Lisa Drumm died at age 89 on July 30, 2025. She is remembered as an artist, business woman, mother, and wife. Courtesy of Leandra Drumm
The most important part of making art for Lisa Drumm, wife and gallery manager of metal sculptor Don Drumm, was the "sense of discovery," Lisa's daughter Leandra Drumm said.
After Lisa's death on July 30, Leandra found a King of Hearts doll from her mother's soft sculpture line sitting on her daughter's bed. The doll's zipper was unzipped, and soft, velvet hearts were pouring out of the doll's chest.
"It was kind of like her ode to Grandmother," Leandra explained.
To Leandra, the hearts symbolized the sense of discovery and storytelling Lisa created so carefully in her artwork. Lisa wanted each aspect of her work to continue weaving the story, Leandra said.
"She had dolls in her hand that had zippers on them, but the zippers − they opened up and they didn't reveal anything or do anything," Leandra said. "So with her soft sculptures, she always made sure that there was sort of a story behind it."
Lisa specialized in fiber techniques creating stitchery and macrame wall hangings. Particularly, she made soft sculpture dolls for adults and children, like her granddaughter's King of Hearts doll.
Lisa died in her Akron home July 30 at the age of 89. Her life as a devoted artist, businesswoman and Akronite serves as an example for creatives, educators and community members who wish to brighten up the city with the irreplaceable beauty of art.
She is survived by her husband of 65 years, Don Drumm; her daughters Elisa Drumm Van Auken, Tamula Drumm and Leandra Drumm; her four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Lisa Drumm worked primarily using fiber techniques, creating stitchery, macrame wall hangings and soft sculpture dolls. Courtesy of Leandra Drumm
Her achievements as an artist and an advocate for American crafts is obvious through her many recognitions and awards including, “Outstanding Achievement Award” from Ohio Designer Craftsmen and “Creative Woman of the Year” award from the Women’s History Project.
Lisa's artwork can be found at numerous galleries and art centers through out the United States as well as in a number of publications.
ݮappɫ and Gallery: The business
Lisa and Don opened a one-room gallery on 437 Crouse St. to display their art in 1971. At the time, the gallery was only one of three galleries in the U.S. that housed contemporary crafts.
Later, Lisa managed the entire operation of what became ݮappɫ and Gallery. The gallery, which represents over 500 artists throughout North America, has made a name for itself in the world of fine American crafts.
Don and Lisa Drumm share a light moment sitting on a bench that Don designed in their gallery courtyard, surrounded by Don's work September 17, 2021, in Akron. Karen Schiely, Akron Beacon Journal.
Daughter Elisa Drumm Van Auken said her mother's dedication and finesse in the business of the gallery was her greatest accomplishment.
"She was way ahead of her time as a business owner − a female business owner," Van Auken, an artist herself, said.
Van Auken said her mother was the one to go to the bank to get loans for the gallery, causing bank employees to ask for her husband — not believing Lisa was responsible for the gallery's finances.
"No, I'm the one that handles the money, and I'm the businesswoman," she recalled her mother saying.
Lisa and Don's commitment to bringing fine, homemade crafts to Akron has been continued by their daughter Leandra and son-in-law Tim Benninghoff, who now run the gallery.
On behalf of the gallery, Lisa won the “Rainmakers Award” for achievement in business from Northeast Ohio Live Magazine, numerous Zenith awards and top gallery recognitions from Fox 8 News and the Akron Beacon Journal.
"She was the business mind behind it, and she was the one who grew the business side of the gallery," Tamula said. "Of course, they worked together, but she had certain sensibilities that I really admired."
Van Auken believes the most important thing she and her sisters learned from their mom was work ethic and business.
"At one point, she was my school teacher − my high school teacher. She started the gallery, and then she had her own line of dolls of sculpture," Van Auken said. "So she worked hard. She worked really hard."
Tamula, a Chinese teacher at St. Vincent- St. Mary High School, said she always remembered students "finding a home" in her mother's classroom during free times or study halls. Watching how Lisa made students feel safe and comfortable helped her determine the type of teacher she wanted to be.
After graduating college, Tamula lived in China for seven years, during which Lisa visited twice − once to travel with her and once for Tamula's wedding.
"If you hadn't raised us to be independent, I wouldn't have been able to do that," Tamula remembered telling her mom. "I wouldn't have been able to just take off and go live in a foreign country and learn how to be independent."
Leandra said it was never a question whether she and her sisters could become artists and still make money. Her parents were living examples. When Leandra first started having her own art, she remembers her parents encouraging her to try to sell it and look for galleries that would display it.
"There was always encouragement there and excitement there for our creations and finding an audience for what we do," Leandra said.
Lisa's relationship with her husband, Don Drumm
Lisa's relationship with her husband was deeply entwined with their business and their art.
"They really did have an equal partnership," Tamula said. "But my mom, like many women, carried the heavy load of making sure that there was income."
In an interview with The Beacon Journal in 2021, Lisa described herself as Don's "enabler." Lisa continued to work as an art teacher before she became the full-time gallery manager in 1978. Previously, she had done the gallery's bookkeeping at night − all while taking care of their three daughters.
Lisa and Don Drumm with their daughters Elisa and Tamula at Penland Schools of Crafts in North Carolina.Courtesy of Leandra Drumm
"My job is to free him as much as possible so he can create," Lisa said in 2021.
Her salary as a teacher during the integral years where Don transitioned into a full-time metal sculptor was important and key to the couple's lifelong success.
"I had her for six years as my art teacher, and I will be honest, I always thought she was much harder on me than the other students," Van Auken laughed.
"But it also got me into RISD," she continued, referring to Rhode Island School of Design, "So I'm grateful for that."
Lisa and Don Drumm worked together to build ݮappɫ and Gallery, one of the first galleries showcasing American traditional crafts.Courtesy of Leandra Drumm
Education and career
Lisa Drumm's ambition for art manifested at Ohio Wesleyan University where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, excelling in chemistry, art and dance. From there, Lisa decided to pursue art education, later teaching at Rankin Elementary, Perkins Middle School, Buchtel High School and Old Trail School.
She also conducted adult art classes through Akron Public Schools, the University of Akron and the Akron Art Institute.
In the mountains of North Carolina at Penland School of Crafts, Lisa taught fiber techniques while Don taught metal sculpture through the 1960s and '70s. Both Lisa and Don were pioneers in the American Craft Movement, which hadn't yet been recognized as a legitimate art form.
"We were free to roam anywhere in the mountains and go do our own thing, or go sit in on classes while they taught," Tamula recalled of the time her and her sisters spent in Smoky Mountains at Penland.
Lisa Drumm working on macrame, a form of textile art involving knotting. Courtesy of Leandra Drumm
"It was a chance for us kids to also see them with other craftsmen," she continued.
They worked alongside well-known artists likeDale Chihuly, Lee Friedlander and Cynthia and Edwina Bringle.
"Someone said we're a walking history of the American crafts movement. We were there in the beginning and saw it evolve," Lisa Drumm said in an interview with the Beacon in 2021.
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Julia Pentasuglio - Akron Beacon Journal
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Don Drumm Angel Wallhanging
