lithograph and chine colle; 10×10”, image 6×6”

“Many have considered America to be a glorious experiment in Democracy. The original melting-pot. Centuries of innovation, growth, and power. Trust in our institutions. The creation of grass root movements to address societal inequities. And now? The events of the last two years have ripped the band-aid off what was apparently simmering just below the surface. Social distrust, unabashed racism, social media lynch mobs, and a general fracturing of whatever we previously believed to have made us a nation is our current reality. Where do we go from here?”

ARTIST BIO: Eileen Foti is an Assistant Professor of Art and the Foundations Program Director at William Paterson University in New Jersey, USA. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor at Montclair State University, the Master Printer at the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions at Rutgers University, and the Interim Education Director at Tamarind Institute at the University of New Mexico. She has received fellowships from the NJ State Council on the Arts and the MidAtlantic Arts Foundation, and she has had artist residencies throughout the world. Foti wrote and co-produced A Ripple in the Water: Healing Through Art, an award-winning documentary about papermaking and embroidery projects that were spearheaded by Kim Berman and used for poverty alleviation and HIV/AIDS awareness programs for women in rural and urban communities across South Africa. Since 2014, she has been the Outreach Manager for the Swat Relief Initiative, a non-profit organization that develops programs to improve the lives of women and children in the Swat Valley region of Pakistan through healthcare, teacher training, economic growth, and the building of sustainable environments.