Artist Spotlight: Astrid Preston

Astrid Preston has been called “one of America’s most important contemporary landscape painters.” Her evolution as an artist is impressive, spanning over five decades of expression from her early days assisting her father, an architect, which influenced her linear drawings, to exploring the myriad of contemporary art movements. From minimalism to surrealism, abstraction to photorealism and the blurred boundaries in between; each chapter in the artist’s career is self-reflective of her journey through life. Preston received a B.A in English Literature from UCLA and is predominantly self-taught as an artist. Among her most prestigious honors is an NEA Fellowship Grant and an artist residency from Lux Art Institute. Her work has been exhibited in respected galleries and is held in notable museums throughout the United States and abroad.

Focus On the Masters (FOTM) is non-profit, 501(c)(3), art appreciation program that documents, preserves and presents the works and lives of accomplished contemporary artists. We emphasize the importance of the arts to a healthy society. Our archive includes oral histories, videotaped interviews, photographic portraits and examples of the artists’ work. We incorporate our research into community outreach projects including our cross-curricular in-school program, Learning To See. FOTM is the only biographical resource project of its kind in the country. The documentation, consisting of visual, written and oral history, is comprised of multiple projects linked by a common mission. The goal of FOTM is to demonstrate the full significance of the arts to society by bringing highly accomplished artists to the forefront of the community.