Photograph by Isabella Dellolio
For Julie Lapping Rivera, the meditative process of carving a woodblock to bring forth an image is a source of endless fascination. As a longtime printmaker, painter, and teaching artist, Julie works with images like poets write, with an implied, open-ended narrative thread that reaches the reader/viewer and ties them to meaning.
While Julie’s work is frequently rooted in autobiographical or current events, what interests her most is the collective interior world of thoughts, feelings, and dreams. She seeks to create an emotional world that invites contemplation and connection, while also fostering collaboration across artistic mediums. In her ongoing project, “Look Again: Portraits of Daring Women,” she takes this approach and turns it outward, combining woodcut portraits with poetry from a wide community of women writers, giving the viewer an intimate and holistic look into the lives of often-overlooked women in history.
Julie began her career in New York, working as a teaching artist with the Studio In a School Association, Museum of Modern Art, and Lincoln Center Institute. She is a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship recipient in Drawing, and has received grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Julie earned her MFA in Painting from Pratt Institute and her BFA in Printmaking from the University of Massachusetts. Her artist residencies include Soaring Gardens in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, La Muse, in La Bastide, France, and Scoula Internazionale di Grafica, Venice, Italy. “Look Again” is on display at the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Alpert Gallery, Springfield, MA through February 2025.
Selected Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2024-2025
Look Again, D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield Museum , Springfield, MA
2023
Look Again, Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, MA
2020
Look Again, Sanford Gallery, Florence, MA
2013
Red Sea, JCA Gallery, Amherst, MA
Group Exhibitions
2024
Formerly Known as Prints, A.P.E. Gallery, Northampton, MA
Curator: Phyllis McGibbon
Footprints International, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT
Juror: Laurel Garber, The Park Family Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings, Philadelphia Museum of Art
A Sense of Place, Northampton Center for the Arts, Northampton, MA
Curator: Julie Rivera
Current Impressions, Borgia Gallery, Elms College, Springfield, MA
Artists from Zea Mays Printmaking, Wharepuke Art Gallery, New Zealand
2023
Prints!, Fivesparks, Harvard, MA
12 Pairs, Sanford Gallery, Florence, MA
Ice Shanty Project, with Zea Mays Printmaking, Brattleboro Museum
Smith College Faculty Exhibit, Janotta Gallery, Smith College, Northampton, MA
2022
Visiting Artist Exhibition, Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Venice, Italy
Smith College Faculty Exhibit, Janotta Gallery, Smith College, Northampton, MA
Virtual Woodcut Printmakers, Thoreau Gallery, Franklin Pierce University, NH
2021
Mapping Narratives:New Prints, 2021, International Print Center, NY
Stand Up Prints, Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minneapolis, MN
Canary in the Coal Mine, Hosmer Gallery, Northampton, MA
Intertwined, Sanford Gallery, Florence, MA
Art in the Orchard, Easthampton, MA
2020
This Is Us, Springfield Museum, Springfield, MA
2019
The Art and Craft of Woodcut, Leverett Crafts and Arts, Leverett, MA
Synchronicity, ECA Gallery, Easthampton, MA
Infinite Possibilities, Sanford Gallery, Zea Mays, Florence, MA
2018
Landscape/Dreamscape, Northampton Historical Society, Northampton, MA
The Space Between Two, A.P.E. Gallery, Northampton, MA
2017
Working Green, Motherbrook Arts and Community Center, Dedham, MA
Zea Mays Printmakers, Hosmer Gallery, Northampton, MA
Dreamy and Surreal, MacPage, Portland, ME
Unity of Opposites, Maine Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, ME
Pathways, Elusie Gallery, Easthampton, MA
2016
Unity of Opposites, A.P.E. Gallery, Northampton, MA
The Sky and the Earth, Hadley Fish and Wildlife, Hadley, MA
2015
Members Exhibit, Zea Mays, Sanford Gallery, Florence, MA
Microworks, APE Gallery, Northampton, MA
Birds and Bees, Nave Gallery, Cambridge, MA
2014
Systems, APE Gallery, Northampton, MA
Big Ink, Stoneleigh Burnam School, Greenfield, MA
2013
Direction:Home, Oxbow Gallery, Northampton, MA
Big Ink, Zea Mays, Florence, MA
2011
Celestial Bodies, Hosmer Gallery, Northampton, MA
2010
Romare Bearden and Friends, Great Neck Art Center, NY
Steamroller Print Project Dynamite Space, Northampton, MA
2008
Intermedia, Burnett Gallery, Amherst, MA
2007
Self-Reflection, Hosmer Gallery, Northampton, MA
Some Assembly Required, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2006
Faculty Show, Joseloff Gallery, University of Hartford, Hartford, CT
Awards and Honors
2024
Honorable Mention, Footprints, Center for Contemporary Printmaking
Juror: Laurel Garber, Curator, Philadelphia Museum of Art
2022
Visiting Guest Artist Fellowship, Scoula Internazionale di Grafica, Venice, Italy
2021
Ella Jackson Chair, Truro Center for the Arts, Truro, MA
2020
Mass Cultural Council Grant, Drawing
2019
Artist Residency, La Muse, France
Mass Cultural Council Grant, Printmaking
2011
Harvard Pilgrim Community Project Grant
2010
Steamroller Print Project Grant
2009
Artist Residency, Soaring Gardens, Wyalusing, Pennsylvania
1989 – 1992, 1995
New York Foundation for the Arts, Artist in Residence Grant
1989
Lincoln Center Institute/Museum of Modern Art, Teaching artist, Museum Education Program
1986
Arts in Education Grant, New York State Council on the Arts, in association with the Studio In A School Association
Arts in Education Grant, National Endowment for the Arts, in association with the Studio In A School Association
1985
Artists’ Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts: Works on Paper
Juror, Artist-in-Residence Program, New York Foundation for the Arts
1984
Grant, National Endowment for the Arts, with the Studio In A School Association
Professional Experience
Current
Lecturer, Studio Art, Smith College, Northampton, MA
Faculty, Teaching Mentor, Zea Mays Printmaking, Florence, MA
2024
Visiting Artist, Shepherd Maudsleigh Print Studio
Guest Lecturer, Smith College Museum of Art, Cunningham Center for Prints and Drawings
2022
Guest artist, Tennessee Arts Academy, Belmont University, Nashville, TN
2019-2021
Assistant Professor, Art Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
Program Supervisor, Art Education, Mt. Holyoke College
Visiting Artist, Emory University
Instructor, Truro Center for the Arts, Truro, MA
2001-2018
Art Educator, Wildwood School, Amherst, MA
2006-2007
Assistant Professor, Drawing and Painting, Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, CT
1995 to 2001
Art Educator, Goosehill Primary School, Cold Spring Harbor, NY
1987 – 1995
Artist-Instructor, P.S. 321, Brooklyn, NY
1986 – 1987
Assistant Program Director, Studio In A School Association, NY
1981 – 1985
Artist-Instructor, Studio In A School Association, NY
1984 – 1986
Instructor, New York State Summer School for the Arts, SUNY Fredonia, NY
Artist Talks, 2024
Look Again: Portraits of Daring Women, Interview with Raquel Obregon of La Tertulia, NEPM
Woodcut Printmaking, Interview with Raquel Obregon of La Tertulia, NEPM
Overlooked No More: Discussion with Amy Padnani, New York Times Journalist and Julie Rivera, Printmaker, Museums a la Carte, Springfield Museums, Springfield, MA
Look Again: Portraits of Daring Women, Poetry Reading, Museums a la Carte, Springfield Museums, Springfield, MA
History of Woodcut, Smith College Museum of Art, Cunningham Center for Prints and Drawings
Artist Talk, Art Salon, Smith College, Northampton, MA
Recent Publications
Daring Women, Inspiring Lives, Pressing Matters Magazine, London, England
Overlooked No More: Leverett Artist’s Woodcut Prints Celebrate Remarkable Women of the Past, Daily Hampshire Gazette
Seeing With Fresh Eyes: Printmakers Find Inspiration For Work Following Artist Residencies, Daily Hampshire Gazette
Memberships/Representation
Zea Mays Printmaking, Florence, MA
Zea Mays Flatfile, Florence MA
Boston Printmakers, Natick, MA
Education
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, MFA – 1983
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, BFA – 1978
