We recently had the chance to connect with Arron Foster and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Arron , we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: Who are you learning from right now?
My understanding of work and purpose has evolved throughout my life, shaped by a commitment to continual learning. I believe it is my responsibility to learn from the people around me, my family, friends, neighbors, students, and colleagues.
For the past twenty years, I have worked as a professional arts educator dedicated to creating a positive, inclusive, and equitable learning environment. I strive to provide all students with meaningful opportunities to succeed by fostering clarity, consistency, and open dialogue. In this space, students feel safe sharing diverse ideas and perspectives, grounded in shared norms of communication, respect, and reciprocity. I am continually inspired by how much I learn from them; their insights have shaped my growth as an educator, artist, and individual.
My experiences as a husband and father have also influenced my work. These roles encourage me to view my actions from a broader perspective and consider their impact on others. While the effects are not always easy to quantify, they have deepened my sense of responsibility and informed how I teach, collaborate, and create
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am an interdisciplinary artist based in Northeast Ohio working in print media, installation, and book arts. My research-driven practice explores how time, change, and memory shape specific landscapes, especially post-industrial sites. Through close observation and documentation, I examine how natural and built environments influence—and are influenced by—human experience, aiming to foster empathy and responsibility toward the places we inhabit.
Much of my recent work focuses on Superfund and brownfield sites, positioning me as a witness to cycles of decay and recovery. I use an expanded approach to print media that includes traditional printmaking, photography, and digital processes, often highlighting the tension between image and object.
I hold a BFA in Printmaking and Art Education from East Carolina University and an MFA in Printmaking and Book Arts from the University of Georgia. My work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including solo exhibitions at George Fox University, The Dayton Society of the Arts, The Akron Soul Train Gallery, and Hiram University. Additional exhibitions include the International Youth Printmaking Invitational in Changsha, China, and the 11th Douro Biennial in Portugal. I am currently an Assistant Professor of Art at Kent State University at Stark
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who taught you the most about work?
My understanding of work has developed continually throughout my life. In my youth, my parents were a significant influence. They were very young when they started their family, and they had to face numerous challenges together. While that experience doesn’t work for everyone, it worked for them: they stayed committed to their vision of building a thriving, happy family. Watching them respond to difficulties with hard work, care, compassion, imagination, and creativity was deeply inspiring. Being raised in a working-class environment by parents who both loved and challenged me taught me to see labor as an integration of head, hand, and heart, an ethos I’ve carried into my professional life.
Over the past twenty-plus years, my wife, also an arts educator, has been one of my greatest influences. She is a thoughtful, rigorous, and dedicated teacher who cares profoundly about learning. Her passion for her students and her craft continues to inspire me and shape my own approach to education.
Is there something you miss that no one else knows about?
I feel nostalgic for a time when the world seemed larger and life moved more slowly. That sense comes from an era shaped by fewer instant communications, slower travel, and more localized experiences. Today’s technologies have created a “shrinking world,” where constant global connectivity is the norm. While this brings many advantages, it has also diminished the vastness and mystery that once defined my sense of place.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a cultural value you protect at all costs?
I grew up in Appalachia, and for better or worse I carry many of the region’s traditional values, commitment to family and community, hospitality, hard work, self-reliance, and a deep connection to the land. My understanding of these ideals may differ from that of earlier generations, but their core remains the same. Together, these values encourage us to balance our rights and privileges with our responsibilities, to consider the greater good, and to protect what is most essential in ourselves and our communities
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. When do you feel most at peace?
This one’s easy- at home or in nature, with family and friends, while ideally making something with my hands
Contact Info:
- Website: https://arron-foster.squarespace.com
- Instagram: @arron_foster_studio
