Joey Hartmann-Dow was born in the late 1900s in Bethlehem, PA, where she was raised as a Quaker. She graduated from the University of Rochester in 2012, where she studied Studio Art and Environmental Justice.

Her art is influenced by a fascination with human relationship to the earth and each other. She draws parallels between them by using maps in drawing and painting, and more recently is exploring storytelling through animation.

Joey lives in New Orleans, LA, where she is a studio member at Aquarium Gallery & Studios. She is also a collective member at The Yards in Rochester, NY (where she loves to go back in the summer).

Maps are created by humans for humans. They tell us where we are and how to get somewhere else. They tell us stories in the soil, rivers, forests, and deserts (if we look for them).​

My work with maps is a collaboration with earth's history, how the atlases choose to tell it. The political boundaries and labels are not important; look at this illustration of land and water in a new light-- as living beings with hearts and souls. Can we see our own hands and faces in the topography of a valley, our own veins in the meander of a river?

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This planet is constantly changing—not just our cultures, laws, numbers, standards, and social relationships, but climate, geography, and ecology too.  The challenge we face is finding a balance between the human gift of intelligence and the human gift of morality, and knowing how to accept responsibility with our power.

This art is a conversation.  It's talking about relationships in biology, anthropology, destruction, and sustainability.  It's talking about sense and hope, without the intention of guilt or failure-- intending to draw questions from the viewer about our own roles in these relationships.  It's an extension of the capacity to endure, and its purpose is to plant a seed.​

Joey Hartmann-Dow
2026