• SOIL CULTURE, a contemporary art project that promotes soil remediation, awarded a Collective Futures Fund New Works Grant.

    SOIL CULTURE is a collaborative project in development with artist-philosopher Maria Patricia Tinajero. A public walk and a map of scientific and creative research in Beverly, MA, SOIL CULTURE facilitates participant discovery of the hidden narratives of soil, addressing the growing problem of waste and pollution on and within urban soils.

    The Collective Futures Fund is an initiative directly supporting visual artists and artist-run activity in the Greater Boston area through grants that help incubate artists’ visions for their own independent platforms to support the futures of our vibrant local artist communities.

  • A Wanderer's Mind

    Many thanks to the wonderful folks at Lights Out for producing this video profile of my practice.

  • ICI Curatorial Forum, EXPO Chicago

    I'm honored to participate in the 2023 ICI Curatorial Forum at EXPO Chicago, bringing together more than 40 curators from across the United States. The Forum will feature a keynote lecture by Victoria Noorthoorn (Director, Museo Moderno, Buenos Aires), and closed-doors sessions focused on the notion of care in the museum and curatorial fields, as it relates to accessibility, community engagement, labor conditions, and new ways of working with artists.

    Apr 13 – 16, 2023

  • Critical Reading Group
    Center for Maine Contemporary Art

    Join Julie Poitras Santos for a critical reading + discussion group exploring lines of desire. Considering the agency of the wild and our entanglement within it, Matthew Tiessen, Andreas Weber, and Cole Swensen offer us new ways to consider “nature”; reflecting our being in the world as one primarily of participation, reciprocity, interpenetration, and desire. For this discussion, we will focus on Tiessen’s essay, “Accepting Invitations”, the second chapter of Weber’s book, Matter & Desire, and a few selections from Swensen’s Art In Time.

    Participants will be provided with, and asked to read in advance, three texts considering the agency of the wild world and our engagement within it.

    Monday, April 10, 2023 | 6-7pm
    Zoom| $10 to participate
    Pre-registration required; limited to 12 participants

  • The More the Merrier
    Grant Wahlquist Gallery, Portland, ME

    Group exhibition for refugee relief. Works on view by Tad Beck, Leon Benn, Katherine Bradford, Sascha Braunig, Henri Paul Broyard, Tom Butler, Diana Cherbuliez, Kenny Cole, James Chute, Chris Clark, Grace DeGennaro, Carol Eisenberg, Meg Hahn, Alison Hildreth, Smith Galtney, Kate Greene, Tessa Greene O’Brien, Joe Mama-Nitzberg, Kyle Patnaude, Julie Poitras Santos, Jill Poyourow, Kate Russo, Gail Spaien, Will Sears, Jay Stern, Sara Stites, Jimmy Viera, Marguerite White

    December 2 - 17, 2022
    Reception: December 3, 2022

  • Artist Talk: Center for Maine Contemporary Art

    Join us for a virtual panel discussion with Into Action artists Jennifer Calivas, Ray Ewing, Julie Poitras Santos, and Shoshannah White. The artists will discuss their individual practices before moving into a moderated discussion about their relationships to nature, the role of (inter)action in their practices, and other intersections found in the exhibition.

    Thursday, January 6 | 6:00-7:00pm | Zoom
    Free Registration on the CMCA website

  • Objectivity
    Exhibition of New England-based artists whose work engages and subverts the still life genre. Selected by Josephine Halvorson.

    November 4 - December 4, 2021
    Gallery 263, Cambridge, MA

  • Into Action
    An exhibition of works in photography that capture actions as they occurred, were staged for the camera, or created in post-production.

    Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME
    October 1, 2021 - January 9, 2022

  • Untitled, 2020: Art from Maine in a ______time is open! Check out videos, information, and a 3D tour of the galleries on the Portland Museum of Art website, or see it in person. Referencing Platform Projects/Walks 2020, three of my prompts for walking are on exhibit in the galleries.


    OPEN VIRTUALLY: FEBRUARY 12, 2021
    IN-PERSON VIEWING: MARCH 25 - MAY 31, 2021


  • Talking Walking, UK Podcast

    Talking Walking, UK Podcast


    I was asked by the Museum of Walking in London, UK to give my vision for walking in 2040 as part of their Talking Walking podcast series.

    Listen to the podcast here, where I talk about climate change, migration, and my recent work with Platform Projects/Walks.

  • Walking Portland: A Reflection on “ecologies of the local”

    Walking Portland: A Reflection on “ecologies of the local”


    Walking Portland: A Reflection on “ecologies of the local”, a beautiful piece by Elyse Grams in The Chart reflecting on PLATFORM PROJECTS/WALKS: ecologies of the local.

  • Untitled, 2020: Art From Maine In A _______ Time

    Untitled, 2020: Art From Maine In A _______ Time


    JUST ANNOUNCED! I'm honored to join this group of inspiring artists in this exhibition reflecting on how artists working in Maine are coping with, and responding to, this pivotal moment in our history.

    Untitled, 2020: Art From Maine In A _______ Time

    Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine
    February 12 – May 31, 2021

  • PLATFORM PROJECTS/WALKS: ecologies of the local

    PLATFORM PROJECTS/WALKS: ecologies of the local


    PLATFORM PROJECTS/WALKS: ecologies of the local
    Speedwell Projects August 20 – October 10, 2020
    Opening Reception: August 20, 2020

    I'm thrilled to announce PLATFORM PROJECTS/WALKS: ecologies of the local, which invites community for free, artist led walks this fall regarding local ecology and climate-related changes. A partner exhibition at Speedwell projects focuses on walking art and ecology.

    Join us on August 20th for food, celebration and presentations of walks to come. The event will take place outside, behind SPEEDWELL. Viewers will be invited to enter the gallery a few at a time. Please wear a mask!

    ARTISTS: Kim Beck, Susan Bickford with Rachel Alexandrou, Tracey Cockrell, Viviane Le Courtois, Elaine K. Ng, IN KINSHIP FELLOWSHIP, MiHKu Paul, Jan Piribeck, Julie Poitras Santos with Beverly Johnson, Asata Radcliffe, Todd Shalom, Brian Smith, Addy Smith-Reiman, John Sundling

    All events & information listed on the Calendar.

  • AREACODE ART FAIR: SPECIAL PROJECTS

    AREACODE ART FAIR: SPECIAL PROJECTS


    PLATFORM PROJECTS/WALKS: ecologies of the local selected for the Special Projects section of the AREACODE Art Fair!

    I'm delighted to be a part of AREADCODE. The Special Projects section introduces experimental, innovative forms of engagement with art and responds critically and urgently to the current political, medical, and racial climate. Existing online and offline, these projects encourage creativity in lockdown, bring art into unexpected places in public life, elevate youth voices and intergenerational dialogue, and highlight the visions of artists who are participant-witnesses to racial and social justice.

    Special Projects selected by co-curators Ellen Tani and Marla McLeod

    August 1-31, 2020


  • STUDIO NEWSLETTER: SPRING 2020

    STUDIO NEWSLETTER: SPRING 2020

    Check out upcoming and recent news in my spring newsletter, here. Be well!


  • GALLERY TALK: CMCA

    GALLERY TALK: CMCA



    Join us for a Sunday Salon with artists Nathan Kroms Davis, Grace DeGennaro, Danica Phelps, and Julie Poitras Santos included in the exhibition Temporality | The Process of Time and hear how they use time as material in their work.

    Sunday, January 26 | 3-5 pm
    Center for Maine Contemporary Art


  • TEMPORALITY

    TEMPORALITY

    TEMPORALITY: THE PROCESS OF TIME

    Exploring ideas of repetition, duration, and process, Temporality looks at how contemporary artists are using time as a means of making.

    Center for Maine Contemporary Art
    November 2, 2019 - February 23, 2020


    Artists include: Gideon Bok, Astrid Bowlby, Caleb Charland, Amy Stacey Curtis, Nathan Kroms Davis, Grace DeGennaro, Clint Fulkerson, Carly Glovinski, Robin Mandel, Julie Poitras Santos, Jesse Potts, Deborah Wing-Sproul

  • 10,000+ Hours

    I'm delighted to be part of this exhibition and fundraiser for Speedwell Projects in Portland, Maine, 10,000+ Hours and their aim to correct the canon and create greater visibility for women, LGBTQ+ and artists of color who are master practitioners of their discipline.

    November 19 - December 7, 2019
    Closing reception, December 7, 6-8pm

    Artists: Elise Ansel, Greta Bank, Barbara Bosworth, Sarah Bouchard, Lucy Breslin, Crystal Cawley, Sara Crisp, Paul D'Amato, Grace DeGennaro, Michel Droge, Eileen Gillespie, Emmet Gowin, Tonee Harbert, Anne Harris, Anna Hepler, Adriane Herman, Charlie Hewitt, Alison Hildreth, Juliet Karelsen, Deborah Klotz, Jocelyn Lee, Winky Lewis, Honour Mack, Amanda Marchand, George Mason, Jan Piribeck, Kari Radasch, Julie Poitras Santos, Abby Shahn, Wendy Small, Kiki Smith, Patti Smith, Gail Spaien, Aaron T. Stephan, Cheryle St. Onge, Barbara Sullivan, Andrea Sulzer, Katarina Weslien, Shoshannah White, Diana Weymar, Henry Wolyniec, Francesca Woodman

  • GIBCA Extended

    GIBCA Extended

    Göteborg International Biennial of Contemporary Art Extended

    I'll be back in Sweden this fall, making work with the Kulturföreningen Tornet in Alingsås as part of GIBCA Extended. Weaving together site-specific research and local story exploring bryophyte ecologies, Walking the Forest Imaginary will take the form of an audio walk, and a public walk September 20.

  • Maine International Film Festival, MIFFONEDGE

    Maine International Film Festival, MIFFONEDGE


    Walking Backwards (Birger's Walk), will be on view during the Maine International Film Festival, MIFFONEDGE in Waterville, Maine July 12-21.

  • International Encounters/Walking Art Conference

     International Encounters/Walking Art Conference

    I’m delighted to be participating in this exciting walking conference in Prespes, Greece this summer. July 1-7, 2019

    The Department of Fine and Applied Arts of the University of Western Macedonia in Greece is hosting the International Encounters/Conference “WALKING PRACTICES/WALKING ART/WALKING BODIES” in the Prespes area of Greece, in collaboration with MADE OF WALKING (V) and the Milena Principle.

    Key note speakers::
    Phoebe Giannisi
    STALKER/Osservatorio Nomade

  • CAA

    CAA

    Presentation of Making Migration Visible: Traces, Tracks & Pathways at the College Art Association annual conference on a panel convened by Ruth Erickson and Ellen Tani of the ICA Boston.
    2-3:30p February 15, 2019

    "When Home Won't Let You Stay": Art and Migration in the 21st Century

    * Anooradha Iyer Siddiqi, Barnard College, Discussant
    * Carrie Robbins and Laurel Vera McLaughlin, Learning from Tania El Khoury's ear-whispered at Bryn Mawr College
    * James Thomas, The Migrant Sound: Albanian Iso-Polyphony, Contemporary Auditory Culture, and the Mediation of Transit
    * Sarah C. Bassnett, Richard Mosse’s Thermal Imaging and the Precarious Spectator of Migration
    * Julie A Poitras Santos, Making Migration Visible: Traces, Tracks & Pathways

  • MATERIAL LAMENTATIONS: Art, Grief and the Land

    MATERIAL LAMENTATIONS: Art, Grief and the Land

    January 8- February 2, 2019
    Opening reception Friday January 11, 6-8pm
    Cambridge Art Association, MA

    What is wrought when one is cleaved apart from nature? Modern culture’s insistence that we are outside of nature has led to an estrangement from our wildness.

    Curated by Patricia Miranda, the artists in MATERIAL LAMENTATIONS: Art, Grief and the Land respond to this rupture through an intimate exchange with the rhizomatic world. The objects in this exhibition mourn, lament, rage, rejoice, hope, and react to our changing ecosystem. A sense of sorrow and momento mori, pairs with hopeful activism and a sense of solophilia, or love and responsibility for the material world. These artists reflect on the inextricable network of life, and share an anguish alongside material outcries for change.

    Artists: Christine Aaron, Beth Dary, Michelle Lougee, Heidi Neilson, Melissa Potter and Maggie Puckett, Julie Poitras Santos, Deanna Witman

  • CMCA 2018 BIENNIAL

    CMCA 2018 BIENNIAL

    CMCA 2018 BIENNIAL
    Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME
    November 2018 – February 2019
    Opening: November 3


    Jurors:
    Kate Green, Guest Director of Marfa Contemporary, Marfa, Texas,
    Robin K. Williams, Ford Curatorial Fellow at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Detroit, Michigan.

  • S.T.E.P. Saunter, Trek, Escort, Parade

    S.T.E.P. Saunter, Trek, Escort, Parade

    S.T.E.P. Saunter, Trek, Escort, Parade
    Queens Museum, NY
    October 28 - November 25, 2018
    Opening: October 28, 2-5pm


    S.T.E.P. seeks to be an overlapping convergence and entanglement of walking, walk-based works and programing, mobilizing throughout New York. This exhibition follows its partner exhibition at Flux Factory.

    Please join me for a walk from the galleries at 5pm, COM/PASSUS

  • ANTHROPOCENIC

    ANTHROPOCENIC


    ANTHROPOCENIC: Art About the Natural World in the Human Era explores the relationship and impact between humans and nature within the 21st century.

    Bates College Museum of Art
    October 27, 2018 - March 23, 2019
    Opening: October 27


    Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla, Sammy Baloji, Timothy Berry, Ursula Biemann, Michel Droge, Deb Hall, Adriane Herman, Laurie Hogin, Isabella Kirkland, Eve Andree Laramee, Michael Light, Nathalie Miebach, Lori Nix/Kathleen Gerber, Jan Piribeck, Julie Poitras Santos, Superflex, Maika’I Tubbs

  • WALKING BACKWARDS (Birger's Walk)

    WALKING BACKWARDS (Birger's Walk)

    Walking Backwards (Birger's Walk)
    Karlskrona Konsthall in Karlskrona, Sweden
    October 24 - November 4, 2018

    Opening reception, October 24

    In collaboration with Konst i Blekinge and A.i.R. Blekinge

  • Making Migration Visible: Traces, Tracks & Pathways

    Making Migration Visible: Traces, Tracks & Pathways

    Making Migration Visible: Traces, Tracks & Pathways

    October 5 – December 14, 2018
    Opening: Friday, October 5, 5:00–8:00pm
    Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art

    ARTISTS: Ahmed Alsoudani, Caroline Bergvall, Edwige Charlot, Jason De León + Michael Wells + Lucy Cahill, Eric Gottesman, Mohamad Hafez, Romuald Hazoumè, Ranu Mukherjee, Daniel Quintanilla + United YES, María Patricia Tinajero, and Yu-Wen Wu.

    Co-curated by Catherine Besteman and Julie Poitras Santos for the Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art. The exhibition was made possible in part thanks to the support of private donors, Colby College, the Lunder Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

  • **premiere** WALKING BACKWARDS

    **premiere** WALKING BACKWARDS

    Inter Arts Center, Malmö, Sweden
    29 September, 2018
    6pm through midnight.

    Sited in a 17c ropewalk in Karlskrona, Sweden, Walking Backwards (Birger's Walk) takes the form of a video that braids together imagery from performers in the ropewalk and the surrounding landscape of southern Sweden. The text weaves together historical descriptions collected from rope makers, ropemaking manuals, and fragments from Xavier de Maistre’s 1794 “Voyage Around my Room” amplified and enlarged by a piece of original fiction woven within the fragments to create an account of a ropewalker whose lover is lost at sea.

    Created in collaboration with:
    Konst i Blekinge, AiR Blekinge, Sweden
    Kulturcentrum Ronneby Konsthall, Ronneby, Sweden
    Repslagarbanan, Karlskrona, Sweden
    Inter Arts Center, Malmö, Sweden

  • INTER ARTS CENTER, LUND

    INTER ARTS CENTER, LUND

    I'm excited to be working at the Inter Arts Center (IAC) in Malmö this Spring.

  • AiR BLEKINGE

    I'm delighted to be spending this May, 2018 at the AiR Blekinge in Ronneby, Sweden. A short train ride from the ropewalk in Karlskrona, I'll be working on a video while in residence.

  • THIS DESIRE: POETICS & LONGING

    THIS DESIRE: POETICS & LONGING

    THIS DESIRE: poetics & longing presents work from nineteen contemporary artists and poets who explore the nature of desire and longing through the intersection of writing and art-making. Curated by Jenna Crowder.

    Opening: Friday, March 23 at 5pm
    Able Baker Contemporary
    29 Forest Avenue, Portland Maine.


    Myron Beasley, Cairo Bats, Jon Calame, Jenna Crowder, DéLana R.A. Dameron & Jessica Lynne, Erin Johnson, Devin N. Morris, Bridget Frances Quinn, Julie Poitras Santos, D.A. Powell, Jimmy Riordan, Maia Snow, meg willing

  • TALKING WALKING

    This past summer, I was interviewed about my practice by Andrew Stuck of the Museum of Walking UK for "Talking Walking," have a listen here.

  • PARADISE GLOSSED

    A walking weekend in the Hudson River Valley investigating and contesting the aesthetic and social concerns present in the confluence of historical trails and widely romanticized narratives in New York's Hudson Valley. November 17-19, 2017 CHRCH Project Space.

  • MADE OF WALKING, La Romieu

    MADE OF WALKING, La Romieu

    I'll be joining the Milena principle along with other artists and experts in diverse fields this August for "Made of Walking, La Romieu," an international forum focusing on dialogues between performance, arts, literature and new media related to walking practices. La Romieu, France

    August 27 - September 1, 2017


  • WALKING AS AESTHETIC PRACTICE

    WALKING AS AESTHETIC PRACTICE

    A nice write up about my recent work in Maine College of Art news, "Walking as Aesthetic Practice" (Spring 2017)

  • NOW & THEN: Portland Public Library's Collection Reconfigured

    NOW & THEN: Portland Public Library's Collection Reconfigured

    Lewis Gallery, Portland Public Library
    Portland, Maine

    Exhibition: June 2nd – July 22, 2017

  • KONST I BLEKINGE

    I was interviewed on a Swedish radio blog! I talk about recent walking projects and the work I'm developing in the ropewalk - the repslagarbanan - in Karlskrona. (Spring 2017)

  • RESIDENCY & BIENNIAL

    I'm delighted to be making work for the 2017 Site-Responsive Art Residency & Biennial at I-Park in East Haddam, CT this spring. I'll be in residence from May 15 - June 5, 2017.

    Public Exhibition - Sunday June 4, 2017

  • RESIST!

    I'm proud to be a part of HOPE THROUGH ART a series of gallery events and protests in response to the inauguration. Portland, ME January 20-21

    Join me on January 21st for a VISUAL POETRY workshop at Zero Station before the march. Exhibition and events at Speedwell Projects open at noon. WE ARE AMERICAN BEAUTY.

  • ARTNAUTS 20TH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITIONS

    Two exhibitions at Redline in Denver, Colorado celebrating the 20 year anniversary of the Artnauts collective.

    "Artnauts 20 years, Archival Exhibition"
    "Rally Round the Flag" exhibition curated by Linda Weintraub.

    November 11, 2016 – Jan 8, 2017

  • BOUNTY

    Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art
    Reception: Friday, September 2, 5-8PM

    Exhibition open August 24-September 29, 2016

  • PLATFORM PROJECTS/WALKS

    August 1-15, 2016 in Portland, ME
    Exploring walking as provocation, practice and product
    Public walks, talks, screenings, dialogues and more
    http://www.platformprojectswalks.com/

  • DISTILL at HEWNOAKS

    Marking 17 years of dialogue, Distill collective gathers at Hewnoaks to collaborate and dialogue regarding present and future projects. June 25 - July 2, 2016

    Distill members: Ann Chuchvara Cole, Tsehai Johnson, Julie Poitras Santos, Hrafnhildur Sigurdardottir, Patricia Tinajero

  • MAP & UNIVERSE

    Opening reception: June 10, 2016 7pm
    An evening of walking, story telling, and a commmunity dinner
    Brunåkra, Simrishamn, Sweden

  • KINDLING FUND GRANT RECIPIENT 2016

    An upcoming project, PLATFORM PROJECTS/WALKS, has been awarded a Kindling Fund Grant, through Space Gallery, Portland, ME and the Warhol Regional Regranting Program.

    Project info to follow soon

  • BRUNAKRA RESIDENCY

    Spring 2016

    I'm delighted to be staying at Brunakra Residency in southern Sweden while I research an historic rope walk in Karlskrona and develop new work.

    Exhibition updates to follow

  • O TIME YOUR PYRAMIDS

    A solo exhibition at the Reed Gallery, University of Maine, Presque Isle

    March 4 - April 18, 2016
    Opening reception March 4

  • MSU DENVER: VISITING ARTIST

    All events at the Center for Visual Art, 965 Santa Fe Drive, Denver

    Public Artist Talk: October 21, 2015 5pm
    Gallery Performance: October 23, 2015

  • ON OUR RADAR: CREATIVE CAPITAL

    Spring 2015

    Proposed project in an historic ropewalk, plait, ply, snake and double, receives note on Creative Capital website.

  • USE (as with the world we come to mind)

    A series of 28 related text drawings
    Maine Women Writers Collection
    UNE Abplanalp Library, Portland, ME
    April 13 - October, 2015

    Reception: May 18, 5:30-7:30pm
    with performance & reading of poetry by:
    Deborah Crimmins, Justine Denny, David Kuchta,
    Mary McCann and Annie Finch

  • ROPE/WALK

    a series of ritual walks reactivating historical spaces
    of rope making in Portland, Maine
    September 20, 2014; 11am & 1pm
    citydrift/Portland

  • BOWDOIN COLLEGE: ARTIST TALK

    visual practice as woven text
    February 24, 2014, 7pm
    Cleaveland Hall, Bowdoin College
    Brunswick, ME

  • MAINE WOMEN PIONEERS III: VANGUARD

    co-curated by Anne Zill, Gael McKibben, and Andres Verzosa
    University of New England Art Gallery
    Oct. 12 - Dec. 16, 2012
    opening reception October 12, 5-7pm

  • A THICKENING RHYTHM

    curated by Julie Poitras Santos
    Coleman Burke Gallery, Brunswick, Maine
    March 30 - May 19, 2012
    Opening Reception March 30, 5-7:30
    performances at opening, and April 28, 1:00-2:30

    Lauren Fensterstock
    Julie Poitras Santos
    Carrie Scanga
    Ling-Wen Tsai
    Deborah Wing-Sproul

  • UNIVERSITY OF MAINE AT ORONO: VISITING ARTIST

    March 15-16, 2011
    Public Lecture, March 15, 7pm

  • MAINE COLLEGE OF ART MFA SUMMER INTENSIVE

    Core Faculty Intro Lecture, 2010
    June 21, 6:30pm
    Osher Hall

  • ARTIST TALK: MAINE COLLEGE OF ART

    Portland, Maine
    Wednesday February 17, 2010
    12:00 in Osher Hall