Mary Farmer

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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.

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Mary Farmer
Farmer around age 20
(1940-08-06)6 August 1940Newbury, Berkshire, England
1 February 2021(2021-02-01) (aged 80)Boston, Lincolnshire, England
Sydenham High School, Beckenham School of Art
Terry Moores (1949–2014)
ArtFacts Profile

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 presented. 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.

Mary Farmer was born Mary Quinton Farmer on 6 August 1940 in Newbury, Berkshire, to Edith Anona Jane Farmer (née Quinton), Lacemaking and Weaving and Seldon Charles Forrester Farmer, Principal Probation Officer for Berkshire Probation Service and latterly Inner London Probation Service . Farmer's family relocated to Beckenham, Kent in 1948/9.

Farmer's Secondary education was at Sydenham High School. with Further Education Beckenham School of Art (1958–1961).

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.

  • Royal Academy of Music - The Duke's Hall

    • 29 November 1957
    • 28 November 1958
    • 11 December 1959
    • 25 November 1960

  • Royal Festival Hall

    • 30 May 1958
    • 27 May 1959
    • 26 May 1960

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

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.

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.

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. Her work has been selected to adorn the catalogues of Sotheby's, Christie's and most recently Lyon & Turnbull.

  • 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

Details of the majority of exhibitions can be found on the ArtFacts.Net website.

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 Timeline created in association with the 2024 exhibition Mary Farmer: A life in Tapestry.

DateTitleVenue(s)
1965Twelve Artists – Exhibition of Painting, Sculpture, Print making, Stained Glass, Weaving, CeramicsTrade Union Congress Building, Great Russell Street, London
1965 - 7Weaving for WallsVictoria and Albert Museum, London, touring exhibition
1965Christmas Exhibition and visit by HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and sale of 2 rugs to the DukeCrafts Centre of Great Britain, London
1969–71British Designer Craftsmen Organised by UK Crafts Council / World Crafts Council. Patron: HRH Prince Philip, Duke of EdinburghCirculated by the Smithsonian Institution
Opening at Arts and Industries Building (AIB), Washington DC then tour to multiple venues across the US and Canada
1977Rugs for Churches Commission of kneelers for Liverpool CathedralCrafts Advisory Committee Gallery, 12 Waterloo Place, London, England and
The National Theatre Foyers, South Bank, London, England
1979Hand-woven Tapestries and RugsNewbury Spring Festival, Newbury, Berkshire, England
1979Mary Farmer Solo ExhibitionConnaught Gallery, Cranleigh School, Cranleigh, Surrey, England
1979Mary Farmer: Tapestries, Rugs, Carpets Solo ExhibitionSouth Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell, Berkshire, England
1981Textiles Today selected by Marianne StraubKettles Yard, Cambridge, England and tour
1981–2Contemporary British TapestrySainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, England and tour
1982The Maker's Eye selector and exhibitorCrafts Council Gallery, London, England
1982Textiles and PotteryWells Centre, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, England
1983-5A closer look at rugsCrafts Council Gallery, London, England and tour
1985Tapestries by Mary Farmer, Ceramics by Terry MooresBritish Crafts Centre, Earlham Street, London, England
1985A Collection in the MakingCrafts Council Gallery, London, England
1985Eight Contemporary Textile Artists from England Organised by Peter Shahbenderian and the Galerie FilambuleGalerie Filambule, Lausanne, Switzerland
1987-8Wall to Wall – Textiles for InteriorsCornerhouse, Manchester, England and tour
1996–7Woven Image - Contemporary British TapestryBarbican Centre, London, England and tour
2003 - 2021Contemporary Craft GalleryHove Museum of Creativity, Hove, England
2019 - 2020Moving forward: the Crafts Study Centre at 50Crafts Study Centre, Farnham, Surrey, England
2020 -1The Crafts Study Centre at 50 - RemixCrafts Study Centre, Farnham, Surrey, England
1 Feb 2021DeathFollowing exhibitions were held posthumously
2021 - 2024Contemporary Craft GalleryHove Museum of Creativity, Hove, England
2021Maker's Eye: Stories of CraftCrafts Council Gallery, London, England
2024Mary Farmer: A Life in Tapestry Solo ExhibitionCrafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, Surrey, England
2024Living in a Material WorldLyon & 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 - 6Picking 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) |

DateTitleBody or location
1995Honorary Fellowship awardRoyal College of Art, London, England
1988Sotheby's Decorative Arts award nomination The catalogue features Tapestry – Soft Flight on the front coverSotheby's, London
1988Fellowship of Royal College or Art (FRCA)Royal College of Art, London, England
1964Digswell Arts Trust Fellowship awardDigswell House, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England
2024The Warehouse at 50 High Street, Boston, Lincolnshire and the contribution of Farmer and Terry Moores to their respective fields as designer craftspeople has been recognisedBoston Preservation Trust's Blue Plaque scheme.
  • Middlesex Polytechnic: BA (Hons) Tapestry
  • Liverpool Polytechnic: BA (Hons) Fine Art (Painting)
  • West Dean College: Advanced Diploma Course in Tapestry

In 1990 Farmer suffered a severe shoulder injury which significantly curtailed her weaving career.

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

  • Brighton and Hove Museums, Sussex, three tapestries on long term display at Hove Museum of Creativity

    • Tapestries Give the Slip 1 and Give the Slip 2
    • Tapestry Red Letter

  • Contemporary Art Society, London, England

    • Tapestry In the Blue
    • Rug Hover (The Wilson (Cheltenham))
    • Tapestry Tip-Off (Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery)

  • Crafts Council Collection, London

    • Tapestry Bright Side
    • Tapestry Black Mass
    • Rug 5H

  • Crafts Study Centre, Farnham, Surrey

    • Tapestry Penumbra
    • Miniature Tapestry Flash Back 3
    • Tapestry Blue Heaven
    • Tapestry Silent Night
    • Kneeler sample and design from the Rugs for Churches commission for Liverpool Cathedral

  • Government Art Collection, London

    • Tapestry Buzz On
    • Tapestry Buzz On II
    • Tapestry Buzz On III

  • Oxfordshire Museum

    • Tapestry Clanger

  • The late HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

  • Sainsbury Centre, Norwich

    • Tapestry Deep Heat
    • Tapestry Turn Up

  • Victoria and Albert Museum, London

    • Rug Quadruple and Three'
    • Tapestry Soft Flight

  • Channel 4 Television Company Ltd

  • National Bank of America, City of London

    • Tapestry Void
    • Tapestry Volume

  • British Oxygen Company

  • Pace Petroleum

Her husband, Terry Moores, died in 2014.

Mary Farmer remained largely independent into later life; however, she suffered acute illness during the COVID-19 pandemic and died on 1 February 2021 in Boston, Lincolnshire.

Ann Sutton made a number of pieces of her collection available in the Modern Made auction in 2023, including a significant piece, the tapestry, Float 1) by Farmer. Interest in the work and contribution that 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 Farmer, featuring the Tapestry Buzz On which has been in their collection since 1977. Whilst exposure of these pieces is normally limited to government, diplomats and their staff, with a piece currently at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Whitehall, London and the other two at the British Embassy in Rome, Italy. However, their viewing was restricted to GCHQ, Cheltenham staff from 2011 to 2019 and whilst viewing may have been restricted, their presence did not escape The Times, although they attributed them to the wrong Mary Farmer.

Renewed recognition has been evident since her death with a major solo exhibition at the Crafts Study Centre in 2024. 2025/6 she was an invited artist as part of The British Tapestry Group 20th Anniversary celebration. The Victoria and Albert Museum have acquired the tapestry Soft Flight, a major piece reserved for many major exhibitions internationally during her lifetime.. In 2026 the Oxford Ceramics Gallery included one of Mary Farmer's pieces in the Crafts Council Collect Art Fair at Somerset House.

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  • Relevant biography links
  • Crafts Magazine references to Mary Farmer
  • Boston Preservation Trust Blue Plaques Trail - The Warehouse