Debra Baxter is a sculptor and jewelry designer who combines carved alabaster with crystals, minerals, metals, and found objects. She received her MFA in Sculpture from Bard College in 2008 and her BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1996. She also studied at Academia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy. Baxter has received an Artist Trust Individual Artist Grant, three 4Culture Individual Project Grants in Seattle, Washington. Baxter is 2019 recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grants.

Baxter’s work has been featured in Zoo Magazine (Germany), Edelweiss Magazine (Switzerland), Zink, art ltd., Design BureauSculpture, Seattle and THE Magazine, well as hundreds of blogs all over the world. Her work has been exhibited in solo shows including Tooth and Nail, form&concept, Santa Fe NM; We Care a Lot, Central Features Contemporary Art, Albuquerque, NM; ALL I EVER WANTED, Platform Gallery, Seattle WA; So Proud of You, Howard House, Seattle, WA; and Debra Baxter, Massimo Audiello, New York, NY. Her work was also included in Protective Ornament, an exhibition curated by Suzanne Ramjak for the Memphis Metals Museum which traveled to the Tacoma Art Museum. Other group exhibitions include: Making Mends, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA; Death and Other Objects, Or Gallery, Vancouver, BC; and Woman in the Director’s Chair, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Baxter’s wearable sculpture piece Devil Horns Crystal Brass Knuckles (Lefty) is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery.

Baxter has created two artist’s books: Wanting is Easier than Having, and 100 Days of Sculpture, both published by Publication Studio in Portland, Oregon.

Press Links

Education

2007
Master of Fine Arts, Bard College, Milton Avery School of the Arts, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
1996
Bachelor of Fine Art, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis MN
1995
Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence, Italy
1995
Porto Romano, Florence, Italy
1991
University of Nebraska College of Art And Sciences, Lincoln NE
1990
Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City MO

Honors

2019
Recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grants
2016
The Westcliff Fund Fellowship Anderson Ranch
2015
Jentel Artist Residency
2012
GAP Grant
Finalist for Contemporary Northwest Art Awards
4 Culture Special Project Grant
2010
Louis Comfort Tiffany Award Finalist
4Culture Special Projects Grant
2009
Jentel Artist Residency
2009
Artist Trust Fellowship
2008
4Culture Special Projects Grant

Select Solo and Two Person Exhibitions

2020
Roq La Rue, “For Dear Life,” Seattle WA
2019
Roq La Rue, “Ghost Heart” Seattle WA
2018
form&concept, “Tooth and Nail,” Santa fe NM
2015
Central Features Gallery, “We Care a Lot,” Albuquerque NM
2014
Platform Gallery, “ALL I EVER WANTED,” Seattle WA
2011
Platform Gallery, “Wanting is Easier than Having,” Seattle WA
2010
Shepard Gallery, “Every Distance is Not Near” with Dawn Cerny and Jenny Heisman, Reno, NV
2009
Howard House, “So Proud of You,” Seattle WA
2008
Massimo Audiello Gallery New York City
2007
Soil, “Yielded,” with Robert de Saint Phalle Seattle WA.
2005
4Culture Gallery, “The Cloud that Fell to Earth,” Seattle WA
2004
Soil, “Topography of Home,” Seattle WA
2002
The Commencement Gallery, Tacoma WA
Zeitgeist Gallery, “lightness/weight” Seattle WA
2001
Artreach Gallery, “code/coincidence” Seattle WA
2000
Ace Studios Gallery, Seattle WA
1999
Madrona Automatic, “mine” Seattle WA
Charles Wright Academy Tacoma, WA
1998
The Studio Art Center, Everett, WA.
Alexander Gallery, Seattle WA.
Studio 229, Seattle WA.
1997
Royal Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
1996
Old Arizona Studios, Minneapolis, MN.
August Moon, Golden Valley, MN. 1996 East Lake Street Gallery, Minneapolis MN.
1995
Gallery 221, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis MN

Select Group Exhibitions

2016
form&concept, “Re Fashion,” Santa Fe NM
2013
OCHI gallery, “Scientific Visions”, Sun Valley ID
2012
ArtSpace, “Another Crystal Land,” Collaboration with Margot Quan Knight, New Haven Connecticut
The Hedreen Gallery at the Lee Center for the Arts, Seattle University,”The rug pulled out from underneath; you lie on the floor,” Seattle WA
Greg Kucera Gallery, “Ladies Choice,” Seattle WA
Weltenbuerger Art Space L.A., “Ermie Guest Curation,” Los Angeles CA
Roq La Rue, “Red Current,” Seattle WA
2011
In Your Face, SHOWstudio, London
SOME/THINGS Gallery, Paris France
G. Gibson Gallery, “Protective Ornament” curated by Suzanne Ramljak
Nepo House, “Encounters,” Seattle WA
2010
Henry Art Gallery, “Gift Shop/Midnight Requisition,” Seattle WA
2009
Or Gallery, “Death and Objects,” Vancouver BC
2006
Or Gallery, “Why I Am So Unhappy,” Vancouver BC
2005
Performa05, Grand openings, Film Anthalogy Archives, New York City with Ei Arakawa, Jutta Koether, and Emily Sunblad
Ballard Featherston, “I want you to want me,” Seattle WA
Aqua Art Miami, Miami Florida (corresponding with Art Basel Miami)
First Year Show, Bard College, Annandale on Hudson, New York
Soil, “Green,” Seattle WA
2004
Platform, “Paperworks,” Seattle WA
Soil, “New Acquisions,” Seattle WA
Soil, “Masquerade,” Seattle WA
2003
COCA Northwest Annual, Juried by Esther Luttikhuizen, Seattle WA
Soil, “Specimen,” Seattle WA
Bumbershoot, The Gallery of Collections and Creations,” Seattle WA
Ten63, Long Island NY
Consolidated Works, “The Girly Fun Show,” Seattle, WA
Art Resource Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Artreach Gallery, “Let them eat cake,” Seattle, WA
2002
Bellevue Art Museum, “Our Response to Place,” Juried Show, Seattle WA.
2000
Artreach Gallery, Seattle WA
Mix Gallery, Seattle WA.
Theater4, Seattle WA.
1998
Washington State Convention Center, Seattle, WA.
1997
Art Resource Gallery, St. Paul, MN.
Gigfest, Minneapolis, MN.
Grants Pass Art Museum, Grants Pass, Oregon.
Flanders Contemporary Art, Minneapolis, MN.
Witter Gallery, Storm Lake, Iowa.
1996
Walker Art Center, “Woman in the Director’s Chair,” Minneapolis, MN
Minnetonka Center for the Arts, “faculty show,” Minnetonka, MN.
Red Eye Theater, Minneapolis, MN.
Pen and Brush Gallery, New York.
Minneapolis College of Art and Design’s Senior Exhibition, Minneapolis, MN.
Calhoun Gallery, Minneapolis, MN.
1995
Flanders Contemporary Arts, Minneapolis MN.
Gallery 221, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis MN.
Parts Gallery, Juried local color show, Minneapolis MN.

Screenings

2010
Solus a Filmbase, Dublin, Ireland
Banff Center Screening at Beautiful Lives. Banff, Canada.
MVMA Fest 2010, Marfa TX
Co-Lab, organized by Birdhouse Collective in Austin, TX
Version 10 Festival, Chicago, IL.
2009
DEAF (Dublin Electronic Arts Festival) Ireland.
Small House Screening. San Paulo, Brazil.

Private and Public Collections

  • ColorBright Inc., Minneapolis, MN
  • Nano Systems, Philadelphia PA
  • Bemidji State Bank, Bemidji, MN
  • Eisenstadt Collection, Minneapolis, MN
  • Progressivev Insurance, NYC
  • Convertito Residence, Minneapolis, MN
  • Shipior Professionals Attorney at Law, Golden Valley, MN

Bibliography

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    “Debra Baxter.”
  • Beal, Suzanne. International Sculpture Center. April 16, 2014.
    “Debra Baxter: All I Ever Wanted.“
  • Graves, Jen. The Stranger. April 2014.
    “Debra Baxter‘s Five Perfect Pillows.“
  • Ramljak, Suzanne. Available in 2014.
    “On Body and Soul: Contemporary Armor to Amulets.“
  • art ltd. Magazine. September 2011.
    “September 2011 Review – Debra Baxter: Wanting is Easier Than Having.“
  • The Week Magazine. July 2011.
    “Review of reviews: Art – Where to buy.“
  • Zoo Magazine. nº31. 2011.
    “Crystal Clear: Artist Debra Baxter reveals the hidden messages in her creations.“
  • Edelweiss Magazine. nº2. 2011.
    “Bijoux & Cailloux: L’âge Des Cristaux.“
  • Deluxxdigital. Issue 10. January 2011.
    “A Diamond in the Rough.“
  • Bynum, Brad. Newsreview.com. October 2010.
    “Light come shining: Debra Baxter, Dawn Cerny and Jenny Heishman.“
  • Davis, Brangien. Seattle Magazine. August 2010, p. 126–127.
    “2010 Spotlight Award: Debra Baxter.“
  • Moore, Reese. Zink Magazine. May 2010, p. 22.
    “Ignition: Rock On.“
  • Kangas, Matthew. Sculpture Magazine. 2010.
    “Debra Baxter: Howard House.“
  • Lippins, Nate, Seattle Post-Intellegence, Jan 19, 2007
    “Debra Baxter hits a pinnacle with accomplished ‘Yielded.’ ”
  • Brownson, Craig, The Stranger, Jan 11, 2007,Vol. 16, No. 18
    “Liquid, Fragile, perishable, What It Looks To Be Commandingly Unsheltered.”
  • Laurence, Robin, The Georgia Straight, March 9,2006
    “Adventures in Unhappiness”
  • Yi, Liang. “SOIL.“ China: Vision. Sept., 2006, p. 190–194
  • Hackett, Regina, Seattle Post Intelligence December 30 2006
    “An air of Rebellion Breathes New Life Into the Visual Art Scene”
  • Lippens, Nate, The Stranger, January 20, 2005,Vol14,No.19<
    “Cloud Busting, Debra Baxter’s Strange Weather.”
  • Hackett, Regina, Seattle Post Intellegence, January 14, 2005,
    “Baxter’s clouds exude the delicate lightness of being”
  • Hackett, Regina, Seattle Post -Intelligence, Sept 17, 2004
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  • Hackett, Regina , Seattle Post-Intelligence, March 19,2004
    “Soil Exhibit is fertile ground For New Forms”
  • Hackett, Regina , Seattle Post-Intelligence, November 14,2003
    ”what’s happening”, page 18,”Nature becomes artificial in the hands of artists at Soil”
  • Hackett, Regina , Seattle Post-Intelligence, October 7,2003, section E,
    “Taste the raw, not the cooked at COCA show”
  • Hackett, Regina, Seattle Post-Intelligence August 28, 2003
  • Komo TV interview midday news ,July 22,2003
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  • Disney Radio 1250am “Kids Care” Interview with Christie Thuren Grogger June 30, 2003
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  • Hall, Emily, The Stranger, April 5, 2001
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