contemporary art in the region. In 2005 she was a Visiting Scholar at Brandeis University's Women's and Gender Studies Research Center where her topic of study was "Self-Defined Variables of Success for Mid-Career Women Artists."

O'Brien earned a BS in Journalism and a BA in Women's and Gender Studies from the University of Kansas. O'Brien earned her MFA from Rhode Island School of Design; at the 2006 commencement she was honored with the National RISD Alumni Association Award for Professional Achievement.

She is an elected member of both AICA (the international association of art critics) and ArtTable, a national organization of executive women in the arts.