Native New Yorker Julie Ratner, has resided in the suburban Maryland area for the last thirty two years. After graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, her passion for Fine Art led her to work as the in- house Gallery Director at Discovery Galleries of Bethesda, Maryland,  running two retail Fine Art galleries and one wholesale Art Publishing Division. As Gallery Director, Julie organized numerous one-man art exhibitions and spearheaded the galleries participation in several high-visibility trade shows and special events. She is an active enthusiast of the arts in Washington, D.C. and created local community programs such a "Painting for Paws", with the Washington Animal Rescue League and developed custom coloring book art for the Art Therapists at Children's National Hospital DC.  In 2009,  Julie formed her own Art Consulting Agency representing emerging artists while participating in group shows in Florida, DC and Colorado.  In 2012, she co-founded  Directions in Art, a full service Commercial, Hospitality and Residential Art Consulting firm. 

​ In 2016, Artworx Consultants was born.  Artworx is a collaborative firm that  offers a broad array of creative Art sourcing & Consulting Services to the Commercial,  Hospitality and Corporate market managing projects from inception to installation.   

POP-Cities is a division of Artworx Consultants & a creative resource for the Real Estate and Hospitality community.  Born out of necessity for clients looking for cost effective photographic art alternatives, Pop-Cities creates unique site-specific art by photographing iconic architectural landmarks & locations that celebrate a city's local culture.  Pop-Cities understands that first impressions are an important part of human interaction in a commercial office environment.  Our goal is to help our clients enhance the aesthetics of their spaces using cutting-edge contemporary graphic photographs to attract premium tenants and guests!