An Interview with Annemarie Barrett

Can you share with us how you find inspiration for your art and what some of your creative process is like?

After completing my time as a lay missioner with FMS, I began working as a professional artist in 2017. Staying connected to the FMS community through my art has been such a gift. Many current and former staff and missioners have my artwork in their homes, offices, and classrooms. Others return to my shop year after year to share my art with their families and friends. It’s an honor to be welcomed into people’s lives in that way.

My inspiration often comes from words or images that are on my heart and mind. Over time, they become paintings that resonate with others. I think of my art as prayer—an expression of longing for the world I hope to see and the future I want for generations to come. More recently, I realized that my creative process itself could serve others and that led me to begin offering online creative workshops. These workshops are part contemplative practice, part creative outlet. What I’ve found is that even a simple, guided practice—slowing down, listening inward, and using our hands to create—can bring powerful clarity.

In overwhelming times, clarity is often closer than we think. Creativity gives us a way back to clarity. And you don’t have to consider yourself an artist to experience that.

Why did you say “yes” to serving with FMS as a lay missioner?

The ministry of presence is what drew me to FMS. Before serving in Cochabamba, Bolivia, I studied abroad in El Salvador with a service-learning program rooted in accompaniment with marginalized communities. That experience was radically life-changing. Stepping away from the grind of student life and social justice activism, I discovered the power of simply being present—in daily relationship, in humble service.

My world turned upside down. Returning to campus, my academic life felt empty in comparison to my life and experience in El Salvador. After graduation, I was searching for a way to return to that kind of accompaniment and to grow deeper in relationship with communities on the margins. FMS offered exactly that: a path of humble service, presence, and solidarity.

What aspects of the Franciscan charism do you appreciate the most?

For the past ten years, I’ve facilitated formation sessions for FMS lay missioners centered on Francis of Assisi’s invitation: “We must bear patiently not being good and not being thought good.” I love how Francis dismantles the idea that being Christian means striving to be seen as “good.” When we let go of that performance, we’re free to simply be human—fallible, imperfect, and capable of both harm and growth.

I also value the Franciscan charism of minority, which calls us to examine our relationship with power and privilege and to choose a different way. As a lay missioner, that meant recognizing that my privileges as an English-speaking, college-educated U.S. citizen did not exempt me from the work of humility—of learning from cultures and wisdom traditions outside my own upbringing.

What prompted you to stay in Bolivia?

I chose to stay in Bolivia because I met my now-husband, Javier, while serving as a lay missioner, and together we decided to build our life here. People often ask why I don’t return to the U.S., and my answer is simple: there is so much more to life than material wealth or the idea of living in a “developed” country.

What we love most is the communal spirit of Bolivian culture, such a contrast to the individualism of the States. There is tremendous cultural wisdom here—wisdom I continue to learn from every day. It’s a privilege to be welcomed into another way of living in this world.