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Andy Julo, ’09
In 2007, I transferred to CSB+SJU intent to broaden my skills as an artist. Arriving as a Junior, I felt quite lost not knowing where things were, frustrated at the enterprise of coping with Minnesota temperatures, and having virtually no friends. That quickly changed when I was welcomed by fellow art majors who provided a real sense of belonging, I didn’t know how badly I needed. I spent a lot of time in the Welle Book Arts Studio guided by Rachel Melis’ technical mastery of letterpress. In both art and life Br. David Paul Lange, OSB, instilled in me a desire to articulate art as a world of ideas and practices that has no outsiders. Elaine Rutherford challenged me to think critically about the dialectical relationship between concept and craft. It was in Scott Murphy’s Handmade Photography course I learned to make cyanotypes – a process that remains a cornerstone of my studio practice.
While at Saint John’s, I worked at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library offering interpretive presentations of The Saint John’s Bible. Proximity to the Bible Project afford a rare opportunity to learn about the theological, artistic, and historical dimensions that informed its creation. This was really pivotal for me as it provided intimate insight into the ways artists engage both storied traditions and the contemporary moment simultaneously.
After graduation in 2009, I was served in the Benedictine Volunteer Corps, stationed at Il Monastero di San Benedetto in Subiaco, Italy. One can imagine, getting to live in a 12th century monastery covered in frescoes spanning 8 centuries as a recent art graduate was incredible. Engaging the rhythms of monastic life proved both challenging and deeply formative. I view that time as an extension of my experience at Saint John’s as it allowed me dedicated space to practice Benedictine values I had experienced on campus.
Studying at CSB+SJU set me up to pursue nearly everything that followed. I’ve worked in community arts programming, corporate collections management at Hallmark Cards, service-learning curricular development, custom framing, public/private art installation, and in teaching capacities at the collegiate level. I earned a M.A. at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2016, focusing on printmaking and camera-less photography.
Over the past six years I served as the director/curator of the Verostko Center for the Arts at another Benedictine institution, Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Managing a collection of some 5,000+ objects, curating exhibitions by contemporary artists, working with digital art pioneer Roman Verostko (1929-2024), and assisting studio art and art education majors prepare their senior exhibition. These endeavors consistently required skills I first learned in Collegeville and St. Joe.
I am now pursuing a PhD in Art and Visual Culture Education at the University of Arizona. I’m volunteering with Patronato San Xavier – a non-profit organization dedicated the preservation and interpretation of Mission San Xavier del Bac located on the land of the Tohono O’odham Nation. Moving to Tucson has also afforded more dedicated time to engage my studio practice, including developing new cyanotypes facilitated in part by the Sonoran Desert’s copious amount of sunshine.
The academic community at CSB+SJU not only helped me develop my creative work but think about new places it might be shared. I exhibit my work regularly, in part to meet other artists.
CSB+SJU challenged me to think broadly about how art is conceived and interpreted. It expanded my approach to the visual world to include a range of understandings that previously felt out of reach. In two short years I found a profound sense of belonging and kindness that, on my best days, I like to think I’ve been trying pay forward ever since. Ultimately, I remain profoundly grateful to have been formed by friends and mentors at CSB+SJU who challenged me to refine my work for wider audiences and encouraged me to become a better ambassador for art.
