Master Stone Carver Barbara Segal

According to accomplished Westchester sculptor Barbara Segal, “Sculptures can bring individuals and communities together, as well as establish bonds among people of all ages.” Barbara, a 1970 graduate of Scarsdale High School, understood this concept at a young age. She was inspired by her great-grandfather’s ornately carved furniture, which he produced in the early 1900’s for his shop on the Lower East Side. Barbara was amazed by the craftsmanship and the incredible dedication that shone through his finished pieces. She felt a strong bond with her great-grandfather’s artistry and knew that sculpting could also be her future.

At Scarsdale High School, Barbara was fortunate to have nurturing teachers who saw her potential. One of those teachers was Mr. Beckerman, an art teacher, who gave Barbara permission to install a massive sculpture of a giraffe outside the art room by the main stairwell. Barbara cherishes this memory as the first time her work was exhibited in public. This exhibition would portend things to come, for her works have been shown in galleries and museums throughout the United States and Europe.

After graduating Scarsdale High School, Barbara attended Pratt Institute. Her pivotal moment came in thesummer following her freshman year when she participated in a study abroad program in Pietrasanta, Italy. She was captivated by European culture and decided to move to Paris and attend L’Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts. After spending two years in Paris, Barbara moved back to Pietrasanta and to Michelangelo’s Carrara. It was there that she met some of the world’s greatest artisans and artists and learned traditional Renaissance techniques from those individuals, who are to this day some of her closest friends.

Returning to New York in 1976, Barbara found work at the historic Roman Bronze Works in Astoria, Queens. She was the first woman ever to be hired there as an artisan and credits the refined technical skills she learned in Italy for that distinction. Leaving her Chelsea loft in 1990, Barbara moved into a Queen Anne Victorian overlooking the Hudson River in Yonkers. She has become very involved with the City of Yonkers, starting a non-profit organization called Art on Main Street (AOMSY) whose mission was to bring art and culture to downtown Yonkers. Through AOMSY Barbara led other artists to create a permanent sculpture park of limestone and Vermont marble benches along the Hudson, named Yonkers Sculpture Meadow on the Hudson, which opened in 2003. Barbara was given the honor of creating one of four outdoor stone rooms

within the park; she named that room Cloud Living Room. Barbara’s artistry can also be seen in the middle of downtown Yonkers. She competed in and won a NYC Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Arts for Transit commission. Her sculpture, entitled Muhheakantuck, River that Flows Two Ways, is made of two seventy-two foot cast aluminum sculptures of water formations that are installed on both sides of the Yonkers Metro-North viaduct.

Currently, Barbara is working on her latest series, Little Girls’ Dresses, after being inspired by a family portrait where all the little girls are dressed in 1950’s finery--puffy sleeves, lace collars and full skirts. In this collection, Barbara carves delicate layers of lace and fabric into translucent alabaster and onyx stones. Light passes through the materials, transforming simple children’s dresses into a lush, sensual memory. In recognizing the beauty and uniqueness of Barbara’s work, Dr. Judy Collischan, former Associate Director to Curatorial Affairs for the Neuberger Museum, states, “She is a master at creating complex, detailed and unusual objects from hard stone…Her remarkable technical

skill, paired with her quirky subject matter, excite fascination and incredulity.”

The Yonkers Sculpture Meadow on the Hudson is located on the southern end of downtown YonkersHudson River Promenade.

Barbara currently teaches the art of stone carving through the School of Visual Arts at her private studio in Yonkers. The course begins Saturday, February 12th from 10-1PM. To register please click here.

In addition, Barbara’s work is available by commission. See more of her scuptures at www.barbarasegal.com or contact her by email at:  barbarasegal@optonline.net .