SHIFT: Julia Soderholm

Teaching children ranging from nursery age to year five, artist and art educator Julia Soderholm introduces her pedagogy of placing observation, perception and exploration at the heart of the primary school art room.

Soderholm’s teaching philosophy and practice is grounded in a belief that observation offers the possibility of ‘re-enchanting’ the everyday, at the same time as challenging students’ worldviews and their perceptions of themselves and others.

She claims that the process of ‘re-enchantment’ that comes from practised observation can sustain creative practice, moving beyond outcome-based expectations and towards empowering children to think like artists.

Finally, Soderholm describes a year five photography unit that supported students to explore their own creative voices and agency. She makes the case that it is a teacher’s pedagogical approach rather than any actual curricular requirement or desired outcome that makes a unit or lesson impactful for students and teachers.

‘Anything,’ she says, ‘when approached through the lens of one’s personal pedagogy, could be impactful to students and teachers alike.’ 

Julia Soderholm is an artist and art educator whose work explores landscape painting through the lens of abstraction. Her work has been included in exhibitions across Canada, including at Monica Reyes Gallery, the Reach Gallery Museum and the Seymour Art Gallery. 

Soderholm  is an MFA candidate and Teaching Fellow at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, at the time of making this film. She has taught elementary school art for the past nine years and was selected to participate in the Art21 Educators Program based in New York City.

She is committed to practicing culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy in her classroom, and has found contemporary art to be an exciting way to share both ‘windows and mirrors’ with her student community. Soderholm lives and works on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.

This film is part of SHIFT – Freelands Foundation’s seasonal series of short films spotlighting varied practices, approaches and philosophies within art education.

All images and footage courtesy Julia Soderholm.

Captions and editing by Sixbetween.

© Freelands Foundation, 2026