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Bio
Deanna Gisborne is an artist and community engagement specialist from Orillia, Ontario, now based in Toronto. She is a graduate of York University’s BFA program with a double major in Fine Art and Psychology, and holds a Master’s in Health Administration (Community Care) from Toronto Metropolitan University.

During her time at York, Gisborne was active in both the Fine Art and Psychology communities. In the Visual Art department, she contributed as a gallery monitor at the Art Gallery of York University and served as Program Director of the Visual Arts Student Association. Her academic excellence was recognized through awards such as the Art History Honorarium and the Willowdale Group of Artists Award—the highest honour in the painting stream. Gisborne has exhibited widely, including a duo show with printmaker Ernesto Hidalgo and a solo exhibition hosted on the Visual Arts & Art History online platform during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Psychology, she worked as a Peer Tutor and later as Peer Mentor Coordinator for the Undergraduate Psychology Student Association, and contributed writing and artist outreach to the Trauma and Mental Health Report online magazine.

Following her undergraduate degree, Gisborne worked as an Active Screener at Women’s College Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic, and later as a Client Care Coordinator at the Toronto Counselling Centre for Teens. During this period, she completed the Health Records Clerk certificate at George Brown College before earning her Master’s in Health Administration (Community Care).

Today, Gisborne is expanding her painting practice, developing her community arts collective Tender Worlds, and seeking meaningful opportunities to integrate her knowledge, creative skills, and care-focused experience to support and engage her community.