Daniel Wade Barrett

Artist Statement & Bio

Daniel W. Barrett, Resident Artist at RPAC Art Center and Academy paints and sculpts neither to express his feelings nor to share his perceptions of the world with others; rather, to engage in so-called artistic activities in order to revise his own comprehension of objects. Thus, he paints, not to record what he sees but to change it; to understand differently his prior conceptions of the true, the real, and the imaginary. Dan seeks to generate new visions and thoughts by replacing and/or updating his previous ones—whether internal or external (which can be indistinguishable). He works in order to comprehend the life world, not because he already does.

In addition to being a Resident Artist, Dan is an Exhibiting Member at Rowayton Arts Center, and has exhibited in a number of juried and non-juried shows in the area, including Rowayton Arts Center, Ridgefield Guild of Artists, Kent Art Association, New Canaan (Carriage Barn), Society of Creative Arts of Newtown (SCAN), and Danbury’s Richter Association for the Arts.

Daniel W. Barrett earned his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Arizona State University and his BA from Wesleyan University, and is currently a Professor and Chair in the Department of Psychology at Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, CT. Prior to joining WCSU, Dr. Barrett served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Health Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2016 his textbook, Social Psychology:  Core Concepts and Emerging Trends, was published by Sage Publications. His research interests include suspicion, persuasion, social influence, and cross-cultural psychology. When not teaching and writing about psychology, he thinks, paints, and works with wood at his home in Redding, CT.