Hi, I’m Rhiannon Barry
an independent artist and creative well-being program developer
who loves nature.
Who Is Rhiannon?
She is a solid creative planner and organizer. Rhiannon has experience creating communications and marketing plans, developing fundraisers, and planning special events. Rhiannon shares online painting tutorials and in-person classes with a unique focus on providing calming and conscious experiences.
Rhiannon is currently pursuing certification as an art therapist and counsellor, a full-time student studying psychology.
Rhiannon enjoys creative writing and poetry when she finds time and pulls from her educational background in journalism to contribute as a blog and copywriter.
She is a visual artist who paints whimsical interpretations of the Northern Lake Superior scenery. She also paints emotive portraits, illustrating complex emotions such as grief and confusion.
Rhiannon has worked and volunteered in the social services industry for nine years. In that time, she has applied her skills and knowledge as a support worker to various opportunities, including providing crisis support for victims of abuse and program facilitation in rec-bases therapeutic activities for children.
In addition to frontline social work, Rhiannon also contributes by applying her skills as a grant writer, creative consultation, communications and marketing developer, and volunteer and project coordination.
Artists Bio:
Rhiannon is a self-taught visual artist born on August 10th, 1982, in St. Catharines, Ontario. She spent a large majority of her childhood and teen years on the North Shore of Lake Superior, living on an island across from the small village of Rossport and also moving to the large city of Thunder Bay.
Now living in Niagara, Ontario, she creates whimsical acrylic paintings and favours dream-like nature and water scenes, drawing from dreams and the Northern scenery of her youth. Rhiannon finds solace and comfort through art expression during many of life’s challenges and engages in creative exploration as a form of self-care.
She develops programs and activities that allow others to improve their overall wellness through arts participation.
It all began for Rhiannon with some natural artistic talent and a sale of four paintings in 2008. Since then, her talent, reputation, and networks within the arts and culture community have grown. Her pieces recently showed in the 2020 & 2021 City of St. Catharine’s Mayors Annual Juried Art Exhibits. 2020’s theme was Truth and Reconciliation. In solidarity with indigenous cultures, she created a piece featuring hope for the future. For the 2021 theme of Resilience, she made an abstract self-portrait speaking to the challenges which Creatives endured during the social lockdowns.
Rhiannon has also had pieces in exhibits in Hamilton and Niagara Falls. You can currently find several of her pieces hanging in The Hub Art Gallery on Queen Street in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Rhiannon is currently pursuing professional development courses in psychology counselling and business development. She hopes to one day become a certified art therapist and practice full-time, and run wellness retreats on a grander scale.
She has been working for and volunteering in the social services industry in Niagara for many years and is currently self-employed. She provides calming and conscious overnight and day wellness retreats and group sessions. She also shares online artist studio immersion videos, tutorials, and mindfulness art-based group activities.
You can listen to her hosting a podcast titled ‘Creative Conversations: A Living Library of Resiliency.’
With over ten years of experience developing and implementing arts-based and therapeutic rec programming in both the arts and social services fields and a corresponding 16-year career in hospitality and special events, the idea to create ‘Be Whimsi Art Loft’ as its own unique identity was formed.
After participating in the Niagara Falls Piano Project, #nfplayplayplay, in 2018, a fire was lit for participating in public art projects. The idea that people wanted the togetherness that creative projects provided inspired new art projects and a global audience.
In 2019, participating in the Next Niagara GNCC’s ‘Priceless Art Auction’ and winning the art battle offered growth in recognition as too a professional Artist.
In 2020, The Secret Garden Doors project, in collaboration with Links for Greener Learning, involved applying her skills as an artist and in social services, through grant writing, painting, artist recruitment, and coordination while creating a community garden large-scale art installation.
She has also held Board and committee positions with the Carmel Fine Arts and Music Festival, the City of St.Catharines Cultural Advisory and Culture Planning committees, and The Niagara Foster Festival.
Employed as a social worker for community not-for-profit charitable organizations for 10.5 years, Rhiannon has held several postings, including Volunteer Coordinator, Book Keeper, Grant Writer, Intake Worker, Community Connections Worker, and Community Outreach Coordination.
Over and above those duties, she always had a passion for arts involvement, so she took on the added responsibilities of creating and developing several art projects for these community organizations. These included facilitating social and therapeutic paint classes, spearheading the 150 Mosaic Mural Project for St.Catharines, running youth group crafting workshops, nurturing and developing a 5-week creative program and organizing a full day art retreat for seniors, developing and facilitating a children’s art and recreation after-school program for four years.
She had also participated independently in ‘Ontario Culture Days’ as an activity leader in 2017, 2018, 2019, in 2021, participated in the ‘In The Soil Arts Festival,’ in 2018 and 2019, in the ‘Niagara Falls Writers Festival’ in 2018, in the ‘Carmel Fine Arts and Music Festival’ as the kids’ zone chair and facilitator in 2017 and 2018, and in 2018 the ‘Niagara Parks Rooted in the Garden’ as a workshop facilitator.
In 2020, Art By Rhiannon Barry became Be Whimsi Art Loft, and with it came a more focused approach to developing a small business. With the social restrictions of Covid-19, the company evolved into a variety of creative therapeutic offerings.
Once the limits were lifted, the St.Catharines Cultural Investment Program invested in the program ‘Gentle Painting.’ The success of that program spurred the development of an online arts-based therapeutic wellness curriculum and in-person Art and Wellness retreats.
Using expressive arts as a tool when words aren’t enough, Rhiannon offers retreats in the Niagara Region and North Central Ontario at participating venues. Learn more about her upcoming events and activities at:
Webpage: www.bewimsiartoft.ca
Email: artbyrhiannonbarry@gmail.com
FB Page: Be Whimsi Art Loft: https://www.facebook.com/bewhimsi/
FB: Creative Wellness Haven:
https://it-it.facebook.com/groups/406326984457748/
FB Group: Art By Rhiannon Barry:
https://m.facebook.com/groups/403290106358914?__tn__=CH-R
Insta: RhiannonBarryArt: https://www.instagram.com/rhiannonbarryart/?hl=en
Hamilton The Artsy Crowd
Podcast:
Creative Conversations-A Living Library of Resiliency: Found anywhere most
podcasts are found, including YouTube and Spotify
YouTube
Be Wimsi Art Loft: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdHWy-gELdBcai9AMZVYPFw
Podcast:
Creative Conversations-A Living Library of Resiliency: Found anywhere most
podcasts are found, including YouTube and Spotify
YouTube
Be Wimsi Art Loft:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdHWy-gELdBcai9AMZVYPFw
Be Whimsi Art Loft 