Rebirth of a Southern Woman
BY JULIE RAINBOW
ARTIST’S BIO
Julie Rainbow is a mixed media artist, author and oral historian. Telling untold and overlooked stories, and weaving printmaking and photography into the telling, are the foundations of her work. These integrated mediums impart a different perspective than what is often portrayed in art and media. Julie’s early experiences with her mother and community have been foundational to her art practice. During her school years, her mother was a research librarian in Raleigh, North Carolina. She often helped little Julie select research materials that offered an alternative or expanded narrative than the one most teachers presented in the racially mixed schools.
Her early research experience initiated a practice of active observation that continues to inform Julie’s work. Sharing stories was an integral part of her Southern roots, where intergenerational relationships were customary. Lifelong experience has taught her that emotional resonance is the common thread that connects and reminds people of their humanity. Her work is an interplay of narrative, perspective and history that examines current social, political and economic thought and contexts. Her integrated practice positions her as a collaborator with the past, through a focus on often-overlooked cultural and political narratives from American history.
In her book, Standing the Test of Time: Creating Relationships that Endure, Julie shares insights from African American couples in marriages of 30 years or more. The elders reveal valuable lessons for developing loving and lasting relationships. Combining storytelling, photography and collages further amplifies the voices of African American elders whose voices have not been heard. By interrogating history and sharing personal stories, Julie combats collective amnesia and offers a crucial reinterpretation of the African-American experience.
Her project, Journey to Sanctuary: The Second Great Migration of African Americans from the South, draws further on the crucial memories of elders, to tell the story of a pivotal period in American History. In 2018, the project received a planning grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Julie’s leadership in celebrating culture and community began when she was selected as a Kellogg Foundation International Leadership Fellow. She joined fellows from three continents to learn, lead and develop strategies to hardwire community engagement practices as a part of designing global initiatives. Her heritage projects build common interests within cities regionally and nationally, and provide opportunities for groups and individuals to learn about different cultures through narratives.
Julie earned a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree at Philadelphia’s Moore College of Art in 2023, an Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from the Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work & Social Research and a BA in Economics from Spelman College. She lives in Philadelphia, PA with her family.
https://www.journeytosanctuary.org/
Rebirth of a Southern Woman
As part of my rebirth, finding new ways to be in the world was a hunger. This hunger felt insatiable, but so very necessary. It was physical, psychological and spiritual. Being authentically me had been rejected most of my life. Living in a society that abhorred the values I appreciated caused me to compromise my nature. Going along to get along was expected and, as a result, my true nature was obscured. Throughout my life, I've been criticized for being overly sensitive. This sensitivity, when used to benefit me, has been a protector, an encourager, an inspirer and much more. I had to move beyond many of the ways I was taught or was conditioned to be, to honor my essence.
In my early childhood, I was drawn to the arts, and in high school, it was painting. However, the path to becoming an artist was squashed by my parents, who couldn’t fathom a way of sustaining a livelihood as an artist. As a result, I was discouraged from pursuing an artistic path. Journeying back to my self was challenging, because I had spent the past five decades on a different path. As Miles Davis stated, “… sometimes it takes you a long time to sound like yourself. The images I’ve created are representative of my journey or rebirthing to my authentic nature.
Birthing a new way of being meant returning to my natural way of being. One of the ways I sought to do this was discovering the nature of an Afrikan cosmology prior to the colonization of the Continent. Malidoma Patrice Some’s books, Of Water and the Spirit and Ritual: Power, Healing and Community offered different approaches to being. Finding ways to integrate his teachings in my daily practices brought a sense of rootedness.
Taking the leap to honor my uniqueness is a consistent birthing process. In my mom’s last decade of life, she demonstrated repeatedly that we’re capable of blossoming by remaining nimble and open to the experiences that emerge right in front of us. She bloomed and blossomed more in her last seven years than I had witnessed in her previous ninety-four years. I, too, want to continue to unearth my true nature and abide in a process of continual blooming.
Honoring my father’s Native American teachings has become more present in my routines of late. When anxiety creeps into my Spirit, my go-to medicine is nature. Having my feet touch the Earth and sitting amongst trees gives me an indescribable sense of peace and comfort. Embodying the vibrations of natural surroundings has become a longing which I will continue to embrace.
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