Moore College of Art and Design

Deborah Warner '69

Deborah was born in Philadelphia in 1947. Deborah was one of five girls. Her father was an internist and her mother was a nurse prior to becoming a full-time mother. Deborah attended Germantown Friends School, which had a very strong cultural and arts curriculum. She spent a lot of time going to museums and other cultural arts activities with her family and paternal grandmother. She recalls drawing since she was very young and being greatly encouraged. Being in a family of all girls, she felt like there were no limitations put on them and they were encouraged to do whatever they wanted. Her mother and paternal grandmother served as her role models. 

Upon finishing high school, Deborah applied to a variety of schools but knew she wanted to go to art school. Although she at first thought that she wanted to be an illustration major, she ultimately majored in art education. She did not know that Moore was an all-women’s college prior to attending but describes it as being “one of the best experiences” she has ever had. During her freshman year, her father died and she did not think she would be able to come back to school after fall break. She said that she received tremendous support from faculty, who made sure that she received a scholarship and a work-study position to continue her education. Because of that, both her commitment to graduating from college and her life-long commitment to Moore developed. During her junior year, she traveled to Mexico and took courses in weaving and batik. At that point she knew that textiles would be her focus. 

She graduated in from Moore in 1969. She was accepted at Tyler School of Art, where she obtained a masters in art education (and later an MFA in textiles), while simultaneously working in the School District of Philadelphia as a middle school art teacher. It was important to her to teach in a disadvantaged school and bring art to students who really needed it. She worked directly with gang members. After her first year teaching, she was offered a temporary position at Moore to replace a professor who was on sabbatical. 

Deborah taught in the Art Education Program for four years and ran the Saturday Young Artists Workshop program. When an opening occurred in the Textiles Department at Moore, she switched departments. 

Deborah uses thread and fiber as a means of personal expression. Her work records personal experiences and has gone from large scale, architectural commissions to pieces that are more intimate and that include things other than fiber – like wax and encaustic.  Her first professional art exhibit was at the Philadelphia Art Alliance. Her themes come from experiences in childhood and high school – trying to balance spirituality with the every day life. More recently, her work has been about emotional considerations, like the series that she made about her mother’s debilitating illness, entitled “Her Vision” – what her mother could see while she was bedridden for five years. She has also done landscapes, some of which were inspired by several cross-country trips taken on a motorcycle. 

She received a National Endowment for the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship, which she says was a great honor and allowed her to work towards her next large body of work. 

Deborah says that she did not feel that being a woman artist ever worked against her because she had such strong role models at Moore and because Moore was/is a community of women. It was exciting for her to be involved in the arts when women were coming into their own during the late 60s and early 70s. Now it is taken for granted that women have more opportunities in the art, but she thinks women still need to be vigilant and make sure that they open the doors for other women. Louise Stahl, Jeanette Banks – these are people who encouraged and inspired her in the beginning of her career.

Because Deborah had such a good experience and feels a debt of gratitude towards Moore, she is very committed to the institution and its mission. She feels this way not only because of what they provided for her, but because of what they are providing for women now. Student government is a training ground for women artists of the future, and they are winning scholarships. “This is a really special place…because of the nurturing atmosphere, the individual attention…and it’s really about the community…the college is about the people. It is a community of women artists who can support each other through school and then outside of school.”

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