1947–

Julia Kerl moved to Arkansas in 1994 for a position teaching art at the University of Arkansas at Monticello and art education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

She first learned of the Arkansas Committee in 1996 through a call for artists for an exhibition showcasing Arkansas women artists. She entered Hovering Hands, a carved wooden sculpture, and was awarded first place in the exhibition.

“I was so delighted and amazed that I had been honored with the grand prize!” said Kerl.  “And, equally horrified that I was not able to attend the exhibit. I came down with the flu right before the opening.”

Julia describes the artwork as a mythical piece. Its small face looks out from a narrow form filled with feathers made of wood. Carved hands are attached to the sides like wings of a bird.

After touring throughout Arkansas as part of the exhibition, her artwork went on to be shown at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., in January 1997.

Her earlier work included large abstract metal sculptures for public places in Washington state.

“I had moved from metal to mixed media, but when I relocated to Arkansas, I was somehow called to begin working with wood,” she said. “I got some tools and started carving. This piece just came out and evolved. I had done some work with hands because I find them so interesting, and the wings and feathers somehow appeared as I went along.

“I was floored that small sculpture was selected to go on to the national museum,” she said. “It was so different from my other work.”

When Kerl arrived in Washington to see Hovering Hands exhibited, she was contacted by the museum to come a day before the opening. There she was directed to an understory where the work area of the museum dedicated to restoration is located. She saw a museum employee across the room carefully holding Hovering Hands in gloved hands, and Kerl helped reposition several wooden feathers.

“It was so interesting for me to see my work handled with gloves,” she said. “That’s when it struck me that I had entered a whole new world.

“To see my artwork in this beautiful, sophisticated museum, created by women to showcase women, was indescribable,” said Kerl. “It was not only an honor, but a huge affirmation of my use of wood as a medium, my process of making art and my internal guidance. Reflecting later, I felt a tiny piece of the history of women finding our visual voice and the growing national and international awareness of its strength and importance.

“All of this was buoyed by the Arkansas Committee members who were so full of energy and excitement,” she said. “I made my art, but it was because of these women and their commitment to art that the event happened.”

Before Kerl returned home, she and two nieces joined the Arkansas Committee for a White House tour and visit with First Lady Hillary Clinton.

“Having my artwork selected and exhibited at NMWA affirmed my process of making art as an internal dialogue rather than a style,” she said. “That the artwork spoke to other people gave me courage to continue exploring in wood carving as well as painting, and I began to trust that connection and interaction even more. Receiving this award opened me to think about other ways the process of making art can be used.”

Kerl left Arkansas in 1998 and moved to New Mexico in 2000 to pursue a career as an art therapist.

“After earning my art therapy degree and certification, I worked at a trauma treatment center, a community health center and in private practice,” she said. “My own artwork became more immediate and much less precious.”

In 2009 Kerl moved to Bellingham, Wash., to be closer to family. After retiring as an art therapist in 2012 she returned to creating works of art that require more time to develop.

“Since I retired, I have more time to work, but also options for more activities,” she said. “With a much smaller fuel tank of energy, I learned to literally mark out days on my calendar to be in my studio and have found that people respect that.

“I’m grateful for my time in Arkansas,” she said. “I developed a respect for the different ways people see. And I have huge admiration for the passionate commitment of the women who make up the Arkansas Committee, something I have experienced in no other state where I have lived.”