ED BARR grew up in Tyler, Texas. He received a BA from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, and an MA from the University of Kansas. After graduate school, he began a career in art museum administration. Between 1999 and 2005, Barr served first as the assistant to the director and then as the director of the Mulvane Art Museum at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. In addition to his museum duties, he taught several art history and museum studies courses at Washburn. Barr earned a BS in automotive restoration technology from McPherson College in 2007. He then worked at Vintage Restorations Ltd. in Union Bridge, Maryland, where he restored British cars. In February 2010, Barr joined the McPherson College faculty. He currently teaches sheet metal restoration and the history of automotive design.