Julia Bell

Julia Bell is Founder/Director of Parapluie, a UK based company providing a global art advisory, commissioning and consultancy service for individuals and companies within the public and private sectors who wish to buy, commission and collect art. Founded in 2017 the company also runs a Members and Events programme that introduces new and established collectors to the world of Contemporary Art collecting and provides a range of services to clients including Collections Management; Appraisal; Art Investment Guidance and De-accessioning and private/auction sales.

Previously, Julia acted as a Freelance Consultant within the cultural sector where she worked with MOSTYN, Wales on an Arts Council Wales resilience programme; leading cultural policy discussion and lobbying at national and governmental level for the What Next? movement and writing a Visual Arts Vision document for the City of Sheffield.

From 2009-2016 Julia was based at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art  where her role was to build strategic national and international sector partnerships, networks and collaborations on behalf of BALTIC and the visual arts sector through the Contemporary Visual Arts Network. Prior to BALTIC, she worked as a Freelance Consultant for 6 years, delivering numerous public art commissioning programmes, managing a Curatorial Fellowship Training Programme and was the Curator of the Business Collectors Network which brought 9 businesses together to collectively build a contemporary art collection. She was Curator at Middlesbrough Art Gallery (now Mima) 2000-2003 and Acting Collections Curator at the Crafts Council 1998. Julia has a BA (Hons) in Three-Dimensional Studies from the University of Northumbria, Masters in Museum & Gallery Studies from the University of Newcastle and a Postgraduate Diploma in Art Profession Law and Ethics from the Institute of Art and Law. Julia was previously a Board Trustee of York Museum Trust, AV Festival and Chair of The NewBridge Project Studio collective. She is a Fellow of the RSA and a member of the Institute of Art and Law.