Julie Artisans Gallery bears the name of its founder, Julie Martin—but the story of the name began long before her.
Decades ago in New York City, Julie Schafler Dale founded Julie Artisans’ Gallery, an iconic destination dedicated to wearable art. More than a storefront, it was a place where artistry, individuality, and women’s creative voices were celebrated—where those voices could not simply be heard, but worn.
Years later, in 2013, Julie Martin found herself walking Madison Avenue, carrying samples from her artisan handbag collection and introducing her work to any store willing to listen. Far from the rural Midwestern town she knew as home, New York felt both exhilarating and impossibly distant from the world she imagined creating.
Discouraged, she quietly prayed: God, will my vision ever exist in a place like this?
When she looked up, she was standing before a permanently closed storefront. The shop was gone, but its sign remained:
Julie Artisans Gallery.
Martin has never forgotten that moment.
What began as an unexpected encounter on Madison Avenue eventually came to feel like an invitation to carry forward a story that had begun decades earlier: creating a place where extraordinary craftsmanship is valued, where the hands and histories behind an object matter, and where women’s voices can be expressed through pieces meant to be lived with, treasured, and worn.
Today, Julie Artisans Gallery carries that spirit forward through a highly curated collection of artisan handbags created using ancient, rare, and increasingly endangered techniques.
For Martin, keeping Julie in the name was intentional.
“I wanted to honor the original Julie and the vision she created, while also letting our customers know there is a real person behind this curation. I want them to know there is someone they can trust to protect the quality, integrity, and story behind every piece we offer.”
Julie Artisans Gallery exists at the intersection of art, provenance, craftsmanship, and personal expression—bringing remarkable artisan traditions into a contemporary luxury context without losing the humanity of the hands that created them.
Our aspiration is simple: to become the most inclusive destination for truly exclusive pieces.
Because true luxury should feel rare, deeply personal, and worthy of being passed on.