Artist Biography

Debra Cook Shapiro is a San Francisco painter of figures and landscapes who has been pursuing her passion for art since she moved to California in 1984 from St. Louis, Mo. She studied painting at the San Francisco Art Institute and Academy of Art College, the Istituto Lorenzo de Medici (Florence, Italy), Istituto per l'Arte e il Ristauro (Florence, Italy), the University of California, Berkeley Post-Baccalaureate in Painting (San Francisco, CA). Shapiro had solo exhibitions at the French Consul Residence, (San Francisco, CA), Ice House Gallery, (Petaluma, CA), and Summerhouse, (Mill Valley, CA). Her work has been selected in San Francisco group shows at Arc gallery, Office of the California State Senator, Scott Weiner, Mirus Gallery and 111 Minna Gallery.

Shapiro’s work was exhibited in Superfine Art Fair, San Francisco, 2023, and the LA Art Show 2024 by Teravarna Gallery , Irvine , CA. Her work is in a holiday shows at Abend Gallery, Denver, Colorado and Mirus Gallery, San Fransisco, CA. Shapiro’s work is in domestic and international collections. 

In 2023, she was awarded a scholarship for a residency in Venice, Italy, at the European Cultural Academy. She had a residency in Healdsburg, CA at Chalk Hill Artist’s residency in 2015.

Teaching private lessons and workshops in her home studio, Debra continues the thread to her original career as a certified K-8 classroom instructor. She also coaches individual students online and accepts commissioned work. Shapiro has completed bespoke pieces for clients in the US, the UK and France.

Shapiro is included in the Women United Art Prize Shortlist 2024. She has been featured and interviewed in Arts to Hearts Magazine (print and online exhibitions), Create Magazine (print and online exhibitions), “I Like Your Work” (podcast and catalogue), and New Visionary Magazine (print and onlineexhibitions). Her work was featured in the "Artists of the Bay Area" book published by Jen Tough Gallery in 2021.