Debra Disman

Artist

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EXHBITION

We made a “Storybook Theatre” at Craft Contemporary!

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On January 11, 2026, I had the great pleasure of leading a “Storybook Theater” bookmaking workshop at the Craft Contemporary Museum for their all ages Craft Lab, entitled, “Make a Storybook Theater with Debra Disman“!

Participants were encouraged to:
“Become the author of your own story and create a one-of-a-kind storybook theater book. Combine stories, books and theater with a dramatic flair using a variety of recycled paper materials.”

So. Much. Fun!

A vibrant group gathers.


The dynamic Dr. KATE ZANKOWICZ, Ph.D., Craft Contemporary’s Director of Education, introduces the program, and encourages participants.

Focus and concentration.


Cutting without a template, freehand…to create the year of the horse (hello) and the snake (bye bye).


Book within book, to explore a theme.


Care and communication, sharing ideas.

Even the stairs were used as a work surface, by choice!



Mothers and daughters,

Partners and friends, worked together.

  Hollywood was an inspiration,



As well as Zebras!

Such a beautiful group creating beautiful, thought-provoking and whimsical works.

HERE are the Step-by-step HOW-TO instructions to create the STORYBOOK THEATER:
StorybookTheaterProgram_FINAL_PowerPoint

ENJOY!

Create a STORYBOOK THEATER at Craft Contemporary

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Craft Lab: Make a Storybook Theatre with Debra Disman 

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Become the author, illustrator, and set designer of your own imaginative world as you create a one-of-a-kind storybook theatre. This hands-on workshop invites participants to bring stories to life by combining books, storytelling, and theatrical elements with dramatic flair.

Using a variety of recycled paper materials, you’ll craft layered scenes, characters, and settings that transform the page into a miniature stage.

Recommended for ages 7 and up. All adults and children ages 3 and up must have a ticket to participate.

Craft Lab Family Workshop:

Make a Storybook Theatre with Debra Disman

Sun, Jan 11 | 1:30 – 3:30 PM

$10 public / members Free
REGISTER

 

Held in conjunction with the exhibition:

Material Curiosity by Design: Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman

 

EXHIBITIONISTA: WHISPER at Verum Ultimum Gallery

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I am thrilled to participate in WHISPER! at Verum Ultimum Gallery in Portland.

I will be showing:

"Excavation of the Interior" (shown closed and open below) 12 x 28 x 12.5", wood, paper, cloth, hemp cord, linen thread
   

Says Owner and Curator Jennifer Gillia Cutshall:
 "...when the murmur from art echoes beyond the walls & settles somewhere secret.  And "Whisper" with an exclamation may signal contradictions or dualities.  The term carries symbolism pertinent to the momentous occasion, but it also carries mystery to be filled in by artists' interpretations.  Verum is open to all perceptions of this theme.  Delicate expressions are presented, as are bold, and the term WHISPER may be framed in many ways, not necessarily meant to be a literal elucidation. All mediums and modes of expression were welcomed..  Verum Ultimum Gallery tasks artists to define this inaugural exhibition to herald in Verum's new space in Southeast Portland this summer of 2024!"

“MOSTLY MONOCHROME” from WoArt!

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I have been thrilled to be included in the exhibition, Mostly Monochrome, presented online by the loved and respected  WoArt Blog, and curated by WoArtBlog founder,  Christina Massey, offering a strong platform for Women Artists.

November 1 – 30th, 2021

www.woartblog.com.

“Mostly Monochrome” is an online exhibition featuring artists using a mostly monochromatic approach to the creation of their work. Artworks with the reduced variant of color grab their viewers attention instead through their process, materials, composition and tonality.

As one scrolls through the exhibition, you’ll be visually transitioning through subtle shifts in the monochromatic palette and visually stimulated through the juxtaposition of works from minimal color field paintings to extremely detailed and laborious drawings and sculptures.

Viewers are invited to scroll through the wide range of artistic styles and explore the work in the virtual gallery slideshow. Click on the images to get further details and make any purchases of Artworks.

Support the work of Women Artists, shop the online store!

Featuring Artists:

Laura Ahola-Young, Lois Bender, Laurey Bennett-Levy, Angelica Bergamini, Carol Bouyoucos, Clare Burson, Ai Campbell, Jaynie Crimmins, Marianne DeAngelis, Debra Disman, Pauline Galiana, Veronika Golova, Carolynn Haydu, Erin Juliana, Rachel Kohn, Parvathi Kumar, Barbara Laube, Bonny Leibowitz, Seren Morey, Jane Nodine, Judith Ornstein, Dara Oshin, Barbara Owen, Lily Prince, Eve Provost Chartrand, Robin Roi, Andra Samelson, Amy Sands, Mary Shah, Barbara Sherman, Christina Smith, Lauren Smith, Judi Tavill, Jessica Tawczynski, Shira Toren, Ellen Weider, Odeta Xheka, Emna Zghal, Tamar Zinn

I am honored to have two works presented in the show, “Before the Fall”, and “Profusion”, pictured below.

Hear our discussion on Clubhouse!
Artists Who AND…, ”Artists…giving back to the creative community”:  Debra Disman/Lois Bender/Laurey Bender-Levy, Clubhouse, November 17, 2021

EXHIBITIONISTA: “MOSTLY MONOCHROME”

By

I am thrilled to be included in the exhibition, Mostly Monochrome, presented online by the loved and respected  WoArt Blog, and curated by WoArtBlog founder,  Christina Massey, offering a strong platform for Women Artists.

November 1 – 30th, 2021

www.woartblog.com.

“Mostly Monochrome” is an online exhibition featuring artists using a mostly monochromatic approach to the creation of their work. Artworks with the reduced variant of color grab their viewers attention instead through their process, materials, composition and tonality.

As one scrolls through the exhibition, you’ll be visually transitioning through subtle shifts in the monochromatic palette and visually stimulated through the juxtaposition of works from minimal color field paintings to extremely detailed and laborious drawings and sculptures.

Viewers are invited to scroll through the wide range of artistic styles and explore the work in the virtual gallery slideshow. Click on the images to get further details and make any purchases of Artworks.

Support the work of Women Artists, shop the online store!

Featuring Artists:

Laura Ahola-Young, Lois Bender, Laurey Bennett-Levy, Angelica Bergamini, Carol Bouyoucos, Clare Burson, Ai Campbell, Jaynie Crimmins, Marianne DeAngelis, Debra Disman, Pauline Galiana, Veronika Golova, Carolynn Haydu, Erin Juliana, Rachel Kohn, Parvathi Kumar, Barbara Laube, Bonny Leibowitz, Seren Morey, Jane Nodine, Judith Ornstein, Dara Oshin, Barbara Owen, Lily Prince, Eve Provost Chartrand, Robin Roi, Andra Samelson, Amy Sands, Mary Shah, Barbara Sherman, Christina Smith, Lauren Smith, Judi Tavill, Jessica Tawczynski, Shira Toren, Ellen Weider, Odeta Xheka, Emna Zghal, Tamar Zinn

I am honored to have two works presented in the show, “Before the Fall”, and “Profusion”, pictured below.

Hear our discussion on Clubhouse!
Artists Who AND…, ”Artists…giving back to the creative community”, Debra Disman/Lois Bender/Laurey Bender-Levy, Clubhouse, November 17, 2021

Insight into Insight

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The Cape Cod Museum of Art presents:  INSIGHT.

“When spoken, this word can be broadly understood as – Insight, In Sight and Incite. What is Your interpretation?”
I am thrilled to be part of this evocative exhibition, taking place in CCMA’s expansive Hope / McClennen exhibition hall. The show is available virtually on the Museum website .

I thank Mark Chester of  Mark Chester Photography and fellow exhibitor in the show (please see his marvelous, iconic portrait image introducing the exhibition) for gifting me with photos of my work MAXIMUM SECURITY (15 x 18 x 10.25″, mixed media (book board, canvas, watercolor paper, acrylic paint, hemp cord, wood) in the show.

 All of the following photographs are by Mark Chester of  Mark Chester Photography.
Thank you Mark for sharing my work.  I am honored to share yours!

 

The juror is Grace Hopkins, gallery director at the Berta Walker Galleries in Provincetown, and Wellfleet, MA,  and an international guidance counselor for the arts. In a 2014 review of her own artwork in The Banner, Susan Rand Brown called Hopkins: “A photographer with the eye and soul of a painter,” and said “The images she shoots suggest the sharply angled details of a Franz Kline, geometric shapes and flat colors of her father (Budd Hopkins) or a sudden burst of translucent layers, which could have been – but definitely are not – details from a collage by Robert Motherwell. Suddenly a viewer feels surrounded by the freshness of expressionist imagery and motion, each piece different, each piece allusive yet quite original.”

523 artworks were submitted by 272 artists from 30 states across the country for INSIGHT. Only 65 artworks have been selected from 60 artists in 16 states.

Says Grace Hopkins of selecting the work for this show: 
“Narrowing down the artwork for this exhibition was challenging. I first had to digest all 500+ submissions as a whole before any threads of meaning could be drawn between the works, and a final cohesive subset could be chosen. As a gallery director I am regularly confronted with an aesthetic puzzle. But, when you throw in the added thematic complexity of INSIGHT and the sheer number of works submitted, making a final selection was both a demanding and rewarding exercise in distillation. I want to thank everyone who came forward and placed their artwork into this pool. Another juror, with different values and sensibilities would have solved this very differently. Your collective vision, ability and insight moved me.”

INSIGHT runs through June 20, 2021