Deborah Nehmad facts for kids

WASTED (II) by Deborah Nehmad

Detail of WASTED (II) by Deborah Nehmad

Deborah Gottheil Nehmad (born in 1952) is an American artist and a former lawyer. She is known for her unique prints and her artwork that explores important social issues.

Deborah Nehmad's Life and Art Journey

Deborah Nehmad was born in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City.

Early Education and Law Career

She attended Smith College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974. Later, she studied law at Georgetown University Law Center, receiving her Juris Doctor degree (J.D.) in 1982. This degree is what lawyers need to practice law.

After finishing law school, Deborah Nehmad worked as a lawyer. She also worked in politics, even for a short time at the White House during President Jimmy Carter's time in office. In 1984, her legal work led her to move to Hawaii.

Transition to Art

Because of a back injury, Deborah Nehmad gradually stopped practicing law. She then started taking art classes at the Honolulu Academy of Arts and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She loved art so much that she decided to go back to school. In 1998, she earned a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in printmaking from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. An MFA is a special degree for artists.

Artistic Style and Focus

Deborah Nehmad mostly creates abstract prints. Abstract art uses shapes, colors, and lines to create a feeling or idea, rather than showing things exactly as they look. She uses different techniques, sometimes even pyrography, which is the art of decorating wood or other materials by burning designs onto them.

Since the mid-2010s, her artwork has focused on important issues affecting society in the United States.

Where You Can See Her Art

Deborah Nehmad's art is displayed in many important public collections. This means her work is owned by museums and galleries for everyone to see. Some of these places include:

• The Davis Museum and Cultural Center at Wellesley College
• The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
• The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles
• The Hawaii State Art Museum
• The Honolulu Museum of Art
• The Hood Museum of Art in New Hampshire
• The Museum of Modern Art, New York (often called MoMA)
• The Smith College Museum of Art
• The Yale University Art Gallery