Julie Simancek is a jeweler and metalsmith currently working in New York. She received her B.F.A. from Grand Valley State University and her M.F.A. from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Games, toys, history, and culture influence her current work; while an appreciation of the fantastic and whimsical is also present. For her, a piece is considered successful when the viewer desires to interact with the object instead of passively experiencing it.