Stephanie Shipman is a woodworker, artist, designer and teacher that has been living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2004. Her love and interest in collaborative building began at the age of 14, when she both helped construct her first theatre set, and made her stage debut. Majoring in set design and working in the scene shop at Macalester College led her to an internship at Berkeley Repertory Theatre's scene shop in 2004. There, she worked for 10 years as a staff carpenter, building elaborate scenery, including the Tony Award winning set for American Idiot. 

In 2009, she found her way into the Bay Area’s big art scene, which is closely linked to Burning Man. Steph quickly joined Five Ton Crane, an Oakland-based arts collective that boasts large-scale interactive art installations. Collaborative works include: The Raygun Gothic Rocketship, The Nautilus Submarine and The Capitol Theatre, which made its debut at the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery in the exhibition, No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man in 2018. Along the way, she worked for the Burning Man organization, building the Man and Man Pavilion from 2014-2016. In 2016, she found her way onto another big art crew, helping bring works like the Black Rock Lighthouse Service, The Folly and Paradisium to life. In 2023, she was proud to hold the title of Lead Builder for Michael Garlington and Natalia Bertotti’s Chapel of Babel.

Alongside her art career, in 2014, Steph joined the staff at UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design, working in the Fabrication Shop.  While at CED, her duties included instructing architecture students on the safe use of machines and tools, as well as teaching construction techniques for their various assignments. Having never considered herself a teacher before, she was thrilled to discover how much joy it brought her. Her time at CED led to her to start her own teaching series, called “…And I Built it with My Vagina!!!”, which focuses on demystifying the sometimes unwelcoming “boy’s club” that surrounds building, and empowering folks to know that they really CAN do it. She aims to create a comfortable, fun, learning environment where questions are encouraged, and no one is shamed for not knowing something they were never taught.

Currently, Steph is focusing on a large collaborative art project she is leading, and her business, Shipman Designs, which specializes in custom furniture and wood mosaics for clients in the bay area. She is continually grateful for this community that has allowed her to thrive.