Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1912, Beatrice Mandelman studed at the Art Students League and the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts.

Mandelman worked in the WPA for eight years, from 1935 until 1942, when it was disbanded. While associated with the Graphic Division of the New York Project, she was required to produce one lithograph each month. One of the original eight members of the Silk Screen unit under Anthony Velonis, Mandelman's first effort was a thrity-two color print.

She and her husband, Louis Ribak, moved to Taos, NM in 1944 where they founded the Taos Valley Art School and were co-founders of the Taos Art Association and the Stables Gallery.

Her work is represented in the collections of the Metroplitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Public Library, New York Public Library, Museum of New Mexico and the University of Omaha.