Lily Yeh is a global artist who is fueled by a belief that art is a human right, and that artists can create a foundation for profound social change. Slight of frame, but large in spirit and vision, the 70-year-old artist was born in China, lives in Philadelphia, and now, as constant traveler, the world is her canvas.

The Barefoot Artist is a visually stunning and deeply emotional documentary by Glenn Holsten and Daniel Traub about the long and colorful life of Lily Yeh, a  Philadelphia-based artist who has committed herself to creating community-based art projects in some of the world's most troubled areas. Beginning with an unprecedented sculpture garden in the projects of North Philly that, eighteen years later, became known as “The Village of Arts and Humanities,” the film also shows Yeh in action in various far-flung locations such as Kenya and Rwanda, where she teaches survivors of war and calamity to make murals and build sculptures drawn from their own experience. Working with Yeh on these projects, they are able to regain hope, a sense of purpose, and a belief that life can be about creation as well as destruction.
 

The Barefoot Artist traces Yeh’s evolution as an artist – from her first exposure to Chinese landscape painting as a young girl in China to the hauntingly beautiful memorial she designed to honor the victims of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. It shows her methodology for community building – using art as the foundation – which she has developed over many years as she has worked in impoverished communities around the world.

Going beyond her work, the film also covers Yeh’s remarkable personal journey, one that takes her from a privileged childhood in China, through her education in America, marriage, motherhood, and the development of a remarkable creative career. It also documents her return to China, where she makes surprising discoveries about her family and reveals to us the true reason why she has dedicated her life to bringing art to places where beauty is seldom found.