Mary Farmer

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 event featured her work, both with the tapestry Buzz On at the reception by Admiralty Arch, London and a collection of works from her Catalogue Raisonné. The Tapestry Buzz On is now (2024) at the Foreign, Commonwealth & 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 is in the collection of the V&A.

Early personal life
Mary Farmer was born Mary Quinton Farmer on 6 August 1940 in Newbury, Berkshire, England to Edith Anona Jane Farmer (née Quinton) and Seldon Charles Forrester Farmer.

Farmer's family relocated to Beckenham, Kent, England in 1948 or 1949, where she was educated at Sydenham High School.

She moved to Digswell House, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England in 1964 and to Guildford, Surrey, England in 1967, combining home life and work studio from this point forward.

Career
Farmer's career in the arts began with Beckenham School of Art (1958–61) where she initially focused on painting. she was trained in rug weaving with Gwen and Barbara Mullins at Graffham Weavers combined with part-time study at Farnham and Reigate Art Schools.

Farmer was awarded a Digswell Arts Trust Fellowship (1964–1967), a residency programme established in Hertfordshire by Henry Morris. and artist potter Hans Coper.

One of her first major commissions a multi-segment rug (2.75m x 2.75m) for 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, Liverpool, England amongst others.

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.

Farmer was appointed Tutor in 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 have illustrious careers of their own including Jennie Moncur, Jeni Ross, Philip Sanderson, and Jun Tomita (specifically known for Japanese Kasuri weaving).

She was made a Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art in 1995, at the point of her retirement and the tapestry course closure.

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.

Memberships

 * Contemporary Applied Arts
 * Crafts Council
 * Fibre Arts
 * Red Rose Guild
 * Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers (Member of Editorial Committee of Quarterly Journal of the Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers from 1964 - 1966)

Major exhibitions and shows
====Mary Farmer Exhibition Timeline====

Later career and legacy
In 1990 Mary Farmer suffered a severe shoulder injury which whilst her career continued to some extent, resulted in curtailment of her weaving career to a large extent.

The Tapestry Course at the Royal College of Art finally closed in 1995 and Mary Farmer went into retirement after over a decade of the challenging situation with the course's sustainability.

Ann Sutton made a number of pieces of her collection available in the Modern Made auction in 2023, including a significant piece (Tapestry – Float 1 ) by Mary Farmer. Interest in the work and contribution that Mary Farmer made to Art in the late 20th Century.

A Reception was held in November 2023 at the Government Art Collection adjacent to Admiralty Arch as a memorial to Mary Farmer, featuring the Tapestry Buzz On which has been in their collection since 1977.

Works in public collections

 * Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England
 * Government Art Collection, London, England
 * Contemporary Art Society, London, England
 * The late HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
 * Sainsbury Centre, Norwich, England
 * Crafts Council Collection, London, England
 * Crafts Study Centre, Farnham, Surrey,England
 * Brighton and Hove Museums, Sussex, England, two tapestries on long term display at Hove Museum of Creativity

Later personal life
Her husband, Terry Moores, died in 2014. Whilst Mary Farmer remained largely independent into later life, she suffered acute illness during the COVID-19 pandemic and died 1 February 2021 in Boston, Lincolnshire, England.