Juliette Ricci is doing her part to make Tacoma beautiful. Her unique paintings, which combine bright paint, photography and intensely personal text, reveal her optimistic attitude about the future of art in Tacoma.

Ricci was born and raised in the Northwest, calling Marysville and Everett her homes. She attended the renowned School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and returned to Seattle upon graduating with her bachelor of fine arts degree in 2001. After a bit she moved to Portland, where she lived for three years and married her husband - an Air Force Reservist.

They moved to Lacey, then Tacoma, where Ricci worked at Expedia for three years. She slowly worked her way up the ladder there, going from customer service all the way to air travel fulfillment. Although working at the company was comfortable and stable, Ricci realized that she was not making art or doing shows the entire time she was employed there. “I told my supervisor at the time that I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t using my abilities,” Ricci said. Her supervisor then informed her of a few steps to help her along with art-making again, such as joining the Tacoma Art listserv and attending art walks, and soon Ricci was a participant of Culture Lab back in December 2008 - a one-night only show with David Hume. She began to frequent Tacoma Art Supply for her own supplies, and got to know the owner, Warren Caves. He offered her a job soon after to help him run the store, but she declined. About three years later, she took him up on that offer, and feels that her life has been forever changed.

“I’m inspired by other Tacoma artists. My life is more complete now. Gallery owners and artists come into the store all the time, and it’s a great way to meet them,” Ricci gushed.

Ricci is a manager at Tacoma Art Supply, and helps Caves because he previously ran the store on his own, with help from a few part-time students. Ricci has a history of working at art supply stores, so she had both the experience and drive to succeed at the business. One of her favorite things to do at the store is draw out maps for artists new to the area, to get them acquainted a bit, and inform them of her favorite galleries, coffee shops and restaurants.

Ricci just showed a body of work at Embellish Multi-space Salon. When that show comes down, it will move directly to the walls of Tacoma Art Supply for its upcoming Employee Art Show, which will showcase three other employees, and aims to become an annual tradition as well.

For her part of the show, 11 pieces produced between 2001-09 take on bright colors, black and white photographs and a written background of the image to give viewers the ultimate experience that they can immediately understand upon glancing.

And she already has her next few pieces mapped out in her head. She made some self-portraits while in college, and rather than painting them with a bold statement color and black text, she wants to create them all with a black background and white writing. Ricci has experienced a great deal since college - moving back home, getting married, major job shifts - and wants to insert some of her autobiographical experiences into pieces that many could relate to.

Ricci’s goal is not to be a famous artist, but rather thinks that what she is doing right now is perfect. “I want to have a balance, and my family comes first. My goal is to make 10 new pieces before we have a child,” Ricci stated. But the most important thing to Ricci is helping out the community, and building relationships with other local artists to ensure that Tacoma’s local art scene continues to thrive.

“I just want to support everybody, then everybody can grow.”

The Tacoma Art Supply Employee Art Show will be on exhibit May 15 through June 30, with a reception being held for Third Thursday Art walk on May 21 from 5-8 p.m. Tacoma Art Supply is located at 1552 Commerce St. For more information about Ricci’s art, visit www.juliettericci.com. For more information about Tacoma Art Supply, call (253) 444-2341 or go to www.tacomaartsupply.com.