Edra Soto
Stateside Puerto Rican fine artist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edra Soto (born 1971, Puerto Rico) is a Chicago-based multidisciplinary artist, curator, educator, and co-director of the artist-run outdoor project space The Franklin.
1971 (age 54–55)
Edra Soto | |
|---|---|
| Born | Edra Soto 1971 (age 54–55) |
| Education | Escuela de Artes Plásticas y Diseño de Puerto Rico [BFA]; School of the Art Institute of Chicago [MFA] |
Biography
Edra Soto was born in Puerto Rico in 1971. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Escuela de Artes Plasticas de Puerto Rico in 1994. After moving to Chicago, she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2000. She has received several awards, including the Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship (2016)[1] and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) Individual Artists Award (2017). She has curated numerous exhibitions, including co-curating Present Standard at the Chicago Cultural Center in 2016.[2] She is a faculty member in the Contemporary Practices Department at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.[3] Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows both nationally and internationally.
The Franklin
In 2012, Soto and her husband Dan Sullivan founded The Franklin, an artist-run project space in the backyard of their home in Garfield Park, featuring installations and site-specific work by Chicago and national artists.[4][5]
The Franklin Collection of over 200 artworks by local, national, and international artists is also at the Garfield Park location.[6]
Works
Soto's ongoing site-specific GRAFT series, begun in 2013, incorporates the geometric designs of iron rejas screens popular throughout Puerto Rico.[7][8] In 2014, Soto and Dan Sullivan were awarded a public art commission from the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) for the Blue Line Western Station.[9] Their work will be a large-scale installation for the stationhouse exterior.[10]
Edra Soto was an Artist-in-Residence at Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego, California, in 2023.[11] In 2024, Soto received the Joyce Foundation award from the Sculpture Center in Cleveland, Ohio;[12] and was selected by the New York Public Art Fund to present a project in Central Park.[13] Her work was included in the group show Widening the Lens: Photography, Ecology, and the Contemporary Landscape at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh;[14] and acquired by the Pérez Art Museum Miami, Florida.
Personal life
Soto is married to Dan Sullivan, and the two are frequent creative collaborators.[15]
Exhibitions (selection)
- 2015 DOMINODOMINO, with Dan Sullivan, Morgan Lehman Gallery, New York, NY[16]
- 2017 Manual GRAFT, University Galleries, Illinois State University, Normal IL[17]
- 2017 OPEN 24 HOURS, Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago[18]
- 2017 Traduttore, Traditore, Gallery 400, Chicago[19]
- 2019 Forgotten Forms, Chicago Cultural Center[20]
- 2019 Cross Currents: Intercambio Cultural, Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales, Havana, Cuba and Smart Museum, Chicago (forthcoming)
- 2023 Edra Soto: Graft, Institute of Contemporary Art, San Diego, California[11]
- 2024 Edra Soto: Graft, Central Park (as part of Public Art Fund's exhibition programming), New York[13]