Bio
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| Self-Portrait 2009 |
Barbara Hall Blumer (pronounced Bloomer) (b. 1955) is an American artist, author, and community advocate based in Corning, New York, USA. She is known for her realistic oil paintings, fine art photography, and her 2023 book People Wall '76: The Mural in City Hall.
Career and Artistic Work
Barbara Hall Blumer holds an Art History degree from Brown University and had a successful business career before pursuing art full-time in the 1990s. She has maintained her own studio and gallery, BHB Studio, since 2012.
Her artistic media and subjects have included:
- Realistic oil paintings that often incorporate imaginary elements.
- Fine art photography, primarily in black and white, with solo shows such as The Observer at the Arnot Art Museum in 2012.
- Photography books, including Artists in Their Studios (2009), which offers an intimate, behind-the-scenes glimpse into the creative workspace of artists in the Southern Finger Lakes region.
- Other media, such as ink and chalk drawings, digital gesture drawings, and mixed media works.
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Community Involvement and Publications
Blumer is very involved in her local community in Corning, New York, USA.
- Author: In November 2023, she published People Wall '76: The Mural in City Hall, a book that documents the history and the stories behind the 150 individuals featured in a 1976 mural at Corning City Hall. This project was the culmination of three years of community research and collaboration. The book's proceeds benefit the Corning-Painted Post Historical Society.
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| 2024 The People Wall Mural & Book peoplewallhistory.com |
- Community Projects: As an extension of the book, she is involved in other projects, including the "Corning Duane Eddy Circle" to honor the musician's birthplace.
- Philanthropy: She and her husband, Tom Blumer, are active supporters and donors to local charities. Their primary areas of support are food insecurity, the arts, libraries and reading, preserving local history, and funding scholarships, to Corning Community College and other educational institutions.
- Food Blog: She also publishes a popular food blog, Feast Everyday, which has been active for over 15 years and features recipes and food photography.
Examples and Links
OIL PAINTINGS
Her paintings are done mostly in oils, and are colorful interpretations of her view of the world and relationships. She signs her paintings with her initials, BHB.
She shares her paintings on her website/blog: BarbaraHallBlumer.com
And posts work-in-progress on Instagram: @BarbBlumer_art
For more information, see her Artist's Statement (coming soon)
Or contact her at BarbBlumer@gmail.com
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| "The Yellow Awning” |
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| “Farm Cathedral” |
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| BHB Signature |
STUDIO GALLERY AND EXHIBITS
She gave it up in 2019 when she and her husband were going to go to live in Ireland for a year but the Covid pandemic put the kibosh on that adventure. Since then, she works from home but continues to exhibit her work. Paintings are available to buy.
Recent exhibits have been a solo exhibit at The Flickinger Gallery at the Arts Center in Penn Yan (Keuka Lake) and group shows at The Peacock Gallery at the ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes in Corning, the Mark Twain Quarry Farm exhibit at The Przygoda Gallery at the Community Arts of Elmira, and "Framed in Fashion", summer of 2025, at the Corning Painted Post Historical Society.
ART PHOTOGRAPHY
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| The Priests |
Her photography would be considered street photography, i e. images from observing life and capturing fleeting moments in time. Her black and white photographs make you think twice and look closer.
Barbara gave up photography in 2018 to concentrate on painting and community projects. She no longer sells her photographs but they are available to exhibit.
See past photography and books on her website, BarbaraHallBlumer.com/portfolios (coming soon)
OTHER MEDIA
Digital Gesture Drawings, Ink & Chalk Series, Little Worlds, Straight from the Tube, Bobbi Brown Make Up Paintings
See portfolios - (coming soon)
CORNING DUANE EDDY CIRCLE
Corning Duane Eddy Circle
FEAST EVERYDAY (ON GOING SINCE 2009)
Instagram: @barbblumer_food
Feast Everyday is a fun food blog of over 1000 recipes with step-by-step directions and photos. Started in 2009 by Barbara with her family and friends. Her husband, Tom, now regularly contributes, too.
Corning, New York, USA
BarbBlumer@gmail.com
