Julia Josephine Arts
Tacoma artist · bananas, giant luminaries & art events. Wisconsin-raised, Catholic-schooled, banana-obsessed — she paints on vintage ephemera and 20-foot military canvases, builds glowing puppets the size of a doorway, twists balloon animals for kids, and runs the rooms where Tacoma's artists find each other.
Drink & Food Spiking — Protecting People ProfessionallyHave a REAL good time.
Desire is natural — drugs that induce desire violate your consent. Protect yourself & friends: know the signs of food & drink spiking & get to know the symptoms of the drugs used in case something happens. Eg: New & deadly: Cychlorphine — KING 5 NEWS
TACOMA STICKERFEST · Sat Oct 10, 2026 · 11am–4pm · FabLab / Thirty 8th Creates, 324 S 38th St · free, all ages
Art Director, Music & Heart in Wright Park 2023–2025 · brought StickerFest to the festival in 2024 & 2025
Tacoma Artists Initiative Program 2025–26 grant recipient · the Sun & Moon giant luminaries
Tacoma Artists Meet Up · year 5 · founder & organizer
Julia's Tacoma Artists Initiative Program (2025–26) project reached back to her theater roots in set design: a Sun and a Moon, each a papier-mâché head about 2.5–3 feet across on a full-body costume of patchwork blues and lace, lit from within. She ran a star-making workshop first so the neighborhood could build their own lanterns — then, on Peace Day weekend, the Sun and Moon came out at dusk and everyone danced among them with their stars, over the footbridge and along the water.
That's the same tradition our Illuminated Star grew out of — once you can build a star, you can build anything — and it's why she's the art director we built the Music & Heart in Wright Park stage around. See the full Peace Day program.
Julia grew up in a small Wisconsin town making art with her mom at coffee shops, and the Catholic upbringing and the bananas both stuck. Her personal work is collage on reused vintage ephemera with a banana (or a saint) painted on top — from pocket-sized paintings and sculptures to installations for events. The Bruised Banana Zines are the cheapest way in; the paintings run from $75 to gallery scale. Everything's in her online shop, and studio visits are by email.
“It's not from people on the other side of the world — it's from people in Tacoma who would actually come out to my events.”
Paintings
The artist
Zines
Light TrailArt Director — Music & Heart in Wright Park, 2023–2025
Three seasons of art direction for the free festival in Wright Park — the luminaries, the stage dressing, the art village. On THE WALL: Music & Heart in Wright Park · Our Origins. Outside: musicandheart on Instagram
Co-founder, Tacoma StickerFest — brought it to Music & Heart in 2024 & 2025
Co-founded Tacoma's sticker festival and ran it inside Music & Heart two years running. This year it's Sat Oct 10, 2026, 11am–4pm at FabLab / Thirty 8th Creates, 324 S 38th St. On THE WALL: StickerFest 2026 · the badge. Outside: @juliajosephine920
Tacoma Artists Initiative Program grant recipient, 2025–26
Funded the Sun & Moon giant luminaries and the community star-making workshop. On THE WALL: The Sun & the Moon · Peace Day. Outside: TAIP 2025–26 recipients (PDF)
Founder & organizer, Tacoma Artists Meet Up — year 5
The monthly meet-up where Tacoma's artists find each other, plus an annual Awards Night. Outside: Awards Night tickets & info · @juliajosephine920
Community outreach & parade organizer — Tacoma Porchfest
On THE WALL: Tacoma Porchfest. Outside: tacomaporchfest.org
Art curator — Tacoma Light Trail · 2026 installation at Mecca Mercantile
Curated for the Trail and, in 2026, lit Mecca Mercantile with Elysa Saito: Never Stop Growing — Bamboo Illuminated Path. Outside: tacomalighttrail.org
Art teacher — FabLab Education · owner, Thirty 8th Creates
Classes and studio visits on S 38th St — the same building that hosts StickerFest. Outside: Classes & events · email Julia
Live painting & exhibitions
Ground to Sound Film & Art Fest · Proctor Arts Fest & Gallery · Reggae on the Way · Barlow Gallery · Artco Framing & Gallery · Creative Colloquy Crawl (live banana painting) · Rails to Trails Coalition · Celebrate PDX · Epitome Gallery (CA) · Gallery Go Go (OR). Outside: Ground to Sound 2025 roster · about Julia
Own Your Awkward podcast — ep. 70, "Awkwardly Authentic with Julia Josephine"
From clothing design to full-time artist; live-art events in coffee shops and bars; art as a tool for healing. Outside: Read the recap · Watch on YouTube
Classes & events
Live-painting nights, collage workshops and star-making sessions with local businesses. Anyone who shows up is an artist.
See classes & eventsBalloon animals & face painting
Her favorite way to meet the kiddos — twisting something for them, or with them, at fairs and festivals around the Sound.
Contact JuliaStudio visits & art lessons
Julia.Josephine.920@gmail.com — for a studio visit, a commission, or to inquire about a piece in the shop.
EmailEach opens the original.
Own Your Awkward — "Own Your Creativity: Julia Josephine on Art, Authenticity, and Community"
Bringing art out of galleries and into coffee shops and bars; collaboration over competition; creativity as healing.
Read the recapYouTube — "How art can change your life"
The full conversation.
WatchCity of Tacoma — TAIP 2025–26 funding recipients
"Julia is tapping into her theater background in set design… a sun and a moon puppet… dancing at Titlow as the sun goes down."
Open the PDFTacoma Light Trail — Julia Josephine & Elysa Saito at Mecca Mercantile
"Never Stop Growing — Bamboo Illuminated Path" + her full bio.
OpenTHE WALL gives South Sound artists a page, a spot in the HOARD and a place on the season's map. Send us your links.