Barbara Neri is an internationally recognized multidisciplinary artist and scholar from the US with a studio in Michigan. Her life as an artist began as a child with the serious study of dance with Marie Buczkowski a pupil of the famed Russian teacher Olga Preobrajenska. Neri holds a Bachelors degree in Art Education from Herron Art School and Butler University and an MFA in Dance from the University of Michigan. She has studied professionally in Chicago, New York and England and lastly with NY drama coach Mimi Turque and LA performance artist Rachel Rosenthal. The Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs and the NEA have funded her work and she has been the recipient of two prestigious MCACA Creative Artist grants.

Neri began the 1980's performing her solo concert, 5 Dances. In 1982 she created Khoros, Inc. a non-profit arts organization and under its auspices through the 1980s and early 1990s she formed and directed two companies of artists and dancers, creating and performing collaborative multimedia works of choreography, video, sculpture and sound. Neri returned to solo work in 1993 and began producing and exhibiting works of performance, installation and visual art. The full performance DVD of "Infinite Field," a solo performance created during this period, was on exhibit as part of the ICON exhibit Sept 13 - Oct 18, 2008 at UM's Work Detroit Gallery. Neri's Artist Pages, "INFINITE FIELD (Dance Drawing)," can be found in the March 2008 Volume 13, No. 1 issue of Performance Research called 'On Choreography.' Go to 'Previous Work' at barbaraneri.com to see images and video excerpts and read more about Neri's earlier award winning work.

Upon awakening from a mysterious dream in 1995, Ms. Neri began reading the poetry and researching the life and times of Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and started what became a long-term multidisciplinary study called The EBB Project. Neri's research emerged from her practice as an artist. She was awarded a visiting fellowship by the Armstrong Browning Library in 1996 and has performed research in many of the major archives of Barrett Browning materials. With a focus on EBB's Sonnets from the Portuguese, Neri became a published Barrett Browning scholar and established the critical ground upon which she bases her creative work. In addition Ms. Neri is part of an international team of editors preparing an historic five volume edition of EBB's poetry for publication. The project is spearheaded by Dr. Sandra Donaldson UND and is funded by the NEH and will be published by Pickering and Chatto beginning in 2009. Neri is contributing her groundbreaking research on EBB's Sonnets from the Portuguese. Neri is also working on a book of Art/Criticism on EBB's 44 Love Sonnets.

The Consolation of Poetry was the first major work of performance to emerge from The EBB Project. The multimedia work was first performed at the University of Michigan, March 2002 in a performance sponsored by the UM Center for the Education of Women. The script with endnotes and images from this performance was published in the Fall 2003 issue of The Drama Review. Neri's "10 Dream Drawings," projected as part of The Consolation of Poetry, were published in the March 2004 'Correspondence' issue of Performance Research. The visual art and objects, costumes and performance relics of The EBB Project have been exhibited in three installations most recently as an interactive installation at The Gallery Project in Ann Arbor, MI as part of their "Step Right Up" winter 2008 fundraiser. Installations were also created at the Brighton District Library in 2001 and at the Ann Arbor District Library in 2002. The Visual art of The EBB Project has been exhibited regionally and nationally and was awarded third prize in the Kreft gallery national show in 2000 and was juried into the Michigan Arts and Humanities Touring Program under Visual Arts Experimental for 2006 - 2009.

The Consolation of Poetry was produced again at Eastern Michigan University in October 2003, where Neri also taught a performance workshop and presented a lecture for the Art Department. The Consolation of Poetry was subsequently juried into the 2005 New York International Fringe Festival and Neri performed a definitive production of the work at The Mazer Theater in lower Manhattan. A DVD of this performance has been produced. Go to Performance at barbaraneri.com to read more about The Consolation of Poetry and see images of past performances.

Neri created 'The Williams Wing' of The EBB Project in 2005 after exploring an allusion Tennessee Williams made to EBB's "Sonnet 43" in his play "A Streetcar Named Desire." Her research was presented at the 2005 Victorian Institute conference. The exploration led to a new performance piece that explores the secrets, poetic discourses and beliefs that led to the downfall of Blanche Dubois, one of Williams most iconic female characters. Neri conducted research at large in the city of New Orleans and in The Historic New Orleans Collection summer 2008. A scene from the new play was presented Nov. 8, 2008 at a fundraiser for the 555 Gallery Studio in Detroit. Go to The Williams Wing to read more about the project.

Ms. Neri has taught and developed curriculum at the High School and University levels, as well as teaching privately and creating workshops. She is on the board of directors of the 555 Non-profit Gallery Studio in Detroit. She has presented papers and lectures for many conferences, organizations and libraries including The Boston Browning Society, The Costume Society of America, The Armstrong Browning Library and The Victorian Institute. Go to Lectures at barbaraneri.com to read more about her work as a teacher and lecturer. Neri's articles, creative works and interviews have been published in P-Form, Agenda, and Studies in Browning and His Circle, The Drama Review, Performance Research, STIMULUS_Respond.com, and Victorian Poetry. Go to Writing at barbaraneri.com to download articles and find publication details.

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Neri's Artist Statement can be found and The EBB Project explored at barbaraneri.com