Julia Marden (born 1962^[1]) is an American artist based in Vermont.^[2][3] A member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe, Marden specializes in traditional Wampanoag arts and crafts, including basket and mat twining,^[4] wampum belts,^[5][6] and painting.^[7]

Marden was born in 1962^[1] and raised in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and also spent parts of her childhood in Vineyard Haven on Martha's Vineyard.^[3][7] Her father was a carpenter, and as a child she would use his wood shavings to make her own art.^[7] She also made collages from found objects.^[7]

Marden began learning customary crafts in the early 1990s, from Native American staff, when she began working in the Wampanoag Indian Program at Plimoth Plantation.^[2][3][7] Specifically, Marden learned twining, a type of weaving technique which involves wrapping fibers around one another without using a loom.^[8] She had created 63 twined pieces by 2012.^[9] It takes Marden about two months of 40-hour weeks to twine a bag with commercial cordage.^[8] For more historic twining, which takes longer, Marden uses cattails, bulrushes, and cornhusks, among other plants. Porcupine quills or moose hair may also be worked into the designs.^[8]

Marden has also created miniature dolls, which she calls Eninuog, which represent Native people and the clothing they wore at the time of European contact.^[2][8]

Marden has her own studio and store in Ryegate, Vermont, named Bluejay Visions.^[7] She has shown her work at the Atrium Gallery in One Capitol Hill,^[10] the Mashantucket Pequot Museum, the National Heritage Museum,^[11] the Rhode Island Department of Administration,^[9] the Robbins Museum,^[2] and the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts.^[12]

In 2022, Marden was one of eight Wampanoag artists profiled in Lee Roscoe's book, Wampanoag Art for the Ages: Traditional and Transitional.^[4][13]

In 2023, Marden created a turkey feather mantle she had twined by hand, making it the first-known such mantle created post-European contact 400 years earlier. Marden called it "most likely the most important piece" she will ever make. It will be shown at the Aquinnah Cultural Center in 2024.^[3]

Marden has one daughter, Leah Llanes, who learned to twine at age 6; Llanes' daughter has also learned to twine.^[8]

Marden was given the name Bluejay Weaving in a Wampanoag naming ceremony, in honor of her craftsmanship and the fierceness with which blue jays protect their young.^[7]

Marden has resided in Vermont since at least 2015,^[2] but has also previously lived in Connecticut.^[9]