ABOUT

For more information contact

dblampmanatgmaildotcom

DB Lampman is an artist who specializes in large-scale sculptural installations, video and performance art. DB is also an open water swimmer and trail runner and with a background in classical ballet. Her artwork is inspired by movement and the relationship of the body to the environment.

Much of her recent work includes video and theatrical events in which she becomes a living sculpture wearing costumes that are sculptural in nature and react and respond to the environment that they are in.

She received her BFA from Maryland Institute, College of Art in 1994 and her MFA from the School of Visual Arts in 1996. DB is a recipient of the 2023 Mertz-Gillmore Foundation Dance research grant and she won a Pollock-Krasner Foundation award in 2000. She is a 2011 and 2014 recipient of the Premier Grant and a 2006 recipient of an Original Works grant from Staten Island Arts. Her artwork has been shown at such places as the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Museo D’Arte Contemporanea Roma.

DB was born in Roswell, NM, and was raised in El Paso, TX. She currently resides in New York City and is the co-founder of Makerspace NYC, a non-profit community workspace with two locations in Brooklyn and Staten Island. She is a co-founder of the open water swimming group, Swimmers of Anarchy which hosts the annual Escape to Quarantine Island 5K swim around Hoffman Island in Lower New York Bay and meets regularly to train in the open water off of Staten Island. You can find her on the beach or on a trail when she is not in the studio.

Photo by Diane Matyas

Education

1996 Master of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
1994 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Magna Cum Laude Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD

Awards/Commissions

2023 Mertz Gilmore Foundation Dance Research Grant
2020 NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Art Fund Grant Staten Island Arts
2018 NYSCA Arts Bring Change Teaching Artist grant Staten Island Arts
2016 New York City Economic Development Corporation Permanent Large Scale Sculpture Commission for the New Stapleton Waterfront
2014 Council for the Arts and Humanites of Staten Island/NYC Dept of Cultural Affairs Art Fund Grant
2011 Council for the Arts and Humanites of Staten Island/NYC Dept of Cultural Affairs Art Fund Grant
2010 Council for the Arts and Humanites of Staten Island Excellence in the Arts Grant
2006 Council for the Arts and Humanites of Staten Island Original Work Grant
2003 “Home” short video, Official Selection of the Brooklyn International Film Festival
2000 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant

Permanent Collections

Staten Island Children’s Museum “DB’s Fantastic Machines”

Select Exhibitions & Performances

2020 Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island "In Visible" solo art exhibition
2018 Design Trust for Public Space/Staten Island Arts Sonic Gates “DNA (Dynamic Nature Art)” sculpture installed at Tappen Park, Staten Island and “Talking Tubes” sculpture installed at Bay St, Staten Island
2017 Central Park, NYC It’s Happening! 50 Years of Public Art in NYC Parks “I Am an Exponent of Myself” sculptural performance
2014 Culture Lounge, NYC “Flotation Devices” solo exhibition of video, sculpture, and drawings
2015 Conference House Park, NYC “The Dance” large scale public art sculpture
2014 Tappan Park, NYC “The Dance” large scale public art sculpture
2012 Lumen Video and Performance Art Festival, NYC “Brain Furniture” sculpture/performance installation
2012 Deep Tanks Studios, NYC “Brain Furniture” sculpture/performance installation
2011 Freshkills Park, NYC “I Am Within”solo sculpture and performance exhibition
2011 The Tank, NYC ReVision 2011 “I Am an Exponent of Myself” multimedia performance
2009 Conflux City, Madison Ave, NY, “I Am an Exponent of Myself” public performance
2006/7 Staten Island Children’s Museum “DB’s Fantastic Machines” Solo Exhibition of interactive sculpture
2005 Union County College, Cranford, NJ Collective Intelligence “Flight Machine #1” sculpture installation
2004 Museo D’Arte Contemporanea Roma, Rome, Italy “Home” N(ever)land Percorsi al Digital, 2004
2003 Kingston Sculpture Biennial, Kingston NY “Ripe” sculptural performance (Curated by Judy Pfaff)
2003 Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY, “Home” Official Selection of The Brooklyn International Film Festival

Advisory/Consultant

2016 & 2017 Cultural Development Fund Juror for NYC Department of Cultural Affairs
2017 NYCxDesign Advisory Committee NYCEDC
2017 Design Trust for Public Space/Staten Island Arts Future Culture Planning Committee
2015 Advisory Board Bay St Corridor Rezoning Initiative NYC Department of City Planning
2015-2018 Advisory Board Staten Island Technical High School
2015- Present Advisory Board Small Business Development Center at College of Staten Island

Employment History

September 2013 to present Co-founder, Associate Director of Makerspace NYC
April 2008- September 2013 Program Director Noble Maritime Collection, Staten Island, NY