Conversation with Artist Lenny Foster

In conjunction with the CEAM Artist Residency, photographer Lenny Foster will discuss his work in and around St. Augustine.

Lenny Foster’s work reflects a keen interest in the rich Black American history of the area, from Spain’s colonization in the 16th century bringing with them among the first Africans on the North American continent, the establishment of Fort Mose in 1738, the first legally sanctioned free Black town in the present-day United States, and throughout the last four centuries that include both Spanish and British rule, and a tumultuous 20th and 21st centuries. Foster is especially interested in the Lincolnville neighborhood, founded in 1866 by formerly enslaved people, and other than a more recent wave of gentrification, has been a prominent historically Black neighborhood. A recent body of work entitled Porch Portraits, includes portraits of long-time Black residents of Lincolnville, each of whom has experienced the rapid growth of the city over the past half a century.

Foster’s engagement with these historical sites and people within the community stems from a deep desire to learn more about this history that is not well known, but which connects to his own history: “In Saint Augustine, I have learned that long before the pilgrims arrived, the Spanish had settled in Saint Augustine and that my own African American heritage and history is deeply tied to that first settlement.”

About the Artist:

Lenny Foster is a photographer who has owned and operated a gallery in both Taos, New Mexico, and St. Augustine, Florida, since 1998. His work, which encompasses landscape, still life, and portraiture to documentation of historic Black sites within St. Augustine and the Lincolnville neighborhood, is propelled by the search for beauty and deeper truth conveyed within the medium of photography.

Foster has exhibited at venues throughout the U.S., including The Harwood Museum of Art, Taos Art Museum, Albuquerque Museum, and the Hubbard Museum of the American West. His work is a part of the permanent collections of The Harwood Museum, The Millicent Rogers Museum, The Muhammed Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky, The Ross Museum at Ohio Wesleyan University, The Snite Museum at The University of Notre Dame, and most recently at The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center in Saint Augustine. He lives and works in St. Augustine, Florida.

The CEAM Artist Residency, in collaboration with Flagler College’s Department of Art & Design, is a regular program of artists-in-residence to engage in themes of place-making while collaborating with some aspect of St Augustine’s local community, the city’s significant and varied roles in American history, or its rich natural environment.

This program is supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and a grant from the Dr. JoAnn Crisp-Ellert Fund at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida.