Debra Olin, Somerville, Mass. :: Printmaker



			Debra Olin is a printmaker, living and working in Somerville, MA. She received her MFA from Massachusetts College of Art in 1980. Olin has shown in exhibitions across the U.S., Canada, France, Poland, Serbia, South Africa, and Cuba. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Boston Public Library, Temple Israel, Brookline, MA, YIVO Institute, NYC, The DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA and the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University. In 2004 Debra was awarded the Rappaport Prize, the largest public annual award to an individual artist in New England. In 2018 Olin received a Massachusetts Cultural Council Finalist Award and a grant from the Berkshire Taconic Artist Resource Trust.
			EDUCATION Master of Fine Arts; Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA1980 Bachelor of Arts; University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH1972 SOLO EXHIBITIONS Transit Gallery, Harvard Medical School, Cosmic Inclusion, Boston, MA 2013 Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery, Cowell College, U. of CA Santa Cruz, Every Protection, Santa Cruz, CA 2011 National Yiddish Book Center, Mama Loshn, Amherst, MA 2010–11 Tychman Shapiro Gallery, Inspired by Yiddish, Minneapolis, MN2008 Gallery Blue, Nantucket, MA2008 Carol Schlosberg Alumni Gallery, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA2005 The Art Complex Museum, On Their Own Program, Duxbury, MA2003 Starr Gallery, The Stories We Hold, Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, Newton, MA2003 Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT2000 Society of Arts and Crafts, By Hand/By Heart, Boston, MA1999 Perkins Gallery, Striar Jewish Community Center, Stoughton, MA1996 Art & Design Studio/K & T Lionheart, Boston, MA1994 Hampshire College, Amherst, MA1992 Art at Brickbottom Stats, Somerville, MA1990 SELECTED GROUP SHOWS Centrum Gallery, International Print Triennial, Krakow, Poland 2018 Nave Gallery, Secret Gardens, Somerville, MA 2018 Scollay Square Gallery at Boston City Hall, March Four Women, Boston, MA 2018 Bromfield Gallery, Body Politic, Boston, MA 2017 Bakalar Gallery,Massachusetts College of Art, Habitation, Boston, MA 2017 Mosesian Center for the Arts, Big Print, Little Print, Watertown, MA 2017 Lamont Gallery, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH 2016 New York Hall of Science, Food, Queens, NY 2016 Nave Gallery Annex, embroidered truths and woven tales, Somerville, MA 2016 Pacific Northwest College of Art, Transdimensional, Portland, OR 2016 Pawtucket Arts Collaborative, Art Unites Communities, Pawtucket, MA 2016 Mount Dora Center for the Arts, Printmaking: Concept & Process, Mount Dora, FL 2016 The Art Complex Museum, Look Again, Duxbury, MA 2015 Attleboro Arts Museum, Art Unites Communities, Attleboro, MA 2015 Room 83 Spring, Work for Food, Watertown, MA 2014 Cantor Art Gallery, Rethink Ink: 25 Years at the Mixit Print Studio, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA 2013–14 La Galeria at Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, Mujeres, Boston, MA 2013 Thompson Gallery, The Cambridge School of Weston, Strange Glue (Collage & Installation), Weston, MA 2012–13 Changing Exhibition Gallery, Rethink Ink, An Exhibition of Fine Art Printmakers, Boston Public Library, Boston, MA 2012 French Cultural Center, Par Avion, Boston, MA 2012 Conrath Gallery, Par Avion, Old Strasbourg City Hall, Strasbourg, France 2012 Concord Art Association, Art & Spirituality Entwined, Concord, MA 2012 Trustman Art Gallery, Simmons College, Rumble at the Media Mash-Up, Boston, MA 2011 First International Printmaking Triennial of ULUS, Belgrade, Serbia 2011 Laconia Gallery, Guanajuato: Boston Printmakers in Mexico, Boston, MA 2011 Attleboro Arts Museum, Celebrating Diversity, Attleboro, MA 2010 Muskat Studios, Garden Notes, Somerville, MA 2010 Concord Art Association, The Unique Print, Concord, MA 2009 Essex Art Center, Paper Quilts, Lawrence, MA2008 The Boston Printmakers, North American Print Biennial, Boston, MA2007 DeCordova Museum, Approaches to Narrative, Lincoln, MA2006-07 Gotthelf Gallery, Shmatte Nouveau: Textiles Through the Wringer, La Jolla, CA2006 Attleboro Arts Museum, Transforming Spirits: 4 Directions, Attleboro, MA2006 Francesca Anderson Fine Art, The Boston Printmakers (A Selection of Members' Work), Lexington, MA2006 Concord Art Association, Bodyscapes, Concord, MA2006 DeCordova Museum, Recent Print Acquisitions: The Workshop Portfolios, Lincoln, MA2006 Danforth Museum of Art, The New Landscape: Alternative Approaches, Framingham, MA2006 The Boston Printmakers, North American Print Biennial, Boston, MA2005 Tisch Gallery, Juried Summer Exhibition, Tufts University, Medford, MA2004 The Art Complex Museum, Time Remembered/Time Past, Duxbury, MA2004 The Jewish Museum of Maryland, Weaving Women’s Words: Baltimore Stories, Baltimore, MD2004 Wiggins Gallery, Women Artists from the BPL’s Collection, Boston Public Library, Boston, MA2003 Galeria Espacio Abierto, Una Communidad de Talleres de Grabado, Havana, Cuba2003 Somerville Museum, Persona, Somerville, MA2002 Starr Gallery, Material Concerns, Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, Newton, MA2001 The Boston Printmakers, North American Print Biennial, Boston, MA2001 Wiggins Gallery, Proof in Print—A Community of Printmaking Studios, Boston Public Library, Boston, MA2001 The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Gallery, DeCordova Downtown, Boston, MA2000 Brookfield Craft Center, Women’s World: A Work in Progress, Brookfield, CT2000 Society for Contemporary Craft, The Art of the Spirit, Pittsburg, PA2000 New Bedford Art Museum, Concerning the Spiritual in Art, New Bedford, MA2000 Starr Gallery, The Power to Enchant: Amulets and Talismans, Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, Newton, MA2000 RAV, Artist Proof Portfolio Project Exhibition, Randse Afrikaans Universitate, Johannesburg, South Africa2000 The Art Gallery, Religion:Contemporary Interpretations by Women, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH2000 Fort Point Gallery, Drawing and Printmaking: A Dialog, Boston, MA1999 Gallery NAGA, Spirit Manifest: Religious Imagery in Current Boston Art, Boston, MA1999 The Boston Printmakers, North American Print Biennial, Boston, MA1999 Laura Knott Art Gallery, Extending the Image—New Dimensions in Printmaking, Bradford College, Haverhill, MA1999 William King Regional Arts Center, The Human Habit, Abingdon, VA1998 Starr Gallery, Women Whose Lives Span the Century: Contemporary Artistic Interpretations, Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, Newton, MA1998 Harbor Gallery, Engendered Species: The Cultural Context of Gender, UMass, Boston, MA1998 DeCordova Museum, 10 Artists/10 Visions: 1997, Lincoln, MA1997 Somerville Museum, Lifting The Veil, Somerville, MA1997 Higgins Art Gallery, Woman Creating/Fiber Arts, Cape Cod Community College, Barnstable, MA1997 Brickbottom Gallery, Monophilia...Printmaking at Brickbottom, Somerville, MA1997 New Art Center, Layers of Meaning, Newton, MA1996 Starr Gallery, Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem, Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, Newton, MA1996 Brickbottom Gallery, 16 Recent Grant Winners in the Visual Arts, Somerville, MA1996 McKillop Gallery, The Spiritual in Art, Salve Regina University, Newport, RI1995 Ellis Island Immigration Museum, Artists View Ellis Island, NYC, NY1995-96 Brickbottom Gallery, Printmaking at Brickbottom 3, Somerville, MA1995 Pulse Art, A Presence in the Garden, NYC, NY1995 Clark Gallery, Monomania, Lincoln, MA1995 Art & Design Studio/K & T Lionheart, Boston, MA1994 Bromfield Gallery, Lunatics & Lovers, Boston, MA1994 Brickbottom Gallery, Printmaking at Brickbottom 2, Somerville, MA1994 Fogg Museum, Power, Pleasure, Pain: Contemporary Women Artists and the Female Body, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA1994 Brickbottom Gallery, An Exhibition of 11 Recent Somerville Arts Council Grant Winners, Somerville, MA1994 Starr Gallery, Creativity and Spirituality, Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, Newton, MA 1994 Bromfield Gallery, Process and Product: photographic images, Boston, MA1993 Brickbottom Gallery, An Exhibition of 26 Recent Somerville Arts Council Grant Winners in the Visual Arts, Somerville, MA1993 Gallery Per Tutti, November Show, Boston, MA1992 Brickbottom Gallery, Printmaking at Brickbottom, Somerville, MA1992 Kipp Gallery, Of Two Worlds, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA1992 Boston Visual Artist Union, An Education of the Heart, Boston, MA1991 Artists Foundation, Women's Caucus for Art, Intimate Perspectives, Boston, MA1991 Brickbottom Gallery, An Exhibition of 32 Recent Somerville Arts Council Grant Winners in the Visual Arts, Somerville, MA1991 Hera Gallery, Families, Wakefield, RI1990 University of Massachusetts, Community Gallery, Boston, MA1988 Artweek 80, Cambridge, MA1980 Boston Center for the Arts, Winter Works, Boston, MA1979 Harvard University, Chronkite Graduate Center, Cambridge, MA1978 Boston Visual Artist Union, Sources, Development, Progression, Boston, MA1976 Wellesley College Women's Center Building Dedication, Wellesley, MA1975 AWARDS Berkshire Taconic Artist Resource Trust Grant 2018 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship Finalist 2018 Gottlieb Foundation, Individual Support Program Finalist 2010 MA Arts Lottery, Somerville Arts Council Fellowship Grant2008 Rappaport Prize, funded by the Jerome Lyle Rappaport Charitable Foundation, administered by the DeCordova Museum2004 The Boston Printmakers 1999 North American Print Exhibition, Materials Award1999 Juror — Marilyn Kushner, Curator of Prints and Drawings, Brooklyn Museum of Art MA Arts Lottery, Somerville Arts Council Project Grant1999 MA Arts Lottery, Somerville Arts Council Fellowship Grant1996 MA Arts Lottery, Somerville Arts Council Project Grant1994 The MacDowell Colony, Residency program, Peterborough, NH1993-94 Arts Lottery, Somerville Arts Council General Support Grant1993 Millay Colony For The Arts, Residency program, Austerlitz, NY1992 The Currier Gallery of Art, Semi-Finalist, New Artists: Gloria Wilcher Memorial Exhibition1991 COLLECTIONS Boston Public Library, Boston, MA Brookline Community Mental Health Center, Brookline, MA Cambridge Family and Children's Services, Cambridge, MA Cell Signaling Technology, Beverly, MA DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, Boston, MA Fogg Art Museum, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA Housing Corporation of Arlington, Arlington, MA Latin American Health Institute, Boston, MA Meditech, Canton, MA New England Biolabs, Ipswich, MA Print Triennial of ULUS, Belgrade, Serbia Private Collections Temple Achavat Achim, Gloucester MA Temple Israel, Brookline, MA Transition House, Cambridge, MA United Lithograph, Somerville, MA Wayside Youth & Family Services, Framingham, MA Year Up! Boston, MA YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, NYC, NY RELATED PROJECTS Mount Dora Center for the Arts, printmaking workshop, The Moveable Matrix, Mount Dora, FL 2018 Monotype Guild of New England, Juror, On the Edge, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA 2014 Mills Gallery, Boston Center for the Arts, Invited Curator, Process Goes Public, Boston, MA 2013 Artrageous! Bloomingdale's: Featured artist exhibiting in display window and throughout store, Chestnut Hill, MA 2007 Visual Violins, Arts Healing Hearts, Invitational fundraiser by Longwood Symphony Orchestra for Cancer Centers, Boston, MA2006 Boston Printmakers Board of Directors, Boston, MA2005–11 Somerville Open Studios, Somerville, MA2003 – Present Brickbottom Open Studios, Somerville, MA 1988 – Present Miller Street Open Studio, Somerville, MA2003-08 Rugg Road Paper Company, Guest Lecturer, Boston, MA2002 Art Focus, Consultants, Art Installer, Beverly, MA2001 – Present Worcester Art Museum, Artist/Facilitator: MA Allstate Art Festival, Worcester, MA2001 Massachusetts College of Art, Instructor: Printmaking/Collage, Boston, MA2000-2001 Currier Gallery of Art, Artist/Facilitator: New Hampshire Allstate Art Festival, Manchester, NH2000, 2001 Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, Monotype Instructor, Newton, MA1998-2001 Brickbottom Gallery, Gallery Coordinator, Somerville, MA1997 – Present Rugg Road Paper & Prints, Workshop Instructor, Boston, MA1998 Invisible Cities Group, Watching The Detectives, Large Scale Urban Performance Installation, Somerville, MA1997 Art Beat, Somerville Arts Council Installation Commission, The Windows Art Project, sponsored by the L E F Foundation, Somerville, MA1996 Art Without Walls, Project with children from Mystic Learning Center creating large fabric collages. Program supported through grant from The Somerville Arts Council, Somerville, MA1995 First Night, Installation on Boston Common. Sheet Stories. 16 banners fabricated with community groups from the Mystic Housing Development in conjunction with the Welcome Project, Somerville, MA1994 DeCordova Museum, Corporate Loan Program1994 – Present First Night, Installation on Boston Common. Neighborhood portrait clothesline installation with women's groups from the Mystic Housing Development in conjunction with the Welcome Project, Somerville, MA1993 Why Window Design, Freelance Visual Merchandising Designer and Consultant, primary focus on design, construction and installation of window and interior displays.1980 – Present Brickbottom Artists Building, Open Studios, Somerville, MA1988-01, 2004-05 Brickbottom Artists Building, Board of Directors, Somerville, MA1988-90 Tufts University, Instructor & Visiting Lecturer, Medford, MA1980-86 Cambridge Arts Council, Director of Exhibitions; Developed and implemented "Art Up Front;" designed and executed exhibits for Council gallery, Cambridge, MA1980 Massachusetts College of Art, Instructor, Program of Continuing Education, Boston, MA1979-80 Radcliffe Pottery Studio, Ceramics Instructor (1978), 1975-78; Assistant (1975-1977), Cambridge, MA BIBLIOGRAPHY Abstraks Magazine, "Debra Olin", Carina Wine August 2012 Art New England, "Innovative Printmaking", André van der Wende Feb/March 2010 Contemporary Impressions, "Size & Scale in the Field of Contemporary Print", Catherine Kernan Spring /Summer/09 The Boston Globe, "Body Art, an inside view," Christine Temin, 3/2/05 Art News, National News-Awards, 10/04 Boston Phoenix, "Museums & Galleries," Randi Hopkins, 8/27/04 The Boston Globe, "Award puts spotlight on an innovative printmaker," Christine Temin, 8/4/04 Patriot Ledger, "Complex Exhibition," Jon Lehman, 7/31/04 The Boston Sunday Globe, "Expressing the horror, loss, and hope of Jewish upheaval," Cate McQuaid, 1/19/03 Art New England, "Somerville Museum/Somerville, Persona," Shawn Hill, Aug/Sept 2002 Contemporary Impressions, Variation & Continuity: The Workshop Portfolios, K.E. Duffin, Spring 2000 The Boston Globe, "Perspectives: Art that Venerates Lives Well Lived," Christine Temin, 3/25/98 Contemporary Impressions, Variation & Continuity: The Workshop Portfolios, K.E. Duffin, Spring 2000 The Boston Globe, "Perspectives: Art that Venerates Lives Well Lived," Christine Temin, 3/25/98 The Boston Globe, "Perspectives: Art that Venerates Lives Well Lived," Christine Temin, 3/25/98 The Jewish Advocate, "A Century’s Worth of Jewish Women," Arlene Friedberg, 5/8/98 Boston Herald, "Artists Examine the Lives of Women," Mary Sherman, 5/10/98 Art New England, "Review; Starr Gallery, Women Whose Lives Span the Century," Susan Mulski, Aug/Sept 1998 The Boston Globe, "Perspectives; Engendered Species: Image of the dress," Christine Temin, 2/4/98 Bay Windows, "Locked in Combat—or Love," Shawn Hill, 1/29/98 Art New England, "Review; Somerville Museum, Lifting the Veil," Melissa R. Katz, Oct/Nov 97 The Worcester Phoenix, "All Art is Local," Leon Nigrosh, 7/4/97 Bay Windows, "The Highest Quality," Shawn Hill, 7/3/97 Boston Sunday Globe, "The DeCordova presents a Vital Look at Local Artists," Cate McQuaid, 6/29/97 The Tab, "'Visions' of New England's Best," Shawn Hill, 6/24/97 Boston Herald, "'Visions' exhibit draws Perfect 10," Joanne Silver, 6/20/97 The Boston Globe, "Prints Charming & Significant," Cate McQuaid, 3/13/97 The Boston Globe, "Layers of Meaning," Christina Temin, 10/30/96 The Jewish Advocate, "Striar Shows 'What Did you Wear?'", Michael Gelbwasser, 10/25/96 Patriot Ledger, "Striar Gallery exhibit focuses on Immigrant Experience," Vicki Ritterband, 10/3/96 The Boston Globe, "The Message is Peace," Irene Sege, 9/21/96 Star Ledger, "Doorways to Ellis," William Gordon, 2/2/96 JFREJ Radio N.Y.C., "Beyond the Pale," Marilyn Neimark, 12/3/96 Art New England, Whose Body?, Miles Unger, 6/7/94 Boston Phoenix, "Women, Bodies & Art," Beth Wolsensberger, 4/22/94 The Boston Globe, "Our Art, Ourselves," Christine Temin, 3/30/94 The Boston Globe, "Good Works That Don't Work Together," Christine Temin, 1/5/94 Boston Sunday Globe, "These Photos Could Make Traditionalists Shudder," Stan Grossfield, 6/6/93 Boston Sunday Globe, "Artists Seek to Demystify Their Work," Jeff Kantrowitz, 4/11/93 Boston Globe, "Shades of Bali & Varied Prints at Brickbottom," Christine Temin, 9/16/92 Bay Windows, "All Roads At Once," Shawn Hill, 11/19/92 PUBLICATIONS 100 New England Artists, E. Ashley Rooney, Schifferbooks 2011 Proof in Print: A Community of Printmaking Studios, Boston Public Library in cooperation with Mixit Print Studio, 2001 Our Grandmothers, Loving Portraits by 74 Granddaughters, Edited by Linda Sunshine, Welcome Enterprises, Inc., 1998
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