Memoria Impressa: Posters from the En Foco Archives exhibition chronologize’s En Foco’s history from 1979 to 1995 through a selection of its exhibition and public program posters.

These posters are from En Foco’s archives and represent part of the organization’s history of public engagement since the 1970s, including open calls to photographers for mentorship, seminars, and exhibitions. These programs were made in collaboration with invited established photographers, curators, and cultural institutions in New York and Puerto Rico.

For nearly a year, Valarie Irizarry and Skowmon Hastanan have been immersed in inventorying and archiving documents, photographs, publications, and other objects in our storage facility that have been accumulated since the founding of En Foco. Every item has a story attached to it, and exhibition posters are no different.

Memoria Impressa is meant to tell part of the En Foco story of collaboration among organizations and engagement within our communities.

OPENING RECEPTION
December 17, 2022 | 6-8PM

Kreate Hub
(First Floor Hallway)
15 Canal Place
Bronx, NY 10451

Exhibition on View:
December 16, 2022 – February 1, 2023

Valarie Irizarry (She/Her) is an artist, curator, and cultural worker of Afro-Caribbean descent born and raised in the Bronx. She earned a B.S. in Computer Graphics and Imaging from Lehman College CUNY, Bronx, New York, in 2007 and a certificate in art handling from the Bronx Council on the Arts in 2012. For over a decade, she has worked as a freelance art handler in the Bronx at such institutions as Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos, Derfner Judaica Museum at Hebrew Home at Riverdale, and Bronx River Art Center, among others. After completing a training program at Joan Mitchell Foundation where she worked on the Creating a Living Legacy (CALL) database project for older artists, she presently holds the role of Collections and Archives Manager at En Foco.

Skowmon Hastanan was born in Thailand and has been living and working in NYC since 1973. Hastanan received a BFA from School of Visual Arts. Solo shows include Bronx Museum Project Space, Monk Gallery, Jamaica Center for Arts, and Longwood Arts Gallery. Select group shows include Krause Gallery, NYC; Women’s Building, San Francisco, Calif.; Elizabeth A. Sackler Center For Feminist Art, Brooklyn Museum; Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Massachusetts; Aljira Center For Contemporary Art, New Jersey; Wave Hill, the Bronx; and Real Art Ways, Hartford, Conn. Commissions from Penn Museum for Borneo Odyssey performance, NYC/MTA Arts for Transit 2006, NYC Percent for Art, NYC 2001, Asian Arts Initiative, Philadelphia Exhibition Initiative, Pew Charitable Trusts, and Pennsylvania Humanities Council 2005. Fellowships include Civitella Ranieri Foundation, Italy 2010, Urban Artist Initiative/NYC 2008, and Lambent Fellowships in the Arts at Tides Foundation 2007.

En Foco is in the process of digitizing all of its archival materials to provide searchable access to the public, researchers, students, teachers, and artists. Its rich history is embodied in its archival holdings. The database will serve as the portal to access this information. En Foco’s history is contained within its archives, a living collection of materials that continue to grow and serve today’s artists in new and innovative ways.

For more information on the En Foco Archives please visit: https://enfoco.org/archives