The Space Coast Art Festival would like to spotlight this year’s poster contest winner, Julie Oakes, for her fantastic design! Julie’s poster was the face of the festival and popular among both the SCAF team and festival goers.
Julie is a Space Coast native, graphic designer, and teacher with a passion for creating. From a young age, Julie’s creativity led her to explore many mediums. From colored pencils to markers, Julie’s growing interest soon blossomed into a career in art. Having graduated from UCF with a degree in Advertising, Julie explored commercial art–allowing her to incorporate her love for graphic design into her work. She continues to express her creativity through the lessons she passes onto her high school students.
The Space Coast Art Festival team first asked Julie about her creative process while designing the final 60th Anniversary poster. She found inspiration in her own experiences and story, referencing a friend’s interest in paddle boarding, her sweet rescue dog named Bella, and her mother’s VW Beetle from her youth as main inspirations. Combining these moments with her love for sunrises and the Space Coast, Julie crafted the beautiful design we have now!
We also asked Julie, who understands the importance of cultivating artistic expression early on, if she had any advice to give to Brevard’s young artists. Having been a local high school Commercial Art teacher for the last decade, Julie has a philosophy for students: “Just don’t give up!” Julie believes that if art is truly a kid’s passion, it can become a career, as well. With art, the hours can fly by. Effort, obsession, and practice are what it takes!
We would love to thank Julie for her time and awesome art! We are grateful to have such an inspirational and dedicated individual as the face of this year’s festival. We hope to see more of Julie’s art in the future and wish her the best in all her creative endeavors!
