Mary Farmer (6 August 1940 – 1 February 2021) was a UK-based weaver of tapestries and rugs, she led developments in tapestry in the late 20th century with a number of roles across higher education culminating in Course Director at the Royal College of Art. Her client list included royalty, government departments, major corporations, museum collections and private collectors.
A 2023 Government Art Collection posthumous reception featured her work, both with the tapestry Buzz On at the reception by Admiralty Arch, London and a collection of works by audio visual presentation. The Tapestry Buzz On is now (2024) at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Whitehall and the other two commissioned works in this series, Buzz on II and Buzz On III moved to the British Embassy in Rome, Italy in 2023. An early rug, together with a contemporary tapestry are in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Early life Mary Farmer was born Mary Quinton Farmer on 6 August 1940 in Newbury, Berkshire, to Edith Anona Jane Farmer (née Quinton),and Seldon Charles Forrester Farmer, Principal Probation Officer for Berkshire Probation Service and latterly Inner London Probation Service's longest serving Principal Probation Officer.Birth Certificate from Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages Farmer's family relocated to Beckenham, Kent in 1948/9.
It has become evident during this research that her mother was also an accomplished Lacemaking, Dressmaking and Weaving artist being a member of the London Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers from shortly after its inception to the mid 1980s. However unlike her daughter most of this was known locally rather than internationally. Education Farmer's Secondary education was at Sydenham High School. with Further Education at Beckenham School of Art (1958–1961).
Music Mary Farmer was an accomplished flautist, playing flute for the Ernest Read London Junior Orchestra from 1957 to 1960. By the end of 1960 she had made her career choice in the Visual Arts. Known Concerts + Ernest Reed Concerts The London Junior Orchestra at Royal Academy of Music The Duke's Hall 29 November 1957 30 May 1958 28 November 1958 27 May 1959 11 December 1959 26 May 1960 25 November 1960
Visual Arts Career Farmer's career in the Visual arts began at Beckenham School of Art (1958–61) where she initially focused on painting. However, she went on to be trained in rug weaving with Gwen and Barbara Mullins at Graffham Weavers, combined with part-time study at Farnham and Reigate Art Schools.
Establishment of weaving studio She moved to Digswell House, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire in 1964 and to Guildford, Surrey in 1967, combining home life and work studio from this point forward. However it was not till her move to Boston, Lincolnshire that her studio and workshop could really focus on her work with less constraints due to its design as a commercial building with an area converted for living accommodation, rather than the other way round. Farmer was awarded a Digswell Arts Trust Fellowship (1964–1967), a residency programme established in Hertfordshire by Henry Morris and artist potter Hans Coper. Early career One of her first major commissions was a multi-segment rug (2.75m x 2.75m) for the Ambassador's residence at the British Embassy in Paris, France in 1966. The cine film recording that production process was digitally transferred from the original silent Super 8 film.
From the late 1960s through to around 1981, she taught at an undergraduate level, predominantly at West Surrey College of Art and Design, Farnham, Surrey, but also Ravensbourne College of Art and Design, Bromley, Kent and Liverpool Art School amongst others.
Her early career saw she major exhibition tours (see below, but also the attention of private Gallery owners such as Henry Rothschild with inclusion at Primavera Gallery in 1965-6 and Joan Crossley-Holland at the Oxford Gallery from its establishment in 1968, intermittently through most of her career. Farmer regularly showed works at the British Crafts Centre and Northern Crafts Centre, including with the Red Rose Guild.
Following her marriage to ceramicist Terry Moores they established a joint workshop and home in Boston, Lincolnshire.
After a brief use of her married name, she formally registered Mary Farmer as a business name.
Royal College of Art Farmer was appointed Tutor in Post-Graduate Textiles at the Royal College of Art in 1981, later being promoted to Course Leader, Tapestry. She oversaw the move into School of Fine Art in 1985, and later as Course Director of MA Tapestry until 1995. Several of her students went on to successful careers of their own including Jennie Moncur, Jeni Ross, Philip Sanderson, and Jun Tomita (specifically known for Japanese Kasuri weaving).Japanese Ikat Weaving: The Techniques of Kasuri by Jun Tomita, Noriko Tomita
She was awarded a Fellowship in 1988 and Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Art in 1995, at the point of her retirement and the tapestry course closure.
Career outside academia Throughout her academic career she was active in the art and craft of weaving rugs, tapestries and tapestry woven rugs. Many of these were shown around the world. Solo show, show with her partner ceramicist Terry Moores whose later works reached towards abstract sculptures, and group shows with or selected by many of the leading lights in the world of arts and crafts. Her work has been selected to adorn the catalogues of Sotheby's, Christie's and most recently Lyon & Turnbull.
Memberships Contemporary Applied Arts previously British Crafts Centre and Crafts Centre of Great Britain Council of Management Contemporary Applied Arts Crafts Council Grants & Loans Committee Index Selection Committee Exhibition Committee Bursary Selection Committee Appointed Member of Council Education Committee in 1988 Lambeth Palace Chapel & Crypt Restoration Programme Consultant Member of Chapel Advisory Group Fibre arts Red Rose Guild Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers London Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers (February 1963 to February 1967) Member of Editorial Committee of Quarterly Journal of the Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers from 1964 - 1966 Society of Designer Craftsmen Southern Arts Association Committee Member
Major exhibitions and shows Details of the majority of known and verified exhibitions can be found on the ArtFacts.Net website.
Mary Farmer exhibition timeline Mary Farmers work was incorporated in over 250 exhibitions, so only ones significant to her career are shown here. This included several landmark tours by internationally renowned institutions. More detail can be found in a TimelineMary Farmer Exhibition Timeline created in association with the 2024 exhibition Mary Farmer: A life in Tapestry. + Date Title Venue(s) 1965 Twelve Artists – Exhibition of Painting, Sculpture, Print making, Stained Glass, Weaving, Ceramics Trade Union Congress Building, Great Russell Street, London 1965 - 7 Weaving for Walls Victoria and Albert Museum, London, touring exhibition 1965 Viewpoint 1965 Primavera Gallery 1965 Christmas Exhibition and visit by HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and sale of 2 rugs to the Duke Crafts Centre of Great Britain, London 1966 Artists from Digswell Primavera Gallery 1969–71 British Designer Craftsmen Organised by UK Crafts Council / World Crafts Council. Patron: HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Circulated by the Smithsonian Institution Opening at Arts and Industries Building (AIB), Washington DC then tour to multiple venues across the US and Canada 1977 Rugs for Churches Commission of kneelers for Liverpool Cathedral Crafts Advisory Committee Gallery, 12 Waterloo Place, London, England and The National Theatre Foyers, South Bank, London, England 1979 Hand-woven Tapestries and Rugs Newbury Spring Festival, Newbury, Berkshire, England 1979 Mary Farmer Solo Exhibition Connaught Gallery, Cranleigh School, Cranleigh, Surrey, England 1979Mary Farmer: Tapestries, Rugs, Carpets Solo Exhibition South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell, Berkshire, England 1981 Textiles Today selected by Marianne Straub Kettles Yard, Cambridge, England and tour 1981–2 Contemporary British Tapestry Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, England and tour 1982 The Maker's Eye (selector and exhibitor) Crafts Council Gallery, London, England 1982 Textiles and Pottery Wells Centre, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, England1983-5 A closer look at rugs Crafts Council Gallery, London, England and tour 1985 Tapestries by Mary Farmer, Ceramics by Terry Moores British Crafts Centre, Earlham Street, London, England 1985 A Collection in the Making Crafts Council Gallery, London, England 1985 Eight Contemporary Textile Artists from England Organised by Peter Shahbenderian and the Galerie Filambule Galerie Filambule, Lausanne, Switzerland 1987-8 Wall to Wall – Textiles for Interiors Cornerhouse, Manchester, England and tour 1991 Contemporary English Crafts Whitman College - Sheehan Gallery, Washington, USA and tour 1996–7 Woven Image - Contemporary British Tapestry Barbican Centre, London, England and tour 1997 Made by Women Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery 2003 - 2021 Contemporary Craft Gallery Hove Museum of Creativity, Hove, England 2019 - 2020 Moving forward: the Crafts Study Centre at 50 Crafts Study Centre, Farnham, Surrey, England 2020 -1 The Crafts Study Centre at 50 - Remix Crafts Study Centre, Farnham, Surrey, England 1 Feb 2021 Death Following exhibitions were held posthumously 2021 - 2024 Contemporary Craft Gallery Hove Museum of Creativity, Hove, England 2021 Maker's Eye: Stories of Craft Crafts Council Gallery, London, England 2024 Mary Farmer: A Life in Tapestry Solo ExhibitionCrafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, Surrey, England 2024 Living in a Material World Lyon & Turnbull, 22 Connaught Street, London, W2 2AF in collaboration with the Crafts Study Centre, Farnham, Surrey, England 2024 (remains Ongoing) Contemporary Craft Gallery, all Mary Farmer Collection artworks now displayed including a rare video of her working (c1965) Hove Museum of Creativity, Hove, England 2025 - 6 Picking up the Thread: the Past, Present and Future of Tapestry (The British Tapestry Group 20th Anniversary Exhibitions) Invited Artist to the following venues: Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh (20 October 2025 - 14 February 2026) Morley Gallery, London (22 - 25 July 2026) 2026 Crafts Council Collect 2026 Art Fair with Oxford Ceramics Gallery Somerset House, London, England (25 February - 1 March 2026) 2026 Textiles Today? Exhibitors: Jo Barker, Mary Farmer, Amber Fry, Jacob Monk, Eleanor Pritchard, Mary Restieaux, Ann Sutton, Jun Tomita Fen Ditton Gallery, Fen Ditton, Cambridgeshire, England
Major award nominations and awards + Date Title Body or location 1964 Digswell Arts Trust Fellowship award Digswell House, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England 1988 Sotheby's Decorative Arts award nomination The catalogue features Tapestry – Soft Flight on the front cover Sotheby's, London 1988 Fellowship of Royal College or Art (FRCA) Royal College of Art, London, England 1995 Honorary Fellowship award Royal College of Art, London, England 2024 The Warehouse at 50 High Street, Boston, Lincolnshire and the contribution of Farmer and Terry Moores to their respective fields as designer craftspeople has been recognised Boston Preservation Trust's Blue Plaque scheme.
External examiner Middlesex Polytechnic: BA (Hons) Tapestry Liverpool Polytechnic: BA (Hons) Fine Art (Painting) West Dean College: Advanced Diploma Course in Tapestry
Later career In 1990 Farmer suffered a severe shoulder injury which significantly curtailed her weaving career.Medical Report in Crafts Study Centre Archive