The “Art of the Word” Exhibition/CATALOGUE at the The Sasse Museum of Art
2023-12-24 - 2030-12-31 | Sasse Museum of Art, Progress Building | Basement Level 300 South Thomas Street |, CA, Pomona, CA, 91766, United States

“Adapting through Curiosity and Connection with Debra Disman”: My Podcast with Alyson B. Stanfield/Art Biz Success!
2024-08-08 - 2030-08-08
I was thrilled to have this conversation with the one and only Alyson B. Stanfield of Art Biz Success, someone I have admired and followed for a long time!
Some of the points we cover:
“In this episode of The Art Biz, Debra shares her journey, revealing how she has navigated this transition with resilience.
Throughout our conversation, several key themes emerge:

Debra’s fierce curiosity that drives her to explore and understand her surroundings.
Her drive to pursue new opportunities, no matter the obstacles.
The critical role of networking and the connections she’s made along the way.
The power of making consistent progress, even through small, daily actions.
The importance of staying adaptable in an ever-changing world.”

Please click the link below to hear, see and read about our conversation. I hope it holds some gold for YOU.
“Adapting through Curiosity and Connection with Debra Disman” (ep. 202)
PODCAST with Alyson B. Stanfield/Art Biz Success
Listen to the PODCAST

EXHIBITIONISTA: "Paper + Fiber" at 1202 Contemporary
2024-11-13 08:00 - 2025-12-31 08:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | 1202 Contemporary, 7397 Monterey Road, Gilroy, CA, 95020 US, United States
1202 Contemporary proudly presents its 4th annual Paper + Fiber show, celebrating two mediums that women artists have traditionally used for centuries, but have always been considered “craft,” or less than fine art. Uplifting and supporting artists who have worked in textile, fiber, and/or paper mediums, this exhibition centers and hones in on the theme of figure.
Click HERE to view the show!

EXHIBITIONISTA: "REWRITING HER STORY" at the Hera Gallery
2025-01-01 00:00 - 2025-12-31 00:00 | Hera Gallery and Educational Foundation, 10 High Street, Wakefield, RI, 02879, United States
“Writer Elizabeth Lesser asks “What story would Eve have told about picking the apple? Why is Pandora blamed for opening the box? And what about the fate of Cassandra who was blessed with knowing the future but cursed so that no one believed her?”
Flipping through the pages of your high school history textbook, how many stories are written about women as monumental protagonists? When was the last time you watched a movie that passed the Bechdel test? When was the last time there were more women than men on the Supreme Court voting on the right to our bodies?
As brands of “faux” feminism partnered with consumerist culture push out media representing women’s liberation through a patriarchal gaze, how can we reclaim the visual language to share more authentic stories? How can our art share the stories of women, trans women, and non-binary folks written out of the history books? How does your work give voice to the overlooked and underrepresented?
Hera Gallery presents 52 works that rewrite this cultural consciousness for a more inclusive human history.”
I am honored to have two pieces in this salient exhibition, and participate in a small way, in Rewriting Her/Our/Their Story.
WHITE ZIP

and
INTO THE BUSH

Please see the SHOW here.

"We Write The Book" returns to the Northridge Branch Library!
2025-09-01 08:00 - 2025-12-31 17:00 | Northridge Branch Library, 9051 Darby Avenue, Northridge, 91325, United States
I am thrilled to serve again as a 2025-26 “NEAR” Artist in Residence at theNorthridge Branch Library!
This Neighborhood Engagement Artist Residency is supported by the wonderful City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
I was honored to serve as artist-in-residence at the Northridge Branch Library, conducting bookmaking workshops and events for the local community and library patronage from February through May 31, 2025 and amm looking forward to working further with the Northridge and greater community!

Our workshops are completely free to community with all materials and refreshments included, supported by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
2025-26 Times, dates and details to come!

Please see our 2024-25Artist Residency at the beautiful Northridge Branch Library CULMINATION EVENT!

EXHIBITIONISTA: "The California Effect: New Books from the California Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers"
2025-10-04 17:00 - 2026-03-08 17:00 | Long Beach Museum of Art, 2300 E Ocean Blvd,, Long Beach, CA, 90803, United States
I am thrilled to have three works in:
“The California Effect: New Books from the California Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers”
Opening at the Long Beach Museum of Art October 4, 2025 and running through January 4, 2026!

The California Effect: New Books from the California Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers

October 4, 2025 – March 8, 2026
The California Effect—New Books from the California Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers is rich in both artists and bookworks. There are 29 artists exhibiting 54 books, boxes, and broadsides. Some are in limited editions and others are one-of-a-kind. All are handmade individually with handmade and fine papers, cloth, thread, glue, inks, and paint. What exactly is the California effect? More precisely, what is the effect on the many of us who live, work, and visit here? The misty mornings and baking hot afternoons? The endless coastline, chill forests or dry desert arroyos? Each of us has an answer, seen in the books we make, in our tastes and inspirations. We turn to making books: printing them, binding them, reinventing them, turning them into art—making books as art.
The California Chapter is one of ten chapters, revealing the national reach and scope of the Guild and its dedication to promoting interest and awareness in the tradition of book and paper arts. The members include hand bookbinders, design binders, conservators, calligraphers, makers of artist books, fine press printers and papermakers. A fully illustrated catalogue with information about each artwork and biographical information about each artist is available to order.
The California Effect exhibition and related programming are graciously supported by The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation, the Pasadena Art Alliance, and the Bess J. Hodges Foundation

You can order the beautiful catalogue designed by artist Rebecca Chamlee of Pie in the Sky Press HERE and HERE

And… while you are there, don’t miss:
Voice of the Artist: Artist Books from the Permanent Collection

October 4, 2025 – March 8, 2026
Throughout its 75-year history, the Museum has presented contemporary art in all media, including the book arts. In 1983, the Museum organized At Home, an exhibition that included artists’ books by women created between 1970 and 1983. In 2009, Novel Constructions—Artists Create Monumental Books explored books as sculptural installations and included works by Genie Shenk and Carol Shaw-Sutton, both of whom are represented in the Ocean View Gallery. In 2019, the Museum presented The Artful Book of the California Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers, and it continues this tradition with The California Effect.
Voice of the Artist highlights a selection of artists’ books from the Museum’s permanent collection. It touches on the history of the medium, from the livre d’artiste exemplified by Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, to contemporary offset-printed codex forms such as Barbara Kruger’s My Pretty Pony. Artists continue to expand the definition of the book through unconventional materials, like the tar paper in Genie Shenk’s Ring or the carved wood of Suvan Geer’s Author, Author? Unstill Poetry. The exhibition features a variety of forms, including traditional codex forms, accordion books, and a pop-up sculpture by Paul Johnson. The Museum gratefully acknowledges the generous support of a donor-collector Museum member, who anonymously provided both the exhibition and the video revealing more of the books’ interiors.

Long Beach Museum of Art
2300 E Ocean Blvd.

Member & VIP Opening Reception: 5-7 pm

General Admission Opening Reception: 7-9 pm

EXHIBITIONISTA: “Sanctuary” / Know Safe Space at 18th Street Arts Center
2025-11-14 - 2026-01-02 | 18th Street Arts Center Olympic Campus, 1653 18th Street, Studio 1, Santa Monica, CA, 90404, United States
Debra Disman: “Sanctuary” / Know Safe Space

November 14, 2025 – January 2, 2026

18th Street Arts Center

“Sanctuary” / Know Safe Space will expand upon Disman’s 2023 piece, K no W Safe Place with the addition of a hanging roof surrounded by an inverted “forest” of knotted colored cords hung from the ceiling in various arrangements allowing pathways to the suspended black sanctuary space. The installation will grow and change over time with the addition of these hanging elements.
Sanctuary: Know Safe Space, 2025, 10′ x 48″ x 48″, canvas, netting, burlap, cord, lace, ribbon, paint, wood

Sanctuary: Know Safe Space, 2025, 10′ x 48″ x 48″, canvas, netting, burlap, cord, lace, ribbon, paint, wood
This installation draws upon Disman’s ongoing study of the groundbreaking practices of artists Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse using artmaking to transcend trauma; research into sanctuary movements and spaces and the use of textiles within these; exploration of the“quipu/khipu”, a record-keeping device made of knotted cords of assorted colors used in various cultures in the central Andes of South America; and investigation into the work of artists who have used fiber-based materials to create environments, structures and shelters including Do Ho Suh, Chiharu Shiota and Tracey Emin.
Disman will also engage in dialogue with others inside the Sanctuary space, informally videotaping these participants’ response to the installation and their immersion in it, as well as offering “interviewees’ the opportunity to share about their own practices, projects and practices, especially as they relate to 18th Street Arts Center. These short-form videos will serve as an informal archive of our present moment, the role of the creative process in it, and the support and sanctuary 18th Street Arts Center is offering to the community by allowing us to Know Safe Space.
Anyone wishing to be interviewed/dialogue in the Sanctuary can contact should contact Debra at debra@artifactorystudio.com
About the artist

Debra Disman is a Los Angeles-based artist known for her work inspired by the book, which traverses textiles, installation, sculpture and performance to push the familiar into forms that arrest and baffle, while simultaneously offering places of contemplation and solace. She creates work and projects which investigate states of being and connectiveness through intensive interactions with materials while attempting to fully explore and exploit their haptic properties.
Her work is widely shown in museums, galleries, art centers, universities and libraries including The Torrance Art Museum; Art Share LA; The Irvine Fine Arts Center; The New Bedford Art Museum; The Brand Library and Art Center; ReflectSpace Gallery in Glendale, CA; Craft Contemporary in LA: The Long Beach Museum of Art; The University of the Arts in Philadelphia; The Cape Cod Museum of Art; and The Charles E. Young Research Library at UCLA, as well as through social practice and community endeavors.
Disman was the featured artist for the 2016 Big Read in LA and recipient of an 2016-17 WORD: Artist Grant / Bruce Geller Memorial Prize. She was commissioned by LA’s Craft Contemporary to create the interactive book “Chromatic Interactions” in 2017 and 18th Street Arts Center to create the artists’ book, “Unfolding Possibilities” in 2021. Her book “CONCURRENCIES Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse: Genius, Trauma and the Creative Imagination” was published by ReflectSpace Gallery/Glendale Arts and Culture in 2023.
She was a 2018 Studio Resident at the Camera Obscura Art Lab at 1450 Ocean in Santa Monica, and has served as an Artist-in-Residence for the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs since 2017, directing the “We Write the Book” project. A Santa Monica Artist Fellow in 2021-22, she has been a local artist in residence at 18th Street Arts Center since 2018.
