Some of the most stylish homes in Kansas City feature Barbara Cosgrove lamps and accent pieces, though the company closed in 2018. Recently, an interior designer from Florida reached out to me to see if there were any floating around Kansas City. I hated to tell her “no.” While you may find one here and there, mostly they have stayed firmly put.
But Barbara Cosgrove has returned to her initial creative passion—painting. Cosgrove, who studied art in college at the University of Kansas and the Kansas City Art Institute and earned two graduate degrees from San Jose State University, began painting again during the pandemic.
“I started working on paintings reflecting control and discipline. Painting simplistic and symmetric symbols satisfied me.”
She says that as the pandemic has eased, so has her process.
“I’m enjoying a more immediate relaxed attitude of working,” Cosgrove says. “When I find myself looking for some allusive solution, I will probably turn back to the discipline of structure.”
This discipline and rediscovery resulted in a show at the gallery in Country Club Bank on the Plaza. Her work is also on view on her site.
