Akron Roundtable: Leandra Drumm

Date and Time

• Thursday, Oct 15, 2026  12pm

Location

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Details

Leandra Drumm is an artist born of artists, and has been creating her whole life. Her father, Don Drumm, is a nationally celebrated sculptor in aluminum and steel with public and private works throughout the country and overseas. He and his wife Lisa have owned and operated Don Drumm Studios and Gallery for over 50 years, representing over 500 American artists and craftsmen, and have been repeatedly honored as one of the nation’s Top Ten American Craft Galleries.

Leandra’s early summers were spent immersed in the arts and crafts at North Carolina’s prestigious Penland School of Crafts, where her parents taught classes for the first ten years of her life. During her High School years she attended art classes at the University of Akron through an early Art program. She went on to study Graphic Design at Kent State University, and interned with F.Eugene Smith at Design Management in Akron. Before graduating with a BFA in Graphic Design, she started her own business; Leandra Drumm Designs Inc., and began designing and producing a line of etched glassware and pewter products, which is currently carried by galleries and museum stores throughout the U.S. and in Canada.

Leandra began etching her designs in crystal and functional glassware, and over the years has incorporated more sculptural work in pewter and stained glass. Leandra’s artwork combines visual storytelling and whimsical imagery with functional purpose. Wedding and Story Bowls with etched tales and characters dancing to Life’s tunes and tales. Happy customers say they enjoy their wine much more using her etched wine glasses or that her pewter sculptural switch plate covers make turning on their lights an event. Her work has been featured in Bon Appetite Magazine, the Boston Sunday Globe, and newspapers in Chicago, Nashville, Cleveland and Akron. Northern Ohio magazine named her one of the 20 most interesting young people to watch on 2000 and beyond.

In 1993 Leandra’s husband, Tim Benninghoff, left a career in architecture to join the family business. They currently own and operate Leandra Drumm Designs Inc. and Don Drumm Studios and Gallery in Akron, Ohio, where they live with their two children, Andra and Logan.

In early 2009 she was invited to join the University Park Business Association, and shortly after accepted the role of Event Planner for the organization. In an effort to help enrich the lives of residents, and foster business growth in the University Park Neighborhood, Leandra developed and created the “Light-UP” Lantern Festival, a community celebration of the fine and performing arts. She received the “Community Nexus” award for the event’s success, and for encouraging a greater sense of community for the University Park Neighborhood. She continues to work with local artists on new and exciting community projects as well as nurture the growth of their family business through art and design now celebrating 33 years of success.