Barbara J. Francis, a member of the Penobscot Tribe in Old Town, Maine and the Maliseet Tobique First Nations band in NB, Canada is a 2006 BA Museum Studies graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Barbara is presently employed with IAIA and is employed as the Assistant Archivist, in addition to working under contract as an adjunct teacher in Exhibitions I at the Institute.

In January 2008, Barbara hopes to be selected as a Fulbright Scholar to attend the University of Auckland in New Zealand in the fall of 2008. She has been accepted for an MA graduate program in Museum and Cultural Heritage, with special studies in the Maori art and culture.

Barbara served as an ambassador of IAIA to attend a WIPCE conference, which was held in Hamilton, New Zealand in Nov/Dec 2005. Her interest in studying with the Maori excelled during this time; she has chosen to return to NZ to fulfill her desire of teaching her skills in Museum profession to the Maori. Says Barbara, “Although I am an optimistic person and feel confident in being selected a scholar; however, should I not receive the Fulbright scholarship-I do have an alternate plan.”

Barbara, a former student of IAIA of 1974, returned to the Southwest in 2003 to complete her degree. “It took me nearly 30 years to get back to Santa Fe…however; deciding to set aside my career to help in taking care of my parents superseded any plans of returning to school. It was a decision that I never regretted. The only thing I had wished was that my parents were there to watch me graduate with my college degree, however, I am certain that in spirit, they were.”

IAIA, one among several Native Art colleges offers a 2 year and 4 year degree in many arts; painting, sculpting, jewelry… and one of the most unique programs—Museum Studies. Such skills as preparing and installing exhibits; restoring and preserving works of art; studies in NAGPRA and repatriation is among some of the skills which Barbara has learned in this field of study. “Though I work as an Assistant archivist at the college–I nonetheless don’t limit myself to that aspect of Museum work. My foremost desire is to work in Museum Collections.” Under an NEH grant, Barbara worked for the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture while a student at IAIA as the Assistant Collections Manager; and a Gallery Assistant at the Institutes, Primitive Edge Gallery. She has completed two internships; one at the School of Advanced Research and at the IAIA museum in downtown Santa Fe.  

Since Barbara’s visit to the South Pacific, she has determinedly studied and learned the Maori language; gained knowledge and skills of Maori art and legends. “I feel a connection to the Maori culture and perceive them as a fascinating and amorous indigenous people, who have demonstrated fortitude through the harsh times of colonization, contravention…and desecration of their cultural values and practices. I feel at home when I’m with them-and I want to be a part of them. They are my people too.”