FOURATT FOR ART: PROFILE ON MARY EILEEN FOURATT OF THE MONMOUTH COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL.
By Dominic Nicoscia

When Mary Eileen Fouratt was going to school, there was very little attention paid to museum studies. In a time where big business and telecom jobs were ruling the college roost, she decided to travel a different path and has never looked back. Years later the whole New Jersey art community has a life debt to this decision and to Fouratt for her work on the Monmouth County Arts Council. As the executive director of the thirty-six-year-old collective, Fouratt oversees the dispensation of funds, proliferation and public response to artistic endeavors of all types: aesthetics, film, music, theatre etc.

Created in 1971, out of a need for centralization and representation of the many artistic fringes in the Monmouth County area, the council’s headquarters are located in Red Bank, NJ. It now serves as the umbrella company for seventy-nine art organizations. Its friends include establishments and entities from all over the county including The Count Basie Theatre and the Three Rivers Film Festival. Fouratt who received a master’s degree in museum studies from Bank Street College in New York has worked feverishly to facilitate the development and prominence of art all over the area. One of the most recent examples of which included the premiere of the new Francis Ford Coppola film, Youth Without Youth. Who better equipped to handle the premiere of the first film in ten years created by arguably the most influential filmmaker in history then Fouratt? That’s one more thing to add to the resume.

Though she has admitted she is not an artist herself, the creative culture in New Jersey could ask for no better friend than Fouratt. The leader of an established and growing community of artistic organizations, she is the woman to go to if you need a little something extra behind you or some money to make it happen.

Though surely there are some exceptions, the open-minded nature of the Council and their willingness to aid in the development of local art has solidified the Monmouth County underground while further legitimizing its more established entities: Count Basie, Phoenix Theatre, Clearview Cinema etc.

It truly has been a long journey for Fouratt. Going from being a big fish in a small pond to the queen-bee of Monmouth County, she has never lost sight of what’s important. She loves what she does and has proven this by the quality and diligence of her work and the impact it has had in Monmouth County. The new year will no doubt bring a barrage of new projects for the council, including the spring installment of “State of the Art”, a magazine which showcases the best and brightest art around the council’s locale. Whatever course New Jersey may take in 2008, it’s clear that Mary Fouratt and the illustrious council that she governs will be at the helm of all things artistic.