Willy Barker Exhibit in MCC Ray Frederick Gallery begins Jan. 18
Monday / January 9, 2017
Willy Barker will be the next featured artist in MCC’s Ray Frederick Gallery.
Willy Barker of Toledo will be the next featured artist in the Ray Frederick Gallery on the Marshalltown Community College campus. The Barker exhibit opens on Wednesday, Jan. 18, at 12:15 pm with a public reception for the artist from 12:15 to 1:30 pm; light refreshments will be served. The Barker exhibit will remain on display through noon Friday, Feb. 10.
Barker’s specialty is stippling, a technique in which individual dots of a single color are used to build an image. When colored dots are used, the technique is called pointillism. It’s a time-intensive and labor-intensive art form made even more challenging for Barker by the fact that he suffers from Parkinson’s Disease, which causes his arm and hand to shake substantially. He has to put a heavy weight on his arm to control the shaking while he’s creating his artwork. Given that level of dedication and concentration, it should come as no surprise that Barker has been interested in art since he was a young boy.
“In 4th grade at Anson Elementary I was nominated to draw a large scale Santa and his reindeer, which other students then cut and colored,” recalls Barker. “In high school I participated in an art program for troubled youths at Fisher Community Center … that was a good deal for me because they supplied the pens and art materials.”
Barker joined the Marines at age 17, serving for two years. Upon returning home, he worked for several years before attending MCC from 1986-87. Ironically, he distinctly recalls earning a “D” in art appreciation from then-MCC Professor Ray Frederick. Willy is currently a general maintenance employee in the Engineering Department at Meskwaki Casino in Tama.
Barker has demonstrated his stippling for people with disabilities during the Iowa State Fair, and during the Madison County Covered Bridge Festivals in Winterset. His artwork has been sold in galleries in Galena, IL and Billings, MT.
In addition to stippling, Barker enjoys pottery and wood carving; the Parkinson’s now precludes him from doing those. But even with Parkinson’s, Barker claims that he “can dot longer and faster than anyone.”
“I usually start with old photos, and I almost always include my wife’s name (Patti) somewhere in the design,” says Barker. “My first stippling project was of the Marshall County Courthouse. The most complicated one, which I’ve named ‘Whispers,’ took me a whole year to complete. The average picture takes me three or four weeks, working an hour or two here and there as I have time.”
Willy says he can judge the progression of his Parkinson’s Disease over time by the degree of shaking in his arm and hand. His plan is to create as much artwork as possible while he still can, and that when he’s gone it will be a legacy for his two daughters and six grandchildren. He sells prints of his work, but has kept all of the originals (276 as of this month).
“I keep real busy,” says Barker. “If you dwell on your problems, you just create more problems for yourself. As it says in Matthew 6:34: ‘Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.’”
The Ray Frederick Gallery is open weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm in room 306 at MCC. For more information contact MCC Art Professor Tim Castle at 641-844-5776 or Tim.Castle@iavalley.sites.flyinghippo.com.