Office Space: Dr. Andy Barnes, Dean of the School of the Arts, Communication and Global Studies

The way a person decorates can say a lot about them. In the Office Space series, we go beyond the résumé and get to know York College faculty and staff members through the objects they like to keep close.

With an undergraduate degree in Accounting, an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, and a Ph.D. in English Literature, Dr. Andy Barnes has an eclectic background. He is the Dean of the School of the Arts, Communication and Global Studies, writes and publishes memoirs, and has a textile practice. A descendent of Scottish weavers, Dr. Barnes weaves both commercial textiles—scarves, blankets, and rugs—and art pieces, including a project titled Weaving Shakespeare, where he is turning Shakespeare’s sonnets into cloth. Before coming to York College, Dr. Barnes was the Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. 

1. A selection of textile that Dr. Barnes wove and displays on his office walls

They are samples, cast-offs, and mistakes that remind me that, as with most things in life, weaving is all about experimenting, trying, failing, retooling, and trying again.

2. Two black-and-white drawings in simple black frames

These come from my partner’s days as an architecture student, where he spent a year studying in Rome. The hand drawings are schematics of the Castel Sant’Angelo, the Ponte Sant’Angelo, and the neighborhood across the Tiber in Rome.

3. A small statue of one of the soldiers from the Terra Cotta Army of Qin Shi Huang

Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of China, and the soldier is meant to protect and ward off evil.