Julie C Baer

Artist statement

“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” Simone Weil, French philosopher and activist

“Nature is an infinite sphere of which the center is everywhere and the circumference nowhere.“ Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher

My work reflects my close observation of nature’s fluctuating patterns: shifting light, variegated colors, constant movement, changing forms, biodiversity. I seek out native plants through their seasonal cycles. Working abstractly, yet botanically accurately, I try to surprise viewers with unusual views to induce them to look deeply. Many pieces depict the complex design inherent in the typically-unnoticed life growing on old trees and forest floors, while others seek light in a changing sky fragmented by tree canopies or glimpse moving water through riparian plants. Consequently, my compositions often present allover patterns without traditional focal points, reflecting how we discover nature. Due to heavily collaged elements, many pieces are highly topographic, as though life forms grow from their surfaces. Though nature is our collective home, human activity has caused irreparable losses of habitat, resource, and species. By revealing and revering the beauty of humble local biota, I respond to ecologists’ call for native ecosystem rediscovery and restoration.

Artist bio

I have been painting for over 40 years. As a teenager struggling with undiagnosed PTSD, artmaking was lifesaving for me, providing a calling, a practice, a generativity. An identity. I attended RISD and graduated from the New School for Social Research, then made art, exhibited full-time, and published two picture books (Love Me Later, Bollix Books, 2005 and I Only Like What I Like, Bollix Books, 2003) while raising my sons. In 2007, I returned to graduate school for a master’s of education in language and literacy (2009 Harvard Graduate School of Education) and doctor of education in teaching and learning (2018 Northeastern University). Until 2022 I taught writing to students of all ages and backgrounds, from incumbent workers at Boston hospitals to nursing students at UMass Boston to first-year BU students. The pandemic brought me back to art, transformed. In 2024 I served as Visiting Artist at the Native Plant Trust in Massachusetts. My work was featured on the GBH Community Canvas digital mural project on November 7, 2024. I belong to TAG: The Art Gallery at the New England Art Center in SOWA, Boston, and Atlantic Works Gallery artist collective in East Boston. I have exhibited and sold my work widely.

Read an article about me from Native Plant Trust magazine July 2024

Read a review in Art New England of my Aug 2023 exhibition

Selected exhibitions

• Harvard Graduate School of Education, Gutman Library, Cambridge, MA, solo show, Jun-Aug 2025

• Nave Gallery, Somerville, MA, “Water Marks,” juried exhibition, March 2025

• Galatea Gallery, SOWA, Boston, MA, “New England Collective XV,” juried exhibition, Feb 2025

• TAG The Art Gallery, SOWA, Boston, MA, “The Alchemy of Art and Play,” member exhibition, Jan 2025

• Atlantic Works Gallery, East Boston, MA, “Light and Dark,” group show, Jan 2025 

• NAWA (National Association of Women Artists), New Members’ Show, online, Nov-Dec 2024

• TAG The Art Gallery, SOWA, Boston, MA, “Transcending Perfection,” member exhibition, Nov 2024

• The Native Plant Trust, Framingham, MA, “Regarding Nature,” Visiting Artist solo exhibition, Oct 2024

• TAG The Art Gallery, SOWA, Boston, MA, “Embracing Uncertainty,” member exhibition, Oct 2024

• TAG The Art Gallery, SOWA, Boston, MA, “Startling Unpredictability,” member exhibition, Aug 2024

• Atlantic Works Gallery, East Boston, MA, “Roots of Passage,” group show, July-Aug 2024 

• Atlantic Works Gallery, East Boston, MA, “In the Woods,” two-person exhibition, Apr 2024

• Atlantic Works Gallery, East Boston, MA, “The Winter Show,” member exhibition, Dec 2023-Jan 2024

• Institute of Contemporary Art Watershed, East Boston, MA, “Harboring Creativity,” art fair, Nov 2023

• Art House of Chase Young Gallery, Somerville, MA, “Arboretum,” solo exhibition, Aug-Sept 2023

• Atlantic Works Gallery, East Boston, MA, “The Summer Show,” group show, July 2023 

• Atlantic Works Gallery, East Boston, MA, “Making Connections,” group exhibition, Feb 2023

• Atlantic Works Gallery, East Boston, MA, “The Winter Show,” group exhibition, Jan 2023

• Bengal Bridge Boston, “Unconnected Yet,” online group show, Jan 2023

• City of Boston Gallery, “Fay Chandler Emerging Art Exhibition 2022,” group show, Sept-Oct 2022

• Louisiana State University, Sch of Veterinary Medicine, Baton Rouge, LA, “Animals in Art,” Sept 2022    

• Armory Center for the Arts, Somerville MA, “Confluence,” solo exhibition, June-July 2022 

• Moses Brown School, Providence, RI, “Nature,” solo exhibition, 2001

• Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, “Souls,” solo exhibition, 2000

• Cambridge Center for Adult Education, “Nature,” solo exhibition, 1999

• Cambridge Health Alliance, “Souls,” solo exhibition, 1999

• Yeshiva University Museum, NY, “Neshamot: Souls in Thy Keeping,” solo exhibition, 1998

• Rotating loans of artwork to corporate clients of the DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA, 2000-2020

Publications      

• Love Me Later, Bollix Books, picture book, 2005

• I Only Like What I Like, Bollix Books, picture book 2003

• I have also written and illustrated many other unpublished books for young readers, including Lilly Looking; Maybe; World Here I Am; Long Drink of Water; Trash Bird; Condition One; Ruby Tonight, and Faces of Friends.

Curriculum Vitae

Sales

Many works are available for sale. Please contact me at art@juliebaer.com if you are interested in learning more about purchasing a piece.