Walter Bartman - Artist and Teacher

Plein air painter Walter Bartman, an artist and teacher for close to forty years, is the founder of The Yellow Barn Studio and Gallery at Glen Echo Park, Maryland. Since 1994, it has offered classes, workshops, speakers and residencies. They also offer a free art class for high school students and bus trips to some of the best museums on the east coast.

This month, Gallery 322 in Frederick, Maryland is hosting an exhibit of Bartman's paintings. The opening reception will be tomorrow, March 6th, from 4-8 p.m.

An interview with Walter Bartman has been posted on the blog Art and Perception. In it, he talks about his methods and why they have been successful:

"Community has always been something I feel has made great movements in the arts, science or math. It was my intention from the very beginning to build a community of young artists as the future generation. I have always felt that human thought is collective. We build ideas on the thoughts of others. If you can bring a group of very creative people together in a sharing environment, they will support each other and challenge each other to go beyond the instructor’s expectations.

"The work I assigned was based on contemporary movements. I felt my students were a part of that movement and had something to add. It is funny, but looking back on the work in my classes, some of it was very profound for anyone at any age. I guess that is why my program was nationally recognized."