MARY BAXTER (b. 1963) Mary Baxter has always had a keen interest in art, particularly as a result of family camping trips to the Chihuahuan Desert. She pursued her passion at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she studied painting and advanced printmaking and earned her Bachelor of Science degree. Fully self-financing her studies, Baxter worked across the country on the high goal polo circuit. Baxter moved to the Big Bend region when she leased a ranch Southwest of Marfa for raising cattle and training horses. It was there that she began to see the beauty of the rugged desert and interpret it in her paintings. After several years, she was able to free herself of ranch duties to paint full-time. She relocated to Marathon and opened the Baxter Studio and Gallery in the old Shoemake Hardware Building. There, she continued to produce and sell her works for ten years. Baxter currently resides and works in Marfa, using a vintage Silver Streak trailer to live in more remote locations where she creates some of her smaller, plein air paintings. She frequently gathers ideas and sketches for larger pieces which she finishes later in her studio. This approach has helped Baxter truly convey the beauty of the Texas landscape. Selected Biographical and Career Highlights1963 Born in Lubbock, Texas1988 BS, Painting and Advanced Printmaking, University of Texas at San Antonio2002–12 Baxter Studio and Gallery, Marathon2005 Best in Show, Trappings of Texas, Museum of the Big Bend, Alpine2006–07 Residency, McDonald Observatory, Fort Davis2011 Residency, Madroño Ranch, Medina2022, Published in The Art of Texas State Parks: A Centennial Celebration, 1923-2023, Texas A&M University Press Resides in Marfa, Texas Selected Exhibitions2003 Solo, Ballroom Marfa, Texas 2004 Group of five, Baxter Gallery, Marathon, Texas 2005 Two-person show, Highland Gallery, Marfa, Texas 2005–08 Trappings of Texas, Museum of the Big Bend, Alpine, Texas 2005–09 Annual Animal Art Show, Invitational, Big Bend Venue, Texas 2008 Hunting Art Prize Exhibition, Houston, Texas 2008 Invitational, Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas 2009 Solo, Eugene Binder Exhibition Space, Marfa, Texas 2010 Solo, Museum of the Southwest, Midland, Texas 2010 Solo, Hunt Gallery, San Antonio, Texas 2011 Group of four, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, Texas 2013 Holidays at the Haley, Haley Memorial Library, Midland, Texas 2014 National Ranching Heritage Museum, Lubbock, Texas 2014 Painting in the Texas Tradition: Contemporary Texas Regionalism, Turner House, Dallas, Texas 2015 Painting in the Texas Tradition: Contemporary Texas Regionalism, Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts, Spring, Texas 2015 Ties that Bind: Contemporary Texas Regionalism, Turner House, Dallas, Texas 2015 Texas Aesthetic: Contemporary Texas Regionalism, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas 2015 The Big Bend of Texas: Interpretations by Seven Artists, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2015 The Holiday Show with the Contemporary Texas Regionalists, William Reaves Fine Art, Houston, Texas2016 The Texas Aesthetic X, William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2016 The Lay of The Land: Contemporary Landscape Painting in Texas, curated by Kinzelman Art Consulting, Bank of America, Houston, Texas 2016 A Holiday Show: Contemporary Texas Regionalism, William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2017 Mary Baxter: Painting Far West Texas, William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2017 Lonestar Legacies in Contemporary Texas Art, The Haley Memorial Library & History Center, Midland, Texas 2017 The Texas Aesthetic XI: The Search for "Texas" in Contemporary Art & Culture, William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2017 AS IS: Rural Realism, The Grace Museum, Abilene, Texas2017-18 Of Texas Rivers & Texas Art touring exhibition, San Angelo Museum of Fine Art, San Angelo, Texas; Rotunda Gallery at the Texas State Capitol, Austin, Texas; The Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas; and The Mayborn Museum at Baylor University, Waco, Texas2017-18 Contemporary Texas Regionalists Winter Show, William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2018 The Texas Aesthetic XII: The Search for "Texas" in Contemporary Art & Culture, William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2019 The New Show, Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2019 The Texas Aethetic: Thirty Contemporary Artists Redefining Texas Art, Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2019 State of Contrast, Bank of America Center Lobby, Kinzelman Art Consulting & Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2019 Desert Life and Sky Recent Paintings, Hunt Gallery, San Antonio, Texas2019 Storied Lands, Contemporary Texas Landscape Painters, Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2020 The Texas Aesthetic, Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2021 Contemporary Texas Regionalist Landscapes, Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas2022 Solo, Desertlands of the Southwest, Foltz Fine Art, Houston, TX2023-24, The Art of Texas State Parks, Bullock Museum, Austin, TX; Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, TX; Panhandle Plains Historical Museum, Canyon, TX; Old Jail Art Center, Albany, TX; Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, TX Selected Public CollectionsBlue Bonnet Electric Cooperative, Bastrop, TXData Foundry, Austin, TXLakeside Country Club, Houston, TXMcDonald Observatory, Fort Davis and Austin, TXMarfa National Bank, Marfa, TXRiata Energy, Dallas, TXWarburg Pincus, Houston, TX and New York, NY