In this profile, we explore the life and work of Barbara Januszkiewicz, a nationally recognized American painter whose art stands at the intersection of color, sound, and civic imagination. Known for her sweeping neo–Color Field abstractions, Januszkiewicz has built a body of work that challenges the viewer not only to look—but to listen.
Her artistic lineage traces back to the Washington Color School, where she studied privately under abstract painter Mun Quan and later received mentorship from Color School legend Paul Reed. That genealogy matters. The tradition she inherits is one of bold chromatic experimentation, but rather than simply continuing the Color Field tradition, Januszkiewicz evolves it. She infuses rhythm, tempo, and musical cadence into visual space, creating canvases that seem to vibrate with energy. Her work doesn’t hang on a wall—it conducts the room.
Januszkiewicz often describes painting as a “dance with water,” using fluid, water-based media to create large-scale washes of layered pigment. This technique allows her colors to move across the surface in waves, blurs, and bursts, echoing the improvisation of jazz or the precision of classical composition. To see a Januszkiewicz painting is to experience color not as static form, but as living motion.
Yet her practice isn’t confined to the studio. Throughout her career, Januszkiewicz has positioned art as a civic force. Her public mural “Coming Together” in Arlington, Virginia stands as a testament to her belief that art can shape community identity. With its sweeping gradients and interwoven fields of color, the mural reflects unity without uniformity—each tone distinct, every layer interconnected. It’s painterly, yes. But it’s also philosophical.
That idea—unity through color—echoes across her work. In a moment when the American cultural landscape is marked by division, Januszkiewicz insists on the possibility of harmony. She does so not through literal imagery, but through abstraction, challenging viewers to find themselves in the movement of paint and the pulse of color.
Her pieces often carry political resonance without ever depicting a single political symbol. They emphasize feeling over argument, connection over conflict. It is precisely this refusal to be boxed into a narrative that makes Januszkiewicz’s work so powerful—and so urgently relevant.
Januszkiewicz is more than a painter of color. She is a painter of atmosphere. A painter of emotion. A painter of cultural possibility. And in that sense, her art is deeply American: rooted in experimentation, expansive in scope, and committed to the idea that beauty can be both personal and collective.
At a time when the nation is renegotiating its identity, Januszkiewicz offers a reminder that art can still guide, still ground, and still inspire. Her canvases are not answers. They are invitations—to breathe, to imagine, to become.
