Edra Soto

Edra Soto is a Puerto Rican-born artist, educator, and co-director of The Franklin, an outdoor project space in Chicago. An MFA graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2000), Soto has established herself as a significant voice in contemporary art through her exploration of cultural identity, colonial histories, and diasporic experiences. She has presented solo exhibitions at major institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Hyde Park Art Center, and Abrons Art Center in New York, and her work is featured in collections such as the Whitney Museum of American Art and Pérez Art Museum Miami.

Soto's artistic practice centers on Puerto Rican architectural motifs, particularly through her decade-long GRAFT series that began in 2012. These installations incorporate ornamental patterns found in Puerto Rican homes, revealing their connections to African symbols transported through colonial trade routes. Her work interrogates the erasure of Afro-diasporic influences on Puerto Rican culture while exploring themes of migration, displacement, and the complex relationship between private spaces and public history. Soto often incorporates 'viewfinders' within her installations, allowing viewers intimate access to documentary photographs capturing Puerto Rican architecture and personal family moments.

Her recent work has expanded to include public art commissions at prominent locations including Central Park in New York, O'Hare International Airport, and Millennium Park in Chicago. Soto's approach blends aesthetic beauty with social commentary, creating 'seductive environments' that draw viewers in before revealing deeper narratives about cultural memory and colonial legacies. Her practice bridges personal experience with broader historical contexts, particularly through documentation of her family home in Puerto Rico and reflections on the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

Soto has received significant recognition including the Joyce Award, 3Arts Next Level Award, Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, Joan Mitchell Fellowship, and the inaugural Foundwork Artist Prize. Her work has been featured in major exhibitions such as no existe un mundo poshuracán at the Whitney Museum and Estamos Bien, La Trienal 20/21 at El Museo del Barrio.

As an educator, Soto has shared her practice through lectures and workshops, including upcoming engagements with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago's Visiting Artists Program. She collaborates frequently with her husband Dan Sullivan of Navillus Woodworks, particularly on projects like DominoDomino, which recreates public domino tables from Puerto Rico and has been exhibited at venues including the Pérez Art Museum Miami and Hunter College. Soto's work consistently creates spaces for community engagement while challenging conventional narratives about Puerto Rican identity and cultural heritage.