Barbara Ann Coleman

Obituary For Barbara Ann Coleman

Barbara Coleman Obituary

COLEMAN

BARBARA ANN COLEMAN

Barbie Coleman, AUDIOSPARX & RADIOSPARX's much-loved and most longstanding DJ has died at home in Washington, DC on January 13, 2024, after an extended illness. She was 84 years old.

As an artist, designer, and passionate music lover she lived a colorful life, devoted to art, design and music. She had been a major creative force at AUDIOSPARX and then RADIOSPARX since 2008. Her roles at both companies included Artist Liaison Director, social media Director, Creative Director, and top DJ.

Her passion and creativity knew no bounds, as her work as Music Director at AUDIOSPARX and RADIOSPARX, involved coordinating the work of a team of DJs and designing hundreds of new playlists for the company.

Her work as a creative writer will also be remembered. She conceptualized and wrote thousands of music blogs for AUDIOSPARX & RADIOSPARX over the past decade.

Barbie Coleman was born Barbara Ann Hackler in Wellington, Texas. She spent her early years on a farm before her family moved to Plainview in Texas. She attended Texas Tech University, in Lubbock, in the late 1950s, and then lived in Houston during the 1960s. There, she developed a lifelong interest in art, and studied acrylic technique with the late Lamar Briggs.

In 1970, she moved to Washington, DC and studied at the Corcoran School of Art, part of the George Washington University, in the capital.

Barbie was a frequent guest on local TV, promoting the joys of collecting art and painting with acrylics. In 1972, the Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica honored her with a solo exhibit, as did the Museo Nacional de Arte, La Paz, Bolivia, in 1975 and 1976.

Her work as a Washington, DC artist and designer became widely known in the US and Latin America with frequent exhibitions of her paintings, collages, and lithographs.

During the late 70s she lived in Colombia and Bolivia with her Foreign Service Executive husband, Dale Coleman.

During her career, Ms. Coleman had 16 solo exhibits and 40 group shows, and her paintings and collages can be found in the U.S. Embassy residences in La Paz and Bogota, the Washington International Center, numerous Bank of America branches in S. America, and other corporations and private collections worldwide.



In 1994, she started an arts and design studio in her large Columbia Heights, (Washington, DC) Victorian home, assembling a collection of Indo-Chinese and African artefacts, art, and home accessories. In 2009 she joined AUDIOSPARX as a Designer and later joined forces with the Executive team to set up RADIOSPARX as one of their top DJs.

Her energy, humor, passion for music, her love of all her friends in the music industry and the art-design industries were all powerful forces in her life. She will be remembered for her unwavering passion for AUDIOSPARX & RADIOSPARX and her love of all the musicians who are part of the platform, as well as her devotion and passion for all the arts, including film, fashion, graphic design, and fine art.

She is survived by her daughter Mimi, son Quinn, her sister Nancy, three nieces in Texas, two grandchildren and a nephew.

Funeral Service on Sunday, February 4, 2024 1:30 p.m., Foundry United Methodist Church, 1500 16th St. NW, Washington, DC 20006.