Deborah Murphy

Deborah was raised in Chicago and upon completion of undergraduate school moved to NYC where she became a field services Adult Probation Officer in the Bronx at 22. Upon relocation back to her native Chicago in 1990, she became a member of the Cook County Adult Probation Department where she remained until she got hit with a rock in the head while investigating an inmate at the Cook County Jail in 2003. She had never painted until the injury and applied to the School of The Art Institute where she was educated without one prior art class. She received a full scholarship to the institution without any background. During that time she was the recipient of the Bare Walls Endowment. Deborah shows her work in Chicago and has been featured several times in SCENEChicago magazine as well as Springfield’s own magazine and has also appeared on the radio. She focuses on painting the world she has seen with thick oils and concentrates on sexual barriers and income inequality