Erin M. Riley is a tapestry weaver living and working in Brooklyn, NY. Erin received a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA, and a MFA from Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA both in Fibers. Riley is represented by P.P.O.W Gallery, New York, NY and had solo exhibitions there in 2018 and 2021. Riley is a 2021 United States Artist Fellow, and her work was collected as part of the 2021 Academy of Arts & Letters Purchase Prize. She was a resident artist at Dieu Donné Workspace Program, The Corporation of Yaddo, MacDowell, and Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in 2012 and 2021 as an alumni artist-in-residence.

The Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program awards rent-free non-living studio space to 17 visual artists for year-long residencies in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Its mission is to provide working studio space and community for artists. Artists are selected annually based on merit from a competitive pool of applicants by a professional jury comprised of artists and members of the SWSP Artists Advisory Committee.

The Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program is the new face of the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation Space Program, developed for artists, by artists in 1991. In 2014 the program was renamed the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program to honor the legacy of Marie Walsh Sharpe and reflect the new sponsorship and commitment of the Walentas Family Foundation.