Author Elaine Rusinko explores Julia Warhola’s life, influence, and artistic legacy, revealing her pivotal yet often overlooked role in her son’s life.

When Andy Warhol moved to New York, his mother followed him. The two lived near, and for many years with, each other in the city. While long recognized as a key figure in Andy’s world, Julia Warhola’s own story has largely remained untold. In Andy Warhol's Mother, Elaine Rusinko, Associate Professor of Russian at the University of Maryland, traces Julia’s journey from a small Carpatho-Rusyn village in Austria-Hungary to her life as a creative force and devoted mother in industrial Pittsburgh and avant-garde New York. Drawing from unpublished materials—including Rusyn-language correspondence and rare videos—Rusinko sheds new light on Julia’s artistic talents, spirited personality, and lasting influence on Warhol’s work and persona.

Rusinko offers a deeper insight into both Andy Warhol and the remarkable woman behind the iconic artist.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Elaine Rusinko is associate professor emerita of Russian language and literature at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is the author of numerous articles on Rusyn literature, as well as Straddling Borders: Literature and Identity in Subcarpathian Rus', a comprehensive literary history of the region. She has also published translations of contemporary literature in “God is a Rusyn”: An Anthology of Contemporary Carpatho-Rusyn Literature. Rusinko’s interest in Andy Warhol and his mother stems from their shared Carpatho-Rusyn heritage.

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Courtesy Elaine Rusinko