Faculty

Art

Bergen County native, Barbara Rocas has had a passion for art ever since she was a young child. Majoring in Commercial Art and Graphic Design at Bergen Tech High
School in Teterboro, she decided to continue developing her skills as a fine and graphic artist upon graduating.

Originally majoring in Graphic Design at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Barbara decided to switch majors and return home to New Jersey. Wanting to give back more to the community, she pursued a degree in Art Education at Montclair State University. There, Barbara had a studio concentration in Drawing and loves incorporating her love for art history as inspiration to her artworks. Barbara graduated from MSU in 2018 with a BA in Fine Arts and a CEAS in Fine Arts Education K-12. Barbara now lives in Montclair, NJ and has had many freelancing and teaching opportunities.

For the last two years, Barbara has substituted in the Glen Ridge and Montclair school systems K-12 and works part-time at the Bloomfield Public Library where she runs a video gaming club for kids of all ages. She has multiple art projects that have showcased at different galleries and art shows in the tri-state area and now owns her own off-site paint and sip business, Babs Paints. She also has two murals that she has completed in the last year in both indoor/outdoor locations in Montclair and continues to freelance design in her free time.

Barbara is very passionate about supporting each student’s individual abilities and believes that all an artist truly needs is the self-confidence to make their own artistic choices. She is also inspired by Lowenfeld’s Stages of Artistic Development and strives to incorporate age-appropriate content and skill-building into her lessons. Barbara encourages students to be both creative and critical about their work, and to never give up!