Debra Baxter

Debra Baxter is an American sculptor and jewelry designer who combines carved alabaster with crystals, minerals, and metals. She received her MFA in sculpture from Bard College in 2007 and her BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1996. She also studied at Academia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy. Debra has received an Artist Trust Individual Artist Grant and three 4Culture Individual Project Grants. She was recently nominated for a Louis Comfort Tiffany Biennial Award.

Debra’s work has been featured in Zoo Magazine Germany, Edelweise Magazine Switzerland, Zink, Art Ltd., Design Bureau, and Sculpture, as well as in hundereds of blogs all over the world, and in an episode of Seattle Channel’s Art Zone. Debra’s work has been exhibited in solo shows including at Platform Gallery, Seattle; Howard House, Seattle; and Massimo Audello, New York City. Recent group shows include exhibits at Bellevue Art Museum; Or Gallery, Vancouver, BC; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

Debra received 2012 GAP Award funding to advance her artistic goals and push the boundaries of her work through scale and visual impact. In this project, she will be making a grouping of four sculptures out of Tuscan blue alabaster. The sculptures will be heavily influenced by the Baroque period and Hip-Hop culture and will narrate a story of passion through the collision of street culture and church commissioned artwork.

As part of her Fellowship’s Meet the Artist requirements, Debra spoke about her work to a sculpture/installation class of 32 in Bellingham on the Fairhaven campus of Western Washington University. She shared motivations, influences, and the truth about what her work was about. They had a lively class discussion, led by instructor and past Artist Trust grant recipient John Fedorov, about the difference between making and appropriating objects, which involved questions such as: How does being a woman influence an artist’s work? How was Debra trained? What tools does she use? Debra explained how getting an Artist Trust grant has helped her to continue to produce and perfect her project for an upcoming show June 4, 2010 at the Howard House. The class was engaged and very excited to learn about Artist Trust.