Ernie & Bernie Barnes
Ernie and Bernie Barnes strongly encouraged students in education and sports. Ernie was a self-described “unathletic, chubby and bullied kid” who grew to become a star high school athlete and professional football player. During the off-season for the Chargers, Ernie was the Program Director at San Diego’s Southeast YMCA working with neighborhood children and parolees from the California Youth Authority.
Bernie received her college degree in physical education. She taught and coached at various schools in Los Angeles, including the Buckley School and The McBurney and Dalton Schools in New York. Bernie also spent summers teaching tennis in Coopet, Switzerland. For many years, Bernie volunteered at Hillsides Home For Children in Pasadena, California.
In the 1970s during Ernie’s acclaimed art exhibition that traveled to cities across the country, he donated hundreds of his posters and prints to schools, youth centers, organizations, churches and penal institutions. He continued this practice throughout his life.
During their marriage, Ernie and Bernie visited dozens of schools across the country and locally. They worked closely with the LA Unified School District, hosting the annual art festival with the LA Dodgers.
In 1992, in the aftermath of the LA Riots, city officials and civic leaders used Barnes’ art to promote unity. Ernie and Bernie sponsored a contest for LAUSD middle school students to name a slogan to accompany Barnes’ art on a billboard that stood in a riot-torn intersection of the city.