Debra Baxter is a sculptor who harnesses the power of natural material through fabrication and disparate combinations. 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 is a 2019 Recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grants. She has received an Artist Trust Individual Artist Grant, three 4Culture Individual Project Grants in Seattle, Washington. Baxter's work has been featured in Zoo Magazine (Germany), Edelweise Magazine (Switzerland), Zink, art ltd., Design Bureau, and Sculpture, Seattle Magazine, as well as hundreds of blogs all over the world. Her work has been exhibited in solo shows including We Care a Lot at 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 and is in the re-installation of the Renwick Gallery’s Permanent Collection.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.

Taught Art Appreciation, Drawing 101 and Figure Drawing to game programming and animation students.

Taught sculpture in a variety of media including: wood, clay, plaster and metal.

Assisted teaching of Foundations 3D. Helped design curriculum and teach conceptual, historical and technical aspects of art making.

Taught art classes to groups based on the Frye’s permanent collection.