Artist Julie "Juicebox" Woodard splits her time between mountain trails and the streets of Philadelphia.
Using salvaged textiles, found objects, pigments and thread, she creates impressionistic landscapes, multimedia installations, functional sculptures, and wearable pieces that convey her passion for nature, memory, and creative reuse. Current incarnations pay tribute to her late mom and repurpose family heirlooms, as well as feature vintage goods, cutting room remnants, broken furniture, and street debris.
Julie’s artistic practice is rooted in the tension between holding on and letting go, of memorialization and detachment. A self-proclaimed 'doula of discarded things,' she transforms both trash and sentimental scraps, exploring themes of loss, the search for hope, our relationship to place, and the things we carry. Her visual work incorporates elements of collage, applique, embroidery, weaving, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. These mixed media pieces create a visual vernacular that she quilts together with original music, interactive installation, and stop motion animation. The "juice" is the joy Julie seeks to create and the "box" is her platform for storytelling and environmental advocacy. Every piece has a story. Every material is repurposed with purpose.
Julie has created capsule collections for international brand Au Boulot Workwear and her wearable designs have been showcased by Woolrich, Inc. She was the 2022 Featured Artist for FABSCRAP, is an alumna of NextFab's Artisan Accelerator program, and her work has been featured in commercial and gallery spaces in Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, and Denver. Following a strong interest in immersive art, her recent projects include Embodied Sound, a multimedia exhibition featuring visuals and original music in conversation, Pockets of Light, an interactive installation along the Delaware River Waterfront, an experiential oceanic reading "nook" for the 2023 Fringe/Cannonball Festival's presentation of Read Me A World, and Tidal Rock, a functional sea sculpture for the Philadelphia International Airport.
An art school dropout, Julie holds a BA in American Studies from Temple University and a MA in Museum Education from the University of the Arts. She has worked in Philadelphia's cultural sector for twenty years, including a 15-year tenure at University of the Arts. She has served on the board of Spiral Q Puppet Theater, was the Curator of Experiential Arts at Broad Street Love, and co-led Philly Swap, a local clothing and material exchange initiative. Julie teaches a vareity of workshops at local art centers, schools, nonprofits, and small businesses.
Some of Julie's favorite commissions are projects where collectors provide personal artifacts to be workshopped into a framed piece or unique garment and is honored to help others pay tribute to special people, places, and occasions by breathing art into old things.
Collaborations, public projects, requests for workshops, and textile donations are welcome.