Paula Blackman sculpts emotionally charged figures through her use of ceramic, wood, and bronze that comment on major culturalissues, like world hunger, abortion, domestic abuse, and homelessness. Her travels around the globe to places in Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, and Central America have deeply influenced and informed her work throughout her time as an artist. As she describes, “ I am intrigued by distinguished artistic tradition in cultures that consider art, life and religion as one.”

Though she worked in multiple mediums, Black found her some in three-dimensional art. “I have a propensity towards sculpture,” she explains. “The world is three-dimensional and it is natural for me to think in those terms. I walk around images and thoughts in my mind. The way I think has directed the course of my life.”

Blackman received her BFA in Sculpture after attending the Cleveland Institute of Art in Cleveland, Ohio. She then went on to obtain her master’s degree in Art History from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Later she taught in a Young Artists program at the Cleveland Institute of Art and became an instructor for the Young Artists and Adult Drawing classes at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Her education history doesn’t end there though, she also was awarded Assistantships at the University of Tennessee at Arrowmont School of Arts.

She has developed her craft and has now exhibited extensively. Some of Blackman’s work has been exhibited in places like the Equestrian Center in Texas (2020), the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in Cleveland, Ohio (2016), the Cleveland-Hopkins Airport in Cleveland, Ohio (2004), and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2004).

Blackman has also garnered several publications regarding her work from the Cleveland Magazine (2002), The Sculpture Center of Cleveland News (2001, 1992), and The Arts Center of St. Petersburg Florida News (1992).