Julie Speidel (born 1941 in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

) is a sculptor from

, Washington. She is the daughter of author Bill Speidel and stepdaughter of oceanographer

Robert S. Dietz Robert Sinclair Dietz (September 14, 1914 – May 19, 1995) was a scientist with the US Coast and Geodetic Survey. Dietz, born in Westfield, New Jersey, was a marine geologist, geophysicist and oceanographer who conducted pioneering research along ...

. She is also part owner of the Seattle Underground tours company, Bill Speidel Enterprises. Speidel was raised in the Eastside cities of Bellevue and Hunts Point, Washington before moving to Europe when she was 12 years old. She attended boarding schools in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, then returned to America and studied at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

and

Cornish School of the Arts Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914. History Cornish College of the Arts was founded in 1914 as the Cornish School of Music, by Nellie Cornish (1876–1956), a teacher of pi ...

. She operated a jewelry-making business, making items in copper and other materials, before becoming a sculptor. Her public sculptures are displayed at

William Kenzo Nakamura United States Courthouse The William Kenzo Nakamura United States Courthouse is a federal courthouse in Seattle, Washington primarily used by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Built in 1940 as the United States Courthouse to consolidate federal age ...

in Seattle, United States embassies, and other locations. She has been described as the "greatest living woman

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

sculptor." She is largely self-taught, though she credits

George Tsutakawa George Tsutakawa (February 22, 1910 – December 18, 1997) was an American painter and sculptor best known for his avant-garde bronze fountain designs. Born in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, he was raised in both the United States ...

for teaching per

patination Patina ( or ) is a thin layer that variously forms on the surface of copper, brass, bronze and similar metals and metal alloys (tarnish produced by oxidation or other chemical processes) or certain stones and wooden furniture (sheen produced ...

formulations and technique. , she had a studio on Vashon Island. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the creation of the

Bloedel Reserve The Bloedel Reserve is a forest garden on Bainbridge Island, Washington, United States. It was created by Virginia and Prentice Bloedel, the vice-chairman of the lumber company MacMillan Bloedel Limited, under the influence of the conservatio ...

on Bainbridge Island, fourteen geometric

outdoor sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable s ...

s created by Speidel were placed there in 2013, the first artworks at the location. In late 2014, seven of Speidel's outdoor sculptures evoking

glacial erratic A glacial erratic is glacially deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundred ...

s, collectively titled ''Erratic Repose'', were installed at the

Tacoma Art Museum The Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) is an art museum in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It focuses primarily on the art and artists from the Pacific Northwest and broader western region of the U.S. Founded in 1935, the museum has strong roots in the c ...

References

External links

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Documentary film
on Vimeo {{DEFAULTSORT:Speidel, Julie Living people 1941 births Artists from Seattle 20th-century American sculptors Sculptors from Washington (state) University of Washington alumni Cornish College of the Arts alumni People from Vashon, Washington People from Bellevue, Washington People from Hunts Point, Washington

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External links