Artist Biography

Deb Cook Shapiro is a San Francisco–based figurative and landscape painter and mixed-media artist. Originally from the St. Louis area, she has pursued her passion for art since moving to California in 1984. She studied painting at the San Francisco Art Institute, Academy of Art College, Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici and Istituto per l’Arte e il Restauro in Florence, Italy, and the University of California, Berkeley Post-Baccalaureate Program in Painting.

Shapiro has presented solo exhibitions at the residence of the French Consul in San Francisco, Ice House Gallery in Petaluma, and Summerhouse in Mill Valley. Her work has been selected for national juried exhibitions and shown at Arc Gallery, Mirus Gallery, Studio Gallery, and the Office of California State Senator Scott Wiener in San Francisco, as well as Abend Gallery in Denver.

She has exhibited at Superfine Art Fair San Francisco in 2023 and 2025, The Superfair San Francisco in 2026, Superfine Art Fair Brooklyn in 2025, and the LA Art Show in 2024 with Teravarna Gallery. Her work is held in private collections in the United States and internationally.

In 2023, Shapiro received a scholarship for a residency at the European Cultural Academy in Venice, Italy. She was an artist-in-residence at Chalk Hill Artist Residency in Healdsburg, California, in 2015. Her work was selected for the national juried exhibitions Joy in 2025, juried by Karen Gutfreund, and Paper in 2026, juried by Donna Seager.

In 2025, Shapiro was awarded First Place in the Women United Art Prize in the Collage & Fiber Art category and was shortlisted in Painting. Her work and interviews have appeared in Art Seen Magazine, Arts to Hearts Magazine, Create! Magazine, I Like Your Work, and New Visionary Magazine. Her work was featured in Artists of the Bay Area, published by Jen Tough Gallery in 2021.

Shapiro’s work was selected by curator Stephanie Tuttle in 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 for the Spectrum Gala benefiting Access Institute for Mental Health in San Francisco.

In addition to her studio practice, Shapiro teaches private lessons and workshops, continuing a thread from her original career as a classroom instructor. In 2026, she led workshops and live-painting events for Priest Ranch Winery in Yountville and Somerston Estate in Napa Valley. She created a commissioned painting for Somerston that is displayed at the winery and featured on a wine label. She coaches individual artists both online and in person.

Shapiro has completed bespoke commissioned works for clients in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France and accepts a limited number of commissions each year.