Born in Galt, Ontario, Barbara Todd studied printmaking, drawing and art history at the University of Guelph (Bachelor in 1975). In 1981 she moved to Banff, Alberta, where she lived and worked for twelve years, taking part in three residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts and working as assistant head of the Textile Programme. In 1993 she moved to Montreal where she continues her artistic practice. Todd's 'security blankets' and 'coffin quilts', which she produced from the late 1980s until recently, have been exhibited widely. Barbara Todd: Security Blankets, organized by the Southern Alberta Art Gallery in 1992, toured Canada for two years. These works were also included in numerous shows including: Soft Ground, Muttart Gallery, Calgary, Alberta (1990); PastFutureTense, Vancouver and Winnipeg Art Galleries (1990-91); Corpus, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (1993); Subversive Craft, List Visual Arts Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (1993); and Survivors in Search of a Voice, organized by the Woodlawn Arts Foundation and initially exhibited at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (1995). Todd's installation, A Bed is a Boat has been exhibited at the Whyte Museum, Banff, Galerie Oboro, Montreal, The Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge, Ontario and at the Museum for Textiles, Toronto.
She most recently exhibited at Galerie Lilian Rodriguez, Montreal, in May 1999. Todd's work draws on a wide variety of references including historical quilts, children's drawings, poetry, as well as contemporary art theory and practice.

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