Julie Sokol joins Creative Flagstaff team as Director for upcoming ARTx Art + Ideas Experience
Creative Flagstaff is ecstatic to announce that Julie Sokol has joined our team as the Festival Director for the ARTx: Art + Ideas Experience. The inaugural pilot festival is set to take place during Memorial Day weekend, May 26 – 27, 2023.
Julie joins the Creative Flagstaff team after spending most of her career in the world of hospitality. Her work in events management, sales, and marketing leadership, position her to guide the development and execution of the inaugural ARTx Festival. Since moving to Flagstaff in 2016, Julie has been engaged with the creative community, including serving on the Beautification & Public Art Commission.
“We were thrilled to learn about the diversity of perspectives and experience from a strong pool of candidates,” stated Creative Flagstaff Executive Director Jonathan Stone. “Both locally and beyond, there is palpable excitement for what ARTx represents and can be for our community and our region. Julie Sokol impressed our interview panels with her grasp of the complexity of such a large-scale project as well as her enthusiasm to bring the community together through art-centered experiences.”
Julie shared that she “[has] long been seeking a position that utilizes the analytical, spreadsheet-loving part of me while also making change, elevating my community, and doing something new. I come from a labor organizing, engineering drop-out turned art car building, weird and wonderful family that lived in Austin, Texas when it was still affordably weird. I was raised barefoot at folk music festivals at the end of the Dazed and Confused era, when the city was just a community, and we were all a part of it. That level of acceptance and approachability is something I’ve been seeking, and I think Flagstaff is capable of. I am excited to support the creation and implementation of ARTx as an inclusive and diverse platform, which will continue to shape the future of this community.”
Julie holds a BS in Hotel Management from the University of Houston. Julie enjoys her free time with her family and two dogs, exploring Northern Arizona.
