Fredericka Foster (born 1944) is an American artist and water activist known for oil painting and photography.

Early life and education

Foster, a graduate of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, was also a student and taught at the Factory of Visual Arts, a professional art school founded in Seattle as an alternative to the traditional university art education.

Career

Foster, a painter and photographer, works primarily with the theme of

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

to raise awareness and examine its centrality to life; how its movement shapes the world socioeconomically, environmentally and subconsciously. An accomplished colorist using a limited palette and many layers of paint, she works "in the romantic landscape tradition of

Dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

. Hartley, Burchfield and O’Keeffe" Showing her work since the late 1970s, the AIDS epidemic, healing and dying inspired her paintings and installations in the 1990s. Buddhist practice influences her art. She has engaged in public talks with composer

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

on Buddhist practice and art. Solo shows include five ''Water Way'' shows at the Fischbach Gallery in New York and an exhibition at the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries. She has been in group shows in the United States and Europe, including ''The Flag Project'' for the

Rubin Museum of Art The Rubin Museum of Art, also known as the Rubin Museum is a museum dedicated to the collection, display, and preservation of the art and cultures of the Himalayas, the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and other regions within Eurasia, with a per ...

opening in New York; the "groundbreaking" ''The Christa Project: Manifesting Divine Bodies'' on the feminine divine, and the ''Value of Sanctuary: Building a House Without Walls,'' both at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine; and ''ecoconsciousness'' at ecoartspace in New Mexico. Her work is in many private and public collections. Foster is also known for curating and participating in ''The Value of Water'', at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. The largest exhibition to ever appear at the Cathedral, it anchored a year long initiative by the Cathedral on our dependence upon water, and featured over forty artists, including

Jenny Holzer Jenny Holzer (born July 29, 1950) is an American neo-conceptual artist, based in Hoosick, New York. The main focus of her work is the delivery of words and ideas in public spaces and includes large-scale installations, advertising billboards, ...

Robert Longo Robert Longo (born 1953) is an American artist, filmmaker, photographer and musician. Longo became first well known in the 1980s for his ''Men in the Cities'' drawing and print series, which depict sharply dressed men and women writhing in cont ...

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Latv ...

William Kentridge William Kentridge (born 28 April 1955) is a South African artist best known for his prints, drawings, and animated films, especially noted for a sequence of hand-drawn animated films he produced during the 1990s. The latter are constructed by ...

, April Gornik,

Kara Walker Kara Elizabeth Walker (born November 26, 1969) is an American contemporary painter, silhouettist, print-maker, installation artist, filmmaker, and professor who explores race, gender, sexuality, violence, and identity in her work. She is best ...

Kiki Smith Kiki Smith (born January 18, 1954) is a West German-born American artist whose work has addressed the themes of sex, birth and regeneration. Her figurative work of the late 1980s and early 1990s confronted subjects such as AIDS and gender, whil ...

Pat Steir Pat Steir (born 1940) is an American painter and printmaker. Her early work was loosely associated with conceptual art and minimalism, however, she is best known for her abstract dripped, splashed and poured "Waterfall" paintings, which she s ...

Edwina Sandys Edwina Sandys (born 22 December 1938) is an English artist and sculptor. She is the granddaughter of Winston Churchill. Early life Sandys was a debutante and was presented to Queen Elizabeth II. After attending a genteel girls’ school she wen ...

Alice Dalton Brown Alice Dalton Brown (born 1939) is an American painter known for realist works that capture the light and texture of specific, if often invented, places and moments.Henry, Gerrit. "Alice Dalton Brown," ''ARTnews'', November 1983, p. 207.Kingsle ...

Teresita Fernandez Teresita may refer to: * Teresita (given name), a feminine given name * ''Teresita'' (genus), a genus of moths in the family Oecophoridae * Teresita, Missouri, United States, an unincorporated community * Teresita, Oklahoma, United States, an unin ...

Eiko Otake Eiko Otake and Takashi Koma Otake, generally known as Eiko & Koma, are a Japanese performance duo. Since 1972, Eiko & Koma have worked as co-artistic directors, choreographers, and performers, creating a unique theater of movement out of stillness ...

and

Bill Viola Bill Viola ( , ; born 1951) is an American contemporary video artist whose artistic expression depends upon electronic, sound, and image technology in new media. His works focus on the ideas behind fundamental human experiences such as birth, d ...

. Foster and artis
Hilda O’Connell
contributed a chapter on 15th century Italian art to Art Beyond Sight's ''Art Beyond Sight: A Resource Guide to Art, Creativity, and Visual Impairment,'' an art education book and compact disk designed to give visual experiences to people with impaired sight. A complementary video, ''Art Beyond Sight: A Demonstration of Practical Techniques'', was co-produced with the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

Activism

Foster often collaborates with artists, scientists and non-profit organizations on water in relation to the environment, pollution and climate change. To educate about the

water crisis Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is wher ...

, she presented her work to two hundred and fifty scientists, did a performance based on the 2017 sewage spill into Puget Sound at the Sage Assembly 2017, ''Exploring a Catastrophe to Water Through Science and Art;'' and an exhibition and talk at the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries. ''Like a Circle in Water'', part of the Elements video series commissioned by the

Tricycle Foundation The Tricycle Foundation is a not-for-profit educational organization based in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804, ...

in 2014, was an official selection of the Awareness Festival and Blue Ocean Film Festival. She has been interviewed for her work as a cultural activist and taught on art and activism.
Think About Water
highlights the work of an ecological collective of artists who use water as their subject or medium, which Foster created and curates. Members includ
Basia Irland

Aviva Rahmani Aviva Rahmani is an Ecological artist whose public and ecological art projects have involved collaborative interdisciplinary community teams with scientists, planners, environmentalists and other artists. Her projects range from complete landscape ...

Betsy Damon Betsy Damon (born 1940) is an American artist whose work has been influenced by her activism in women's, gay, and environmental rights. Early life and Family Damon was born in 1940 to George Huntington Damon and Harriet Atkins. Damon is an aun ...

Diane Burko Diane Burko (born 1945 Brooklyn, NY) is an American painter and photographer. She is currently based in Philadelphia and Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Her work addresses landscape, climate change and environmental activism. Biography Diane B ...

Leila Daw Leila Daw (born 1940) is an American installation artist and art professor; her work uses diverse materials to explore themes of cartography and feminism. Life and work Leila Daw received her Masters of Fine Arts from the St. Louis School of Fin ...

, Stacy Levy, Charlotte Coté, Meridel Rubenstein, Rosalyn Driscoll, Doug Fogelson, Giana Pilar González, Rachel Havrelock, Susan Hoffman Fishman, Fritz Horstman, Sant Khalsa, Ellen Kozak, Stacy Levy,

Anna Macleod Anna MacGillivray Macleod DSc (15 May 1917 – 13 August 2004) was a Scottish biochemist and academic, an authority on brewing and distilling. She was a professor at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. She was the world's first female Professor ...

, Ilana Manolson, Lauren Rosenthal McManus, Randal Nichols, Dixie Peaslee, Jaanika Peerna,

, Lisa Reindorf, Naoe Suzuki, Linda Troeller, and Adam Wolpert.

Selected bibliography

* * * *

Films

* ''Like a Circle in Water'', Part of the Elements series, commissioned by the Tricycle Foundation, directed by Andrew Chan Gladstone; summer, 2014; official selection: The Awareness Film Festival, Los Angeles, California; and the Blue Ocean Film Festival, St. Petersburg, Florida. * ''Mary Mary'', Foster and Christopher Young, 1999; official selection: Northampton Independent Film Festival, Short Program #4: Surreal Reels and the Seattle Underground Film Festival. * ''The Spiritual Journey: Interfaith Perspectives'', Foster paintings shown throughout, Galen Films/Romano Productions, presented to the

Parliament of the World's Religions There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World's Religions, the first being the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. The event was celebrated by another c ...

by the Auburn Theological Seminary and the Temple of Understanding, 2000.

Awards

* 1998, The Inn at Phillips Mill award, Phillips Mill Photographic Exhibition; New Hope, Pennsylvania * 1993, First prize, National Polaroid Transfer Exhibition; Kirkland, Washington * 1989, Grand prize, Harvest of Arts, Bellevue, Washington; Second prize, Pacific Northwest Arts and Crafts Fair, Bellevue, Washington * 1981, Second prize, Heart of the City, Seattle, Washington

External links

Fredericka Foster 2013 ''Golden Hour'' at Fishbach GalleryThink About Water, curated site featuring artists who work with waterInstitute for Cultural Activism interview, October 20, 2020Instagram page

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Fredericka Environmental artists 20th-century American painters American women painters Landscape painters Landscape photographers Nature photographers Environmental photography 20th-century American women photographers 20th-century American photographers Living people University of Washington alumni Artists from New York (state) Artists from Washington (state) American contemporary painters American art curators American women curators 21st-century American women artists 1944 births 21st-century American painters