Barbara Zusman

Barbara Zusman An acclaimed contemporary artist, devoted mother, and partner, Barbara Zusman passed away after a long illness on January 15, 2008 at the age of 63. Art was a central part of Barbara's life, through undergraduate and graduate school at Portland State University, and later as a sculptor, photographer, and dealer of ethnographic objects in her gallery on Canyon Road. In recent years, she made pieces of tightly wrapped, coffee-stained muslin that referenced women's domestic work, as well as landscape and the female body. She was represented by Linda Durham Contemporary Art, and exhibited at the Governor's Gallery, Center for Contemporary Arts, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Her work is in the permanent collections of the New Mexico Museum of Art, City of Portland, and Scottsdale Center for the Arts. Barbara met her life partner, Rachel Rosen in 1994 and they were married at Temple Beth Shalom in Santa Fe by Rabbi Malka Drucker on June 14, 1998. Rachel and Barbara shared a passion for life in all of its beauty and humor, a large circle of family and friends, and an interest in art, culture, and social justice. In addition to Rachel, Barbara is survived by her father and stepmother, Herb and Pam Crane; mother-in-law, Esther Stryk Rosen; siblings: Laurel and Jerry Jones, and Hal Rosen; children: Ben and Jaquelyn Zusman, Hope and Anton Schoenbacher, and Bradley and Christina Zusman; and grandchildren: Sharon, Baillie and Jacob Zusman, Amelia and Stephen Zusman, Josh Chambers, Olivia Leslie, and Anton Schoenbacher. In lieu of flowers, donations in Barbara's memory may be made to Equality New Mexico (www.eqnm.org), 1410 Coal Ave., SW, Albuquerque, NM 87104 or Creativity for Peace (www.creativityforpeace.com), 369 Montezuma Ave., No. 566, Santa Fe, NM 87501. A Celebration of Barbara's life will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 30, in La Terraza at La Fonda.