Who Can Drum? Kingston Frame Drum Artist, Portia “Po” Chapman, Makes Drums for Everyone

Handcrafted Frame Drums in Kingston: Artisanal Stewardship for Musicians, Collectors, and Practitioners

In Kingston, Ontario, frame drum maker and painted rawhide artist Portia “Po” Chapman builds instruments that carry both sound and story. At art exhibitions and textile fairs, Po is frequently asked 2 questions:

• Who can drum?
• Who can buy a drum?

Even though anyone can drum a frame drum, Po constructs, tunes and paints artisanal frame drums for adults. Each drum is a treasured, heirloom frame drum. Po’s drum clients typically fit into 6 demographics:

• musicians
• art collectors
• drum circle drummers
• interior designers and decorators
• spiritual and holistic wellness practitioners
• gift buyers seeking to give their loved ones something truly special

Although Po has Indigenous ancestry and a BFAH in Visual Art and Canadian Indigenous Studies, Po does not belong to an Indigenous community outside her immediate family. As such, no Indigenous community’s drum making traditions are appropriated. Po created her own drum making technique so that her drums can be for everyone; as they have been globally for thousands of years.

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The Frame Drum: One of Humanity’s Oldest Instruments

The frame drum is widely considered one of the oldest musical instruments in recorded human history. Archaeological findings from Mesopotamia (circa 3000 BCE) depict women holding circular frame drums. Similar instruments appear in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Persia, Central Asia, North Africa, Ireland, and throughout Indigenous North America.

In Eternal Pulse: Frame Drum History, New Year Ritual & Liminality, Po documents how frame drums historically marked seasonal transitions, rites of passage, and communal prayer. Anthropologists classify the frame drum as a membranophone—an instrument that produces sound through a stretched membrane. Its circular shape symbolizes continuity, eternity, and the cycle of life.

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Women and the Frame Drum: A Documented Lineage

Contrary to modern assumptions, many early frame drummers were women. In The Sacred History of Frame Drums and the Empowerment of Women Across Cultures, Po traces how women historically used frame drums in birth rituals, moon ceremonies, and community leadership. Reclaiming this storytelling art restores a balance that was diminished by centuries of Western suppression.

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Christian Theology and the Frame Drum

Many Christians ask whether frame drumming is “pagan.” Biblical evidence suggests otherwise. Exodus 15:20 describes Miriam the prophet leading women with timbrels, and Psalm 150:4 instructs believers to praise God with timbrel and dance.

Theological historian Jeremy Begbie argues that music in Christian worship reflects embodied theology. The frame drum is incarnational, using wood (creation), hide (animal life), and pulse (human embodiment) to align with Biblical celebration and praise.

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Is the Drum Cultural Appropriation?

The frame drum exists in dozens of global cultures. Po does not replicate Nation-specific sacred drums; instead, she builds global frame drums rooted in broader historical traditions. Ownership requires a human pulse. Po believes that if you were born with a beating heart, then you were born drumming. Thus, anyone can drum a frame drum.

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The Frame Drum as Somatic Regulation

Modern neuroscience support what ancient cultures practiced intuitively. In The Frame Drum as Natural Healing and Medicine, Po references research showing that drumming can reduce cortisol, enhance oxytocin, and help regulate trauma by synchronizing the nervous system. Her own father recovered from acquired closed head injury, PTSD, and grief through drumming. Her article offers research that informs her father’s experience that led to him reclaiming his life.

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Craftsmanship: Hardwoods and Rawhide

Each naturally formed, steamed and hand-bent drum frame begins with white oak, red oak, maple, cherry and other specialty hardwoods. Po steams and bends these decadent frames at her Kingston art studio. Her near perfectly circular coiled drum frames are acquired rough from an Indigenous community in Central Canada. All drum frames are finished in-studio.

Po makes the drum heads and surfaces for painting artworks from elk, deer, bison, and moose rawhides from suppliers who support Indigenous communities as well. Each frame – rawhide combination has its own sound and one-of-a-kind appearance. Drums can be custom ordered to suit your taste, aesthetic, and usage.

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Drums and Painted Rawhide Art: Exhibitions and Private Collections

Po’s solo 15-piece painted frame drum exhibition was at Belleville’s Parrott Gallery in 2023. The show was entitled, Drumming Sounds of Colour. Since then, Po’s painted rawhide art has shown in 4 additional gallery exhibitions and 3 artisan fairs. Almost all of these artworks have been purchased and are held in private collections. “Elder in Residence,” a custom commission, is part of Queen’s University’s permanent art collection and it is mounted on display at the Faculty of Education building.

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Recent Drum Exhibition Table

Date	Event	Location	Role / Presentation
Nov 2023	Drumming Sounds of Colour Exhibition	Belleville, ON	Solo Exhibition Exploring Storytelling in Painted Rawhide Drums
April 2024	Textile Sampler Exhibition	Picton, ON	Art Talk: “Rawhide, My Preferred Natural Canvas.”
May 2024	Gather in the County Textile Fair	Picton, ON	Traveling Drum Maker & Community Art Education Exhibition.
Oct 2024	Kingston Art Tour	Kingston, ON	Studio Exhibition Showcasing Professional Drum Making and Storytelling Art.
Nov 2024	The Maker’s Hand	Wellington, ON	Professional Display & Artisanal Drum Sales.
Nov 2024 – Mar 2025	Kingston Artists’ Showcase	Kingston, ON	Juried Art Exhibit Featuring Painted Storytelling Rawhide Drum
Feb 2025	Noel Bullock Gallery Exhibition	Gananoque, ON	Featured artist in “Green/Blue/Water/Sky,” exploring natural themes.
July – Sept 2026	KAC Pocket Gallery Exhibition	Kingston, ON	Upcoming Solo Exhibition presented through the Kingston Arts Council.

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Academic References

1. Exodus 15:20 & Psalm 150:4
2. Jeremy Begbie, Theology, Music and Time
3. Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score
4. Archaeological records from Mesopotamia (British Museum)
5. Po Chapman, “Eternal Pulse,” “Sacred History,” and “Reclamation of the Female Pulse”

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need musical experience? No. The frame drum is accessible to beginners.

Do I have to be Indigenous? No. Po makes drums for people with varied backgrounds.

Why adults only? These drums are heirloom one-of-a-kind instruments and art works.

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In a world driven by screens, the frame drum restores embodied presence. Portia “Po” Chapman builds frame drums in Kingston, Ontario for adults prepared to hold that rhythm with integrity.

Drums for Everyone.

Service Region

Based in Kingston, Ontario and primarily serving Greater Napanee, Belleville, Gananoque, Picton, Peterborough, Toronto, Ottawa, and across Canada.

Looking to commission a mural, drum, illustration, painting or digital image?
I’d love to hear from you.

Contact Po Using Form Below

Love Art by Po

Storytelling Art & Art Services
Portia “Po” Chapman / Kingston, ON