Hunkpapa / Mnicoujou Lakota · Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
Julia
Blue Arm
Artist Educator Curator Eugene, Oregon
Explore
Hunkpapa / Mnicoujou Lakota · Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
Artist Educator Curator Eugene, Oregon
Explore
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Art Education · Portland Art Museum · Silver Youth & Community Gallery
As the inaugural Mural Project Artist & Facilitator at the Portland Art Museum's brand-new Silver Youth & Community Gallery, Julia led the conceptualization and creation of a large-scale, youth-centered mural — collaborating with the Head of Youth and Educator Programs and the Director of Learning & Community Partnerships.
"A youth-centered and youth-created mural for a brand new gallery — a space designed with and for the next generation."
The mural — vibrant, joyful, and ecologically rich — depicts a child in communion with the natural world: butterflies, irises, blackberries, a smiling sun, a leaping dolphin, and ancient trees. It speaks to belonging, wonder, and the power of young imaginations to envision the world they deserve.
The project ran from March 2025 through 2026, centering young people as true creative agents throughout every phase of design, development, and installation.
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Art Education · Letitia Carson Elementary · Corvallis, Oregon
Aug 2023 – May 2024
When Wilson Elementary in Corvallis was renamed Letitia Carson Elementary — honoring one of Oregon's first Black women pioneers and landowners — Julia was asked to lead a yearlong illustration project ensuring students would know their school's namesake.
Six Crescent Valley High School students each illustrated their own children's book about the life and legacy of Letitia Carson, one for each grade level K–5. Working alongside the school librarian, descendants of Letitia Carson, and a local historian, students ensured every image and detail was historically grounded and accurate.
Students also visited the studio of Sibert Honor–winning children's book illustrator and author Katherine Roy, applying what they learned directly to their own illustration practice. The books are now available for purchase and will give Letitia Carson Elementary students — and the Corvallis community — a lasting, concrete connection to her remarkable story.
Purchase the book →
Collaborators
About
Play is essential to me. I grew up experimenting with material — in the small patch of trees behind our trailer that we named "the woods," in the lilac and chokecherry bushes, in the scrap yard of old rusty cars and community pile-up, and with the mud around the artesian spring, all around Cherry Creek on the Cheyenne River Sioux Rez in South Dakota.
My artistic practice is multidisciplinary. I gravitate towards the tactile and the physical. I love the slow process of making — paying close attention to detail and learning from the material, then laboriously creating with it. My artwork is largely about the process. It echoes personal experiences of navigating identity, culture, perception, nature, and relationships.
I find ways to connect traditional Lakota ideology, spirituality, and history with the way I experience life as a Lakota Two-Spirit person today. The acts of pinching clay coils, sewing seams, and weaving all serve as ways to understand and form connections between and with different mediums. When different materials are put together, there is both tension and balance, resistance and reliance.
As an educator, I bring this same spirit of inquiry to the classroom — believing that all students deserve access to rigorous, meaningful art education that honors their identities and expands their worlds.
Arts Practice
Hand-built and wheel-thrown vessels fired in wood, soda, gas, electric, and raku kilns. Each piece is a study in patience — the material teaches what the hands need to know.
Combining clay, fiber, textile, and found materials — exploring how different mediums resist and rely upon one another, creating new meanings through their tension and dialogue.
A cohort of ten educators from Oregon and New Mexico, all with expertise and experience in teaching Native arts and cultures, participated in the educational partner programs accompanying the 2024 U.S. Pavilion. In partnership with the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, the cohort created a K–12 curriculum that makes the exhibition a powerful resource for students and educators everywhere. Cohort members were asked by Jeffrey Gibson to submit answers to the following prompt, reflecting on their experience in schools and in Venice.
What is one thing that you wish was common or popular knowledge to those not engaged with Indigenous communities?
Venice Biennale Educator Cohort
Since March 2024, Julia has served as a fellow in the Venice Biennale Educator Cohort — a collaborative project with Native artist Jeffrey Gibson, inspired by his historic solo exhibition in the U.S. Pavilion of the 2024 Venice Biennale.
Working alongside a team of ten educators and leaders from Oregon and New Mexico, and in partnership with the Portland Art Museum, SITE Santa Fe, and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Julia co-created interdisciplinary educational materials that center accurate, respectful representations of Native art and Native communities.
In March 2026, the cohort presented at both the MORE COLORS THAN THE EYE CAN SEE: Educator Symposium at the Portland Art Museum and the National Art Education Association National Convention in Chicago.
Presentations & Symposia
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Colorado State University · Gallery Coordination
As Exhibition Coordinator and Lead Preparator at the Duhesa Gallery (2017–2019), Julia curated exhibitions featuring contemporary Native artists — including Sarah Sense and Rose B. Simpson — while leading a student team in designing and installing two shows per year.
Community & Events
Julia organizes and participates in community events that center Indigenous voices, advocacy, and belonging — from 5K runs raising awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIP) and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Girls and Two Spirit People (MMIWG2S) to school-based cultural gatherings rooted in music, beadwork, and connection.
2023 MMIWG2S 5K Run & WalkJulia organized the MMIWG2S 5K Run & Walk at Crescent Valley High School — running on Kalapuya Land to honor Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, & Two-Spirit People. The opening ceremony featured Indigenous painter Chanti Manon-Ferguson and OSU professor Luhui Whitebear; post-race events included a performance by hip-hop artist Kunu Bearchum and a fundraising sale of student-made ceramic bowls for the Empty Bowls Project.
Building on the 2023 event, Julia organized the MMIP 5K Run & Walk at Crescent Valley High School followed by an evening benefit concert at The Whiteside Theater in Corvallis — featuring Mato Wayuhi, Kunu Bearchum, and Niandra Blonde. Hosted by Students Advocating for Equity. Concert proceeds were donated to organizations supporting Missing & Murdered Indigenous People.
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Julia organized Native Community Gatherings for the Corvallis School District — open evenings centered on music, beadwork, dinner, and community connection, with childcare provided. Held at Linus Pauling Middle School, these gatherings created an accessible, welcoming space for Indigenous families and community members.
Selected Experience
Elective Teacher: Digital Media, Filmmaking & Broadcasting
Kelly Middle School · Eugene, OR
Oct 2025 – Present
Graphic design, animation, filmmaking, digital citizenship, and computer literacy. Manages a broadcasting studio and student production teams creating Kelly's weekly news channel.
Inaugural Mural Project Artist & Facilitator
Silver Youth & Community Gallery, Portland Art Museum
Mar 2025 – 2026
Leads creation of a youth-centered mural for the new Silver Youth & Community Gallery in partnership with Learning & Community Partnerships leadership.
Venice Biennale Educator Cohort · Jeffrey Gibson
Portland Art Museum · SITE Santa Fe · Smithsonian NMAI
Mar 2024 – Present
Co-creating educational materials inspired by Jeffrey Gibson's historic 2024 Venice Biennale exhibition, with accurate representations of Native art and community.
Temporary Art Teacher
North Eugene High School · Eugene, OR
Feb – Jun 2025
Instructed Visual Arts I/II, IB Visual Arts, Advanced Studio Art, and Ceramics I/II/III. Managed Ceramics and 2D Visual Art studios.
Art Teacher
Crescent Valley High School · Corvallis, OR
Mar 2020 – Jan 2025
Drawing & Painting, Digital Fine Arts, Sculpture, AP 2D Art & Design, Ceramics, Jewelry, and Glass Arts. Managed electric, soda, gas, wood-fire, and raku kilns.
Exhibition Coordinator & Lead Preparator
Duhesa Gallery, CSU Lory Student Center Arts Program
May 2017 – May 2019
Curated two exhibitions per year featuring contemporary Native artists. Led a team of student employees in design and installation; built sustained relationships with Native artists.
Co-Lead Preparator
Curfman Gallery, CSU Lory Student Center Arts Program
May – Dec 2018
Oversaw exhibition installations; managed docent schedules; conducted artist research and outreach for future exhibitions.
European Studies Program
Freie Universität Berlin · Berlin, Germany
Fall 2016
C1-level German language proficiency. Contemporary European art and cultural studies.
Education
M.S. Education — Interdisciplinary Professional Studies
Curriculum & Instruction, Education Technology, Special Education · 2020–present
BFA Art Education — Summa Cum Laude
Concentration: Ceramics · Minor: German Language (C1) · May 2019
European Studies Program
Berlin, Germany · Fall 2016
Get in Touch
Available for artist residencies, fellowship opportunities, educational partnerships, curatorial projects, and collaborative commissions.
julia.bluearm@gmail.com