At UPL, we believe that displaying art enhances the library experience for our patrons, staff, and volunteers. When we see art in our community spaces, we’re inspired to engage with it and make art of our own. We seek to exhibit the work of diverse voices that reflect the communities in which we live.

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Julian Plum | Whose Tree is This?

March-April 2026

About the Artist

Julian Plum is a queer illustrator & author with a deep love of colors, stories, and creatures. As a kid he spent his time in the forest, running (very literally) barefoot through streams and picking berries off bushes to eat (no he did not get poisoned)! He’d run home and tell his very patient parents all about the critters he’d seen. That fascination with the natural world—the textures, the colors, the connections—is the soil nourishing all of his work.

You’ll find Julian in the Finger Lakes of New York illustrating warm, colorful flora, fauna, and fungi in gouache. He works in his basement studio next to his wood-burning stove, usually with two very sleepy cats to keep him company. Everything he paints is intensely studied and researched down to the last tiny hidden detail! When he’s not painting, he’s wandering in the woods closely inspecting mushroom caps and acorns and figuring out the names of all the slugs he sees.

Julian Plum is represented by Naomi Davis at BookEnds Literary for all book projects.

Some Facts

Pronouns: he / they

Favorite colors: deep forest green, warm blue, marigold

Favorite things to think about: mycelial networks, the Cambrian explosion, binary stars, lichens

Learn more at julianplum.com

Artist Reception

Please join us for a reception celebrating the work of Julian Plum, Saturday April 18th, 2026, from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. Julian will read the book Whose Tree is This? at 12:30 pm. All are welcome!