Maria Theresa Barbist
mariabarbist@me.com · Based in Miami, FL

Maria Theresa Barbist was born in Schwaz, Austria, and lives and works in Miami, Florida. She translates traumatic memories and emotional states into performative actions, moving pictures, and sculptural objects. Barbist holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Innsbruck and received her MFA in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute.

Selected solo exhibitions include Kinderland (2019, Taplin Gallery, Miami, Florida), Fadenspiele (2015, Swenson Gallery, Miami, Florida), and Lebensbilder – Life in Pictures (2013, Studio 16 Gallery, San Francisco, California). Her work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including Women at Large (2024, Atchugarry Gallery, Miami), Echoes: From There To Here (2019, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco), Home Is Where The Heart Is (2018, Neue Galerie, Innsbruck, Austria), and Intersectionality in South Florida (2016, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami).

She has been awarded a Miami Individual Artist Grant from the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs (2022), an Ellies Award by Oolite Arts (2020), a Community Grant from the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs (2019), and an Awesome Foundation grant (2018). Barbist has completed artist residencies at the Bakehouse Art Complex and Culmer Overtown Library through ProjectArt. Her works are included in the Miami International Airport Collection and several private collections.

Education
2014 MFA, New Genres, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
2010 Movement-based Expressive Arts Education and Therapy, Tamalpa Institute, Kentfield, CA
2009 Psychodrama Psychotherapy Training, University of Innsbruck, Austria
2005 PhD, Psychology, University of Innsbruck, Austria

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022 PERFORMATIVE ACTIONS, Brockway Memorial Library, Miami Shores, FL
2019 KINDERLAND, Taplin Gallery, Miami, FL
2015 FADENSPIELE, Swenson Gallery, Miami, FL
2013 LEBENSBILDER – Life in Pictures, Studio 16 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2013 FRAGILE CONNECTIONS, Paul Sack Still Lights Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions, Screenings & Performances

2024
WOMEN AT LARGE, Atchugarry Gallery, Miami, FL
WHAT THEY SAW, Miami Dade Public Library, Miami, FL
INFLUX: Recalibrating the Unknown, Museum of Northern California Art, Chico, CA

2023
Fall Faculty Exhibition, Rosemary Duffy Larson Gallery, Davie, FL INTERSECTIONS, New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL BLUECHIP, Club Gallery, Miami, FL 305 & Havana Film Festival, Miami, FL

2022
BLUPRNT, Bridge Red Studios, Miami, FL BEGRABUNG, Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, NC FOMENT, Studio Judy G, Watsonville, CA UNUSUAL BEHAVIOR, Carolyn M. Wilson Gallery, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL MY AUXILIARY EGO, Miami International Performance Festival, Bass Museum, Miami Beach, FL GRASS STAINS 2022, The Curtiss Mansion, Miami, FL

Grants & Recognitions
2022 Miami Individual Artist Grant, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs
2020 The Ellies Award, Oolite Arts
2019 Community Grant, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs
2018 Awesome Foundation Grant

Residencies
The School of Making Thinking, Wilmington, NC
Grass Stains, Pioneer Winter Collective, Miami, FL
ProjectArt, Culmer/Overtown Library, Miami, FL
Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami, FL
Scrawl Center for Drawing, San Francisco, CA

Workshops & Presentations
Teen Art Force, Mixed Media Class, MOCA, North Miami, FL
First Aid Kit for Artists, Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami, FL
Live Virtual Local Views at PAMM, Pérez Art Museum Miami
The Portfolio Review Series Online, Coral Gables Museum, Coral Gables, FL
MBUS Live Art Talk, Fiber Art Series, Florida International University, Miami Beach, FL

Collections
Miami International Airport, Miami, FL
Private Collections

Collaborations
2020 – ongoing SF Artists Alumni, Community Project
2020 – ongoing My Auxiliary Ego, Music Project
2017 – 2020 Rocking Chair Sessions, Podcast and Exhibitions

Selected Publications & Press
Local Artists Get a Tailwind Boost, Miami Airport News, 2020
The BABA Collective “Rocking Chair Sessions”, Miami Herald, 2019
Studio Visit Magazine Volume 34, Open Studio Press, Boston, 2016
Miami Performance International Festival, Miami Rail, Fall Issue, 2014