Joy Comes in the Morning
Artist Statement: Julie Wohl’s mixed media fine art pieces are influenced by Jewish tradition and the natural world.
The work featured in this exhibition are tied together through their use of bright colors, flowing lines, texture and shape. Their content reflects the highs and the lows of Jewish lived experience. The works were created between the years of 2019 and 2024, spanning a period of time in which Julie was navigating a number of life changes and moves (arriving as a new immigrant to Maryland in 2018), then living through a global pandemic and into the current landscape navigating a Jewish educator’s voice in response to October 7th.
Before this time period, Julie’s work had been described primarily as whimsical and joyful. And while many elements of the work—the colors, the lines, the vibrancy and shapes have remained, the emotional undercurrent of newness, isolation, fear and sadness found their way in. While joy is never far from her work, these elements have made themselves known and created a body of work that is more nuanced—recognizing that joy is more potent after sadness, fear becomes manageable through celebration, and isolation can be mitigated by participation in community. Throughout it all, Julie’s work is filled with love—love for her family, friends, community, students, traditions, and even love for the nuance that comes with age—knowing that we cannot look away from the hard things—and that joy comes in the morning.
About the Artist
Julie Wohl is a passionate Jewish artist and educator who brings her love of telling stories, creating, and spending time in nature to her work in the Jewish community of Baltimore. She is an author and illustrator who has written/illustrated a number of books and resources for Jewish schools, including Siddur Mah Tov, a Family Shabbat Prayer Book, and “Make, Create, Celebrate! a Jewish Holiday Art Journal, both published by Behrman House.
Julie received her Master’s Degree in Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary and has worked in a variety of synagogue, communal and camp settings for over 20 years. She is the director of congregational learning at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, and prior to that, she spent her time sharing the joy of Jewish books as the director of PJ Library in Baltimore. Julie and her husband, Rabbi Josh Wohl, are the proud parents of two teenagers and a cat named Rainbow.
Here’s a sample of what you’ll see when visit the Third Space gallery from September 17, 2024 to January 6, 2025.
You can find more of Julie’s work at www.juliewohl.com
You can contact Julie at jswohleducator@gmail.com or jwohl@baltimorehebrew.org
