"Authentic voice is necessary for powerful, effective art. Authentic voice is the most difficult challenge for the artist. Once identified, the next challenge is to sustain and nourish that authenticity. I would like for my work to empower new voices to shout out the ways and means to steer our planet to maintain its course as it spins into the future." — Consuelo Jimenez Underwood

Fiber artist Consuelo Jimenez Underwood, born to agricultural field workers, was the first person in her family to graduate high school. She went on to earn a bachelors degree and two masters degrees in visual art. Her work is showcased in several permanent collections across the country, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, Illinois, and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, New York. We spoke with Underwood last fall about finding her artistic voice, the ancestral roots that inform her work, and her hope for the next generation of artists.