Julie Rotblatt Amrany: A Life in Sculpture, Painting and Public Art
1 hr 13 min
American sculptor and painter Julie Rotblatt Amrany joins host Chris for a stroll through her life and career. Known for her collaborative work on monumental public sculptures, including the celebrated Michael Jordan statue, The Spirit, Julie brings together an understanding of the human figure, a fascination with movement and an enduring curiosity about the relationship between art and science. Meet an artist whose creative practice spans bronze monuments, painting, drawing and multimedia installation—and whose work invites us to consider how art gives physical form to human experience. For many people, an introduction to Julie’s work comes through the world of sport. Working with her husband and fellow sculptor Omri Amrany, she has helped translate athletic achievement into public art that becomes part of a community’s identity. Their collaborative Michael Jordan sculpture at Chicago’s United Center captures a figure suspended in action, connecting the physical language of basketball with the expressive possibilities of sculpture. Her career also includes work honoring Kobe Bryant, A’ja Wilson and astronaut James Lovell, bringing together subjects whose accomplishments have inspired generations. Behind these public commissions is a wider artistic practice. Julie’s background in dance and gymnastics helped shape her understanding of how the body moves through space. Her interest in anatomy and figurative sculpture developed alongside a desire to convey something beyond physical likeness: the energy, presence and sense of life that can make an inanimate form feel expressive. Julie’s artistic journey includes marble carving in Pietrasanta, Italy, where she met Omri in 1985. The experience connected her to a longstanding sculptural tradition while helping establish a creative partnership that would become central to her professional life. Together, they developed Rotblatt Amrany Studio, building a collaborative practice that brings sculpture into civic spaces, cul...
