Faculty Profile: Barbara Zeles, figurative clay, expressive figure drawing

Faculty Profile: Barbara Zeles

Since she first started teaching at the Arlington Center for the Arts in 1992, Barbara Zeles has earned a reputation as a wise and wonderful teacher of figurative clay and expressive figure drawing.

Student artwork from Barbara Zeles clay sculpting class

Barbara has been teaching figurative sculpture and drawing at ACA for 20 years! Her extensive experience as an International Folk Dancer and Massage Therapist give her insight into the balance and structure of the body. She has the knowledge to answer questions about the underlying anatomy and its landmarks on the surface.

Barbara Zeles has a BFA in sculpture from Boston University. She has also studied painting at the Museum School, Boston and in Skopelos, Greece.

Sculpture by Barbara Zeles

Recently she has been studying glass blowing at the Massachusetts College of Art. She has exhibited throughout New England and the Atlantic states, including the Art Complex Museum, the Lamont Gallery and the Arthur Ross Gallery at University of Pennsylvania.

Clear Cranium by Barbara Zeles

Barbara’s copper wire pieces, looped into shapes and wrapped with molten glass, have earned her a page in the Corning Museum of “New Glass Review 26”. She is an artist involved with process, which is seen quite expressively through her work.

She has been awarded three local Massachusetts Cultural Council grants.

Barbara has a studio at the Waltham Mills Artists Association in Waltham, MA.