THE 1930's
Barrell was born and lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, until he was about 10 years old when his family moved to Queens, New York. Barrell left home at 19 and moved to Manhattan. Finding little work at the height of the Great Depression, Barrell found himself living in a tent in Central Park along with more than 100,000 homeless people. Barrell returned to Queens in 1968 and opened the Forest Park School of Art. He stayed in Queens teaching and guiding the careers of hundreds of students.
Barrell received his formal training at The Art Students League studying life drawing, murals, and landscapes. He learned draftsmanship and spent the rest of his life honing those fundamental skills. Barrell assisted Carl Roters with two murals at the 1939-40 World's Fair. He also worked with the Federal Arts Project to lend a hand to Edward Lanning with murals at the New York Public Library at 42nd Street. Additionally, Barrell became a staff artist at the Hayden Planetarium.
Art was Barrell's outlet to express joy and frustration. Through his artwork, Barrell railed against bigotry, sexual abuse, homophobia, poverty, and other social injustices of the day. Conversely Barrel also found the beauty in life and painted many breathtaking landscapes.
