[1] He continued his education in Hawaii at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, before returning to the University of Canterbury, where he was senior lecturer in printmaking from 1978 to 1990.

A major exhibition of Barry Cleavin's work, which was curated by the Auckland City Art Gallery, toured New Zealand in 1982.

[7][8] Cleavin has received numerous awards for his art, notably becoming the Fulbright Fellow at The Tamarind Institute of Lithography, Albuquerque in 1983.

[2] In making the award, the University of Canterbury noted that Barry Cleavin "is one of the country’s most inventive, forceful and prodigious artists, combining meticulous skills as a draughtsman and intaglio printmaker with an imagination that embraces a wide range of subject matter.

[10] Cleavin has represented New Zealand at various international print biennales, in Berlin, Krakow, Ljubljana, Paris, Sapporo, San Francisco, and Tokyo.

His works are hallmarked by a wry surrealism and punning titles, using recurring motifs of animal skeletons, silhouetted horsemen, and shadow patterns.