A childhood moment in an Eliot School mural-making class provided a lifelong quest for Julia Ryan––recognizing the importance of an artists’s self-discovery.

A Jamaica Plain resident and graduate of Harvard Graduate School of Education, Julia Ryan is the first Artist Resource Manager for the Mayor's Office of Arts & Culture Boston. She helps individual artists navigate the ins and outs of opportunities and resources, and guides them through permit and licensing challenges.

Her personal and professional work focuses on creating welcoming and accessible art spaces and the exploration of art through a lens of community engagement and empowerment, with special interest in access to art for youth– the very things that enriched her Boston childhood. 

Photo credit: Donrick Pond