“I create frescoes using the time-honored method of painting with fresh earth minerals and fresh water onto a natural porous surface. I am passionte about classical iconography, and storytelling frescoes as a timeless form of communication.”

Joy Baer earned her B.F.A. in Design at the University of Kansas and is a fresco artist based in Kansas City. Following the historical frescoes found in cultures around the world, she creates the fresco process on plaster, rocks, marble, cement, and cave walls. “Fresco” is Italian for “fresh.” She uses the time-honored fresco process using fresh earth minerals and fresh water painted onto a natural porous surface. Carbonization is formed, which is a chemical bond that endures for centuries.

Inspired by a National Geographic Magazine article on frescoes of Pompeii, Italy, at the age of nine Joy made it a childhood goal to someday work there. Today she teaches fresco workshops in Pompeii and has a fresco at National Geographic’s headquarters in Washington D.C.