Vision & Strategy, Marketing & Comms, Consulting
Gabbie Barnes
Gabbie Barnes (she/her) is a founding member and worker-owner of the People’s Saturday School Cooperative, and the current Director of Mutual Aid Hartford. As an advisory board member, Gabbie supported the development of Cooperate Connecticut, an emerging cooperative network dedicated to the solidarity economy. She’s currently serving a three-year term for the City of Hartford’s Commission on Cultural Affairs and as board member for the Windsor Art Center.
Throughout her 17+ year career as a librarian, Gabbie connected her love of art with her passion for engagement and lifelong learning in positions at YOUmedia Hartford, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, and Real Arts Ways. She holds a master degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Washington’s iSchool and a bachelor of arts in Communication and Media Studies from Central Connecticut State University.
She has trained in facilitation, teaching, and cooperative development from the National Conference for Community and Justice, Beyond Diversity 101, Odegaard Undergraduate Reference & Instruction, and the Anti-Oppression Resource & Training Alliance.
In 2022, Gabbie founded FREE HART Closet: a free art supply store that makes high quality art supplies & workshops available to everyone. In 2024, she was named one of the CT Office of the Arts CT Arts Heroes and selected as one of six organizers in Shareable’s SolidarityWorks Library of Things Fellowship.
When not working, Gabbie keeps her hands busy with book arts projects and other crafts. She nourishes her body through the practice of yoga, the sport of paddle boarding, and by communing with nature through hiking.
She lives in the Asylum Hill Neighborhood of Hartford, CT with her partner and their 100 houseplants.