JOHANNA PORTER
VISUAL + PUBLIC ART
SEATTLE
ABOUT
Growing up in the artificial urban paradise of Miami FL, I felt very detached from nature. A longing to experience wild places was a deep desire most of my adult life. In 2019 this became my reality when I relocated to the Pacific Northwest. During the covid years I found solace and freedom to breath during escapes into nature. My artwork evolved to reflect spiritual experiences discovered in the wilderness of the Cascade Mountains. The roar of a waterfall, the sway of towering evergreens in the wind and miniature chaos found on decomposing nurse logs became imprinted upon my subconscious and then translated into subtle layers of meaning. As I reflect upon the transitory nature of life my emotional state drives my artistic journey forward.
My current work is public art, analog and digital mixed-media assemblage inspired by natural cycles of creation and destruction. Recycled, salvaged and found objects that are no longer deemed useful to their owners are disassembled and re-born as artworks. I reclaim these discards and enter a process where they are re-paired in the present tense as objects of joy and contemplation.The process of hand-sewing with a needle connects me with the objects’ previous owners and a long legacy of human ancestors who understood that nature never wastes anything. My world-view is one that respects organic processes, intuition and collaboration, celebration of diversity and holistic connections. My artwork holds a mirror to those values.
ARTIST BIO
Born in Miami, FL Johanna Porter’s career includes three decades as a working graphic artist, illustrator and art director. She holds a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of North Florida. In 2019 she moved to the Pacific Northwest and pivoted her career towards public art. As an emerging visual artist, her mixed-media assemblages have been exhibited nationally in group shows. Johanna has also received commissions for temporary public art installations featuring digital artworks, in Washington state and Arizona. Her artworks are in the City of Seattle’s Portable Public Artworks collection. She is currently on the ArtsWA Public Artist Roster, the City of Seattle Public Artist Roster and the City of Atlanta Moving Atlanta Forward Bond 2.0 Artist Roster.
ARTIST CV
PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS
2024
Seattle City Light Fresh Perspectives, 1% for Portable Art Works Collection, Seattle City Lights, Seattle WA
2023
Together Center, public art for social services community center, Redmond WA
City of Fife Public Arts Commission, public art installation- utility box vinyl wrap, Fife WA
City of Renton Municipal Arts Commission, public art installation- utility box vinyl wrap, Renton WA
Fountain Hills Cultural & Civic Assoc., digital public art mural, Pump House Pilot Program, Fountain Hills, AZ
2022
City of Redmond, Arts and Culture, public art commission for animated short film,
Redmond Downtown Park Buoyant Theater, Redmond WA
2021
City of Redmond, Arts and Culture, public art commission for animated short film, Redmond WA
City of Kent Arts Commission, public art installation- utility box vinyl wrap, Kent WA
2019
City of Issaquah Arts Commission, public art installation- utility box vinyl wrap, Issaquah WA
ART ACTIVATIONS
2025
Collage-O-Rama, with Sharp Hands Gallery & Special Agent Collage Collective, SLIP Gallery, Seattle WA
2024
Amazon Summer Activation Stair Murals, Urban ArtWorks team, Amazon campus, Seattle WA
Duvall Sandblast Sand Sculpture Activation, Duvall Foundation for the Arts, Duvall WA
Google Kirkland Urban Pride Activation Stair Mural with Urban ArtWorks team, Google campus, Kirkland WA
2022
Building Blocks of Community, Seattle Design Festival, Center on Contemporary Art installation collaborator,
South Lake Union Park, Seattle WA
The Language of Flowers, Duvall Days Festival temporary public art installation , Duvall WA
2020
Embracing Our Differences, international group art billboard exhibit, Bayfront Park, Sarasota FL
HONORS + AWARDS
2024
City of Atlanta Moving Atlanta Forward Bond 2.0 Public Artist Roster, Atlanta GA
City of Seattle Public Art Artist Roster for 2024-2026, Seattle WA
City of Kent Public Art Panelist, selection of pubic art awards, Kent WA
2024 Kent Arts Commission Exhibit Award, City of Kent Arts Commission, Kent WA
2023
ArtsWA 2023-2025 Public Artist Roster, Olympia WA
2022
Artists Up! Mentorship Scholarship, awarded by 4Culture, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, and Arts, Seattle WA
IPPY Silver Award, for self-published poetry and art book “TNTRK”, awarded by Independent Publisher Book Awards
2021
Public Art Intensive Eastside Cohort, selected by the City of Redmond Arts and Culture Commission, Redmond WA
2019
Roslyn Art Festival, Second Place Award, Roslyn WA
SOLO AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2025
Artifacts of Connection, two-artist fiber art exhibit, Magnuson Park (SPACE) Gallery, Seattle WA
2024
2024 Kent Arts Commission Exhibit, two-artist fiber art award exhibit, Centennial Center Gallery, Kent WA
2023
Transitory Nature, solo exhibition, Thomas Architecture Studios, Olympia WA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
2025 Kent Summer Art Exhibit, regional juried group exhibit, Centennial Center Gallery, Kent WA
Art In Bloom, regional group exhibit, Schack Art Center, Everett WA
NW Folklife 2025 Gallery Walk, curated art exhibit for NW Folklife Festival, Seattle Center, Seattle WA
Pratt In Bloom Benefit Art Auction, curated group exhibit, Fisher Pavillion- Seattle Center, Seattle WA
Fresh Perspectives 2024 Purchase Award Exhibition, public art purchase exhibit, King Street Station Gallery, Seattle WA
This Art Life, curated art education exhibit, Schack Art Center, Everett WA
Around the Square, regional group exhibit, Studio 103, Seattle WA
34rd Annual H’Arts Benefit Auction, group exhibit, Schack Art Center, Everett WA
2024
Northwest Folklife Gallery Walk, curated art exhibit for NW Folklife Festival, Seattle Center, Seattle WA
Art as Healing, screening of animated short film “The Light of Things”, Bothell City Hall, Bothell WA
Threshold of Wonder, curated group exhibit, Artma pop-up exhibition, Marketplace at Factoria, Factoria WA
2023
Re-Imagined, curated members’ group exhibit, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle WA
2023 Kent Summer Art Exhibit, regional juried group exhibit, Centennial Center Gallery, Kent WA
Artful Stories & Community Narratives, curated group exhibit, Sammamish Commons Gallery, Sammamish WA
2022
Pluralism, curated members’ group exhibit, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle WA
For the Voices of Women, curated group exhibit, Studio 103, Seattle WA
Calm. Centered. Awake, curated time-based-art group exhibit, Sanctuary Studios, Seattle WA
Kent Summer Art Exhibit, regional group exhibit, Centennial Center Gallery, Kent WA
Annual Members Show, regional group exhibit, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle WA
Art of the Garden, regional group exhibit, Schack Art Center, Everett WA
FIFTY: An Alumni Exhibition, invitational group exhibit, Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville FL
The Art of Water, online group exhibit, TheArtofWater.global
2021
Creative and Resilient, national group exhibit, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles WA
Marking Lives Covid-19, international online Covid-19 memorial art group exhibit, ElizabethAwalt.com
Fear in Technicolor, regional online group exhibit, The Anxious Tomato, Tacoma WA
SchacktoberFest, regional group exhibit, Schack Art Center, Everett WA
2021 Shoreline Virtual Juried Art Exhibit, regional online group exhibit, Shoreline Arts Festival, Shoreline WA
2020
Windows Into the World, international online group exhibit, Chico Art Center, Chico CA
Artists in Their Residence, national online group exhibit, Firehouse Art Center, Longmont CO
2019
Cover These Walls, national building wrap group exhibit, Palos Verdes Art Center, Rancho Palos Verdes CA
Memories, national group exhibit, 2019 Roslyn Art Festival, Roslyn WA
Combined Talents, national group exhibit, FSU Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee FL
Pinnacle National Juried Art Competition, national group exhibit, Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Gallery, Tallahassee FL
2018 Social Code, regional group exhibit, Delray Arts Warehouse, Delray Beach FL
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PRESS
2025
ArtSounds at Space 101.1FM- Jack Straw New Media Gallery podcast interview
https://www.space101fm.org/program/artsounds/
2023
Jolt- the journal of Olympia, Tumwater & Lacey, February 4, 2023
https://www.thejoltnews.com/stories/johanna-porters-transitory-nature,9185
2019
Peripheral Arteries Contemporary Art Review- Biennial, Summer/volume 50
https://issuu.com/artpress/docs/biennial.edition.vi
EDUCATION
1985
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Graphic Design, University of North Florida
1978
Associate of Arts, Fine Art, Miami-Dade College, Miami FL