City of Monroe, LA

Julie Crews: I’ll Be Right With You 

Exhibition on view August 22 – November 2, 2024 

Public Reception: 

Thursday, August 22 

5:30 – 7:30 pm 

Artist’s Talk: 6:30 pm 

FREE and open to the public 

Masur Museum of Art 

1400 South Grand Street 

Monroe, LA 71202 

This exhibition is dedicated to Niel D. Crews, Jr. 

About the Exhibition and Artist: 

Julie Crews is an oil painter. She grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, but has called many other places home. A few include northern California, which taught her how to ease into her 20’s; Louisiana, which enriched her southern vision for ten years; and Huntsville, Alabama, where she now lives with her husband and five children. She operates an open studio and gallery in a 122-year-old cotton mill, repurposed as Lowe Mill Arts and Entertainment. 

Julie paints what takes her out of the studio: the life it takes to nurture a family. When she is in the studio she escapes certain domestic tethers, but on the canvas before her remain the scenes of her life. Fires burn in the backyard. Cars wait at a red light. Children swim and leaves settle on the forest floor. Weather, traffic, landscapes encountered while running errands around town, and her interactions with the people closest to her influence her work, naturally. But recreating these scenes gives permanence to the emotional undercurrents of her life. 

I’ll Be Right With You is an ongoing narrative of the pursuit of living a well-curated life, and even though curating her emotions is one of her most challenging charges, Julie Crews does not hold back. With works entitled I Can Do Hard Things and Wake Me Please When This is Over, she is hopeful that every soul viewing the exhibition I’ll Be Right With You will find work that resonates with them in a deep and meaningful way. 

Accompanying Workshop Opportunity: 

Oil painting workshop 

Instructor: Julie Crews 

Class Description: 

Painting small: Exploration and Freedom through Simplification 

2 Day Workshop August 23 & 24 9:30a - 12:30p, 1:30p – 4:30p 

Workshop fee: $120 per person or $100 for museum members 

Alla Prima painting, direct, or wet into wet painting, is a single-session painting practice that teaches you to be present in every brush stroke, focusing only on the essentials, ultimately teaching you how to “say the most with the least”. In all subject matter, Julie will challenge you to correctly observe and simply record the fundamentals: shapes, values, edges and color. We will also discuss good design and the usage of photography as reference in painting, reviewing technology’s limitations and advantages. We will explore the relationships between intended mood and palette. 

Demonstrations will be held daily. Julie will provide one-on-one critique throughout the workshop. 

**Visit our website at masurmuseum.org to sign up and view the list of needed materials** 

Selected Images Below: 

Julie Crews, The Weight of the Wait, Oil on Canvas, 2023 

Julie Crews, Being Needed and Being Wanted are Two Different Things, Oil on Canvas, 2023 

Julie Crews, Water in the Wishing Well, Oil on Canvas, 2024 

Julie Crews, Change Happens in Your Own Backyard, Oil on Canvas, 2023, On loan from the private collection of Elizabeth Aaroe 

Masur Museum of Art 

The Masur Museum of Art is the largest collecting and exhibiting institution of modern and contemporary art in Northeast Louisiana. We are dedicated to bringing dynamic public programming to our community that emphasizes artists from Louisiana, the Southeast, and around the world. The Masur Museum of Art is a division of the City of Monroe’s Department of Community Affairs. Exhibitions and educational programs are funded by the Twin City Art Foundation. The Masur Museum’s mission is to provide a quality visual arts experience through temporary exhibitions, educational programs, and collections management for the citizens of Monroe and the community of Northeast Louisiana. 

Media Contacts: Evelyn Stewart, Director 

Evelyn.Stewart@ci.monroe.la.us 

318.329.2237