Debra Hand - Self Taught Artist
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Debra Hand is a self-taught artist and sculptor whose work graces prominent museum collections. In fact, it was at the prestigeous Dusable Museum where Hand first publicly unveiled her work.
The unveiling was arranged by the museum's principal founder, Dr. Margaret Burroughs, who took a personal interest in Hand's work and showcased her during Burrough's historic "Lifetime in the Arts" retrospective exhibit at the museum. It was during this momentous occasion that she invited Debra Hand on stage and introduced her to a packed audience of art patrons and dignitaries as an emerging-artist with great potential; one that they should watch for on Chicago's fine-art scene.
Since the museum presentation, Debra Hand's rise to prominence has continued steadily. Debra Hand's work can be found in diverse collections ranging from Museum collections - to corporate and private collections.
Hand's body of work is noted for its contemporary and figurative sculptures, dancers, musicians, and stringed instruments. The collection of stringed instruments titled "Strings Attached' was created after she was given a real violin by the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra and challenged to use it as a canvas for a work of art.
Debra Hand's sculptures, paintings and stringed-instruments have been filmed by every major network in Chicago and in 2005 she was featured by Harry Porterfield, of ABC News, as "Someone You Should Know." Her work has also been featured in "Curators of Culture" an Emmy-Award-winning documentary by producer, Rita Coburn Whack. The film traces the history of the (SSCAC) South Side Community Arts' Center, one of Chicago's great art institutions. The SSCAC, like DuSable Museum, was also cofounded by the esteemed Dr. Margaret Burroughs who stood alongside Eleanor Roosevelt (wife of President Franklin Roosevelt) as the ribbons were cut to this great WPA institution.
Works by Debra Hand appear in many publications including "The Art of Culture - Evolution of Visual Art by African-American Artists" published by the Africa International House, "African Art: The Diaspora and Beyond" by author Daniel Parker, DTEX publishing; and in nationally distributed magazines.
