YONKERS, NY.- Hudson River Museum announced the election of Julia Santos Solomon to its Board of Trustees. She was elected by unanimous decision at the December 15, 2022 Board meeting; she will serve from January 1, 2023-June 30, 2026.
Julia Santos Solomon is an accomplished, interdisciplinary American artist, creating paintings, sculpture, and digital media for more than forty years. Born in the Dominican Republic, her vision has shaped generations of successful LatinX artists. Santos Solomon’s art-making is fueled by cultural heritage, transforming a personal narrative into the universal for the next generation.
"I am truly excited to join the Board of Trustees at the Hudson River Museum," stated Julia Santos Solomon. "As an artist whose practice and career has been rooted in community and representation, I am proud of the ways that the HRM invites people, and especially youth, to experience art and culture and to see the world through different lenses. Having experienced first-hand the commitment of the Board, executive leadership, and staff, I am looking forward to bringing my energies to this dynamic institution."
The Museum has a longstanding relationship with the artist. Santos Solomon’s work is in the Museum’s permanent collection, and she served as a 2020-21 Teaching Artist-in-Residence. Her work was included in the 2020 exhibition Women to the Fore and is currently featured in both Order / Reorder: Experiments with Collections and Matrix: Prints by Women Artists, 1960-1990. She has been a collaborator in the Museum’s professional development for teachers, including programming with art teachers in the Yonkers Public Schools.
Tom D’Auria, Chair of the HRM Board of Trustees, stated, “Julia brings important skills, perspectives, and numerous artistic accomplishments to the Hudson River Museum’s Board and I know she will be a great asset and advocate. I am looking forward to working with her to advance the Museum’s mission to engage, inspire, and connect diverse communities through the power of the arts, sciences, and history.”
Director and CEO Masha Turchinsky elaborated, “I could not be more thrilled that Julia Santos Solomon is joining our Museum’s Board. She is dynamic and a true asset as an artist and community member—a person whose work, life experiences, and values speak to our audiences of all ages and backgrounds.”
Santos Solomon lived in Yonkers, Hastings-on Hudson, and later in Irvington where she and her husband raised their family. She now resides and has a working studio in Woodstock, New York. She earned her bachelor of fine arts degree in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design, with coursework at Brown University. She studied in Rome, Italy as a participant in the RISD European Honors Program. She also studied at the Art Students League and earlier at the High School of Art and Design in New York City. She was a founding faculty member of the Altos de Chavón School of Design, the first school of design in the Dominican Republic, where she remains actively involved with the artistic community. Santos Solomon has also taught at Parsons School of Design in New York and Marist College in Poughkeepsie.
Julia currently serves on the Board of Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild in Woodstock, NY and maintains strong ties in Westchester. Santos Solomon is represented in the permanent collections of the Hudson River Museum; the Latino Art Museum in Pomona, CA; the Museum of Modern Art in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; University Museum at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Leon-Litton Collection; and the Altos de Chavon Foundation in La Romana, Dominican Republic. She has been a grant recipient of the Tiffany Foundation. Her work also appears in the Smithsonian American Art Archives and the City College Dominican Studies Archives. Santos Solomon’s art is represented in private collections domestically and abroad and has been featured in The New York Times, National Public Radio, State of the Arts, New Art International, Diálogo Studies Journal, Acrylic Revolution, and Acrylic Illuminations.
