The Artful Life Questionnaire: Julianne W. Sterling

What we know for sure: We all have a story, and engaging with the arts helps all of us to tell our own stories on our own terms. We also know that there are ways to engage with the arts other than in formal cultural venues, and that sometimes it is more about the process of art making than it is about the end product. We also know that living an artful life, which is to say, living a life in which the arts and arts engagement are a priority means different things to different people based on their own interests, their communities, and many other factors, including equitable access. The Artful Life Questionnaire celebrates the diversity of ways we can make the arts a part of our lives, and, hopefully, inspires and encourages us to live our own unique versions of an artful life. In today’s edition of the questionnaire, we’re speaking with California artist and arts educator Julianne W. Sterling.

NEA: Please introduce yourself.

JULIANNE W. STERLING: I am a Bay Area painter born in Southern California. I graduated from UC Riverside with a BS in Economics and pursued post-baccalaureate studies in art at San Francisco State. I am a practicing and exhibiting artist, an elementary school art teacher and a mother who, along with my partner, has raised two children. Our sons are 17 and 20. My work has been exhibited at several museums and galleries, including the National Portrait Gallery (Washington, DC), Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum (St Louis, Missouri), Abigail Ogilvy Gallery (Boston, Massachusetts), A.I.R. Gallery (Brooklyn, New York), and the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art (Novato, California). I was awarded the first prize at Marin Museum of Contemporary Art's 2010 Juried Annual, and my work was selected for A.I.R. Gallery's 9th Biennial in Brooklyn in March 2011. 

NEA: Do you have a current art practice or a way of regularly engaging with the arts?

STERLING: I schedule time in my studio so I have dedicated time for my painting practice. Normally I work on one large painting at a time, but sometimes I have two works going. It’s really challenging for me to start any new artwork, but once I have finally started, there’s an itch to keep working and to finish. My everyday practice is that I teach art at an elementary school, grades K-5th. At its best it’s a profound honor to teach art to kids even if it's exhausting. I hope to spark joy and personal exploration, while also creating giant messes.

NEA: What are five words that come to mind when you think about the idea of living an artful life?

STERLING: Beauty, introspection, practice, work, quiet

NEA: Pick just one of those words and expand on how you see it as part of living an artful life.

STERLING: I guess finding quiet to hear my voice about my work. It’s sometimes a very slow process to find the quiet and hear what I want, and what the work needs.

NEA: Where do you currently live, and what are some of the ways that your community tells its story through the arts or through creative expression?

STERLING: I live in Albany, California, which on a map looks like a little corner of Berkeley. In the midst of the pandemic, I began portraits of my colleagues where I teach in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland. These portraits are of mothers I work with and their children, who I also have been lucky enough to teach. Creating a likeness is essential to me but also seeing the beauty in these women and the extraordinary beauty of paint made flesh.

NEA: How do you think that living an artful life can improve the well-being of your community?

STERLING: That’s hard to say, but I hope to spark creativity in my students who will hopefully see possibilities in the arts for their lives. I hope they find an artform that gives them expression.

NEA: What’s your favorite informal way or space to engage with arts and culture?

STERLING: I like to sketch while commuting on BART. I often clip images from the NY Times and draw them while commuting.

NEA: You’re known as a visual artist. Is there a form of creative expression that's really important to you that we don't know about?

STERLING: Well, I love portraiture, which you already know about.  Probably people would pay me not to sing, so I don’t have another secret talent.

NEA: If you hadn’t become an artist, do you think the arts would still be a part of your life? In what ways?  

STERLING: Two of my family members are musicians. It’s a joy to see my younger son’s musical talent. He astounds me.