Juliet Holland

1937 - 2017

Juliet Holland
PEORIA - Juliet Holland, 80 years old, died peacefully on Saturday, November 25, 2017, in Peoria, IL, where she lived the last year of her life, after a long struggle with Lewy Body Dementia with Parkinson's.
Born on June 6, 1937, in Buffalo, New York, to James Bell Henry and Margaret Koppel Henry, she grew up in Wellesley Hills, MA. A longtime resident of lower Manhattan on Bleeker Street, she spent summers in her Saugatuck Shores, Westport, CT, beach cottage, taking inspiration from the sea.
Juliet was an accomplished and widely exhibited mixed media artist, most notably in Tokyo, NYC, Connecticut and Provincetown, MA. She was in well over one hundred one-person and group exhibitions. Her work is in museums, corporate and private collections. Her technique incorporated rich layers of sand, paints, clay, powders, metallics and natural elements, which were built up, then scratched and scraped back down, creating layers, evoking time. "… my work focuses on the process of transformation - from disintegration and decay to a new form of beauty." Her work can be seen on juliethollandart.com.
She was a co-founder of Art Bridge, a program that established an artist exchange between Japan and the U.S., and ran for twelve years. Holland was formally recognized by the Mayor of Sakai City as the first non-Asian artist in the Sakai City Municipal Art Collection.
Juliet was also a curator of several exhibitions, and was on the board of directors of Lamia Ink!, a non-profit organization dedicated to the arts.
Aside from her career as an artist, she had a passion for music, swimming, Avant Garde performance and creative expression. She was a voracious reader and loved the ocean.
She is survived by her children, Mark Nickerson (Jeanne) of Peoria, IL, and Avery Johnson (Fred) of Pasadena, CA; grandchildren, Glenna Monzella (Mike), Holland Nickerson, Juliet Johnson and Henry Dean Johnson; and her brother, James Henry of Jacksonville, FL.
She was predeceased in 2016 by her spouse, Cortland Jessup.
A family service will be held in Connecticut.
A special thank you goes to Heartis Village of Peoria Memory Care for their compassion and dedicated care.
Donations can be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association or the Peoria Humane Society.