Debra Ambush

Ijamsville, Maryland

Dr. Debra Ambush is an artist-scholar residing in Ijamsville, Maryland, with a doctorate in art education from The Ohio State University. She is a figurative painter, primarily concerned with the "Site of Memory" as discussed by Toni Morrison. In researching her ancestral heritage, she seeks to bring unspoken and unrecognized voices to light through image and text. In her current arts-based research, she is working with family material culture including letters, photographs, and other objects to reveal the deliberate framing of memory and faith practices that shaped their voice. Dr. Ambush recently completed a Master’s at Wesley Theological Seminary, with a specialization in Theology and the Arts as well as a certificate in African-American Church Studies. She is currently working on a mural exploring the “Black Sacred Cosmos” for Wesley, and preparing a course on Black visual culture and religion.