Julia Wright Crosara is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, and art director whose work weaves together visual art, textiles, and music media. Her practice includes abstract painting, weaving, fiber art, and embroidery, each shaped by a process that is intuitive and experimental, inviting discovery and the unexpected. Moving between mediums, she creates work that ranges from quiet and symbolic to colorful and boldly expressive.
Julia grew up in Chicago, where her early love of art was sparked by the city’s vibrant cultural scene and frequent visits to the Art Institute of Chicago. She studied Art History at New York University while working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Following several years of art gallery experience in New York and Los Angeles, she returned to Chicago to pursue a BFA in Painting at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where mentorship from Susan Sensemann and Kerry James Marshall left an indelible mark on her artistic development.
Over the past 25 years, Julia’s artwork, including paintings, drawings, handwoven tapestries, and art masks, has been exhibited in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, and internationally. Highlights include a feature in Art Folio, a juried contemporary art publication; an article in Seattle’s Earshot Jazz Magazine; and a selection for the HerStory exhibition curated by Manhattan Arts International. Her canvas masks were showcased at Galleria de Marchi in Bologna, Italy, through Trevisan International Art.
Julia's abstract paintings are shaped by her closeness to the Pacific Northwest’s ever-changing light, water, and terrain. These elements inform her palette and sense of form. Her work often incorporates cross-cultural symbols alongside themes of impermanence, renewal, and the layered nature of experience. Curator Renee Philips describes it as “a wellspring of visual references that evoke the passage of time and transformation.”
Her textile work encompasses freestyle weaving, spinning, fiber art, and embroidery, tactile processes that invite slowness, presence, and improvisation. Working on several looms and often incorporating handspun or repurposed fibers, she creates handwoven art and custom commissions that bring warmth, texture, and quiet vitality into personal and shared spaces.
In addition to her studio practice, Julia is an experienced graphic designer working across print and digital media in sectors including academia, publishing, advertising, and nonprofit organizations. She is the Art Director and co-founder of Crosara Creative, a Seattle-based music production studio built in partnership with her soul partner and spouse, jazz pianist/composer Francesco Crosara. She also runs an independent design practice focused on the arts and nonprofit arena, offering clear, intentional design in service of meaningful work.