Deanna Mance is an abstract artist whose work references the transmutation of death and rebirth, introspection of personal and ancestral history, and her relationship to spirituality and ritual. She uses freehand techniques and spontaneous mark making as a tool that allows the work to build and grow without the restrictions of self awareness or premeditation. Through this approach, she embraces the unpredictable qualities and uncertain outcomes of her work. Part of her practice includes salvaging found materials that either become integrated within the art making or collected as a source of inspiration. She’s creatively fueled by the constraints of limited materials and the act of improvisation throughout her process.
Mance's emphasis on creative expression comes from her work experience in arts education and administration at The Carnegie Museum of Art, The Hyde Park Art Center, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, and Sunburst School of Music over the past fifteen years. As a teacher, she uses art as a remedial activity to foster confidence, self-awareness, personal growth, and reconciliation of emotional conflicts. In 2012, Mance integrated her passion for the arts with end-of-life care by becoming a life enrichment coordinator for those living with Alzheimer's and dementia in skilled nursing facilities and rehabilitation centers. In 2014, she became a facilitator for Pittsburgh Death Cafes building relationships with a rich community of death-positive end-of-life care advocates. She became a certified death doula through Promise Hospice in 2018 and a member of Pittsburgh Community Deathcare.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Mance currently lives and works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.