Songs of My Mother, Julia

Behind the pop art icon Andy Warhol stood Julia Warhola (born Závacka), a resilient immigrant whose creativity found voice in art and songs. Far from being merely “the artist’s mother,” she embodied the hopes, memories, and identities of thousands of Slavic women who built new lives in challenging industrial conditions of Pittsburgh in the beginning of twentieth century.
The talk focuses on Julia Warhola’s artistic contributions, particularly in music. Her rare recordings of folk songs embody feelings of displacement and adaptation, linking personal experience with the broader Rusyn tradition. These songs continue to inspire contemporary artists in her rodny kraj – Carpathian Rus’, bridging cultural past and present. As Andy himself once said, his mother was “so-o-o interesting.” Recordings invites us to hear Julia Warhola in her own right: as an immigrant woman, a creative artist, and a cultural bridge across the Atlantic.
Ms. Jana Tomková is the Ruth Crawford Mitchell Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh in fall 2025. From Slovakia, Ms. Tomková is a doctoral student of Cultural Anthropology at the Faculty of Humanities, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. Her research focuses on the cultural life of Carpatho-Rusyns in the Czech Republic, particularly involving music, and how it contributes to the shaping of ethnic identity. She is undertaking a comparative study of the activities of Carpatho-Rusyns in the USA, Canada, and the Czech Republic during her fellowship.