BIOGRAPHY

Debi Slowey Raguso (b. 1959) is an American contemporary painter who lives and works in the Tampa Bay region of Florida. She received her formal education in painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, studied aesthetics at the Barnes Foundation, and refined her technical printmaking practice under a full scholarship at Bob Blackburn's Printmaking Workshop in New York. Slowey’s primary artistic development was forged through a comprehensive, twenty-year personal and professional mentorship within the Will Barnet family circle while living and working in the heart of Manhattan’s Chelsea district from 1983 to 2005.

Working primarily in oil on canvas, panel, and specialized multi-disciplinary media, Slowey's practice explores the structural geometry of the natural world, utilizing mathematical frameworks such as the Fibonacci sequence to examine time, growth, and survival. Her visual language balances highly controlled, flattened design elements with dense, painterly textures to construct mythological, surreal narrative scenes. Relatable over purely decorative, her compositions focus on capturing lived human experience and structural mystery rather than static academic realism. Beyond traditional two-dimensional fields, she maintains an active practice in experimental printmaking and large-scale, site-specific interactive sculpture.

Slowey’s work has been exhibited and collected both nationally and internationally. She maintains a significant institutional presence in Florida as a recurring exhibiting artist at the Imagine Museum in St. Petersburg, where she has mounted multiple multi-month showcases, including selection for the current America 250 exhibition. Her professional history includes participation in solo and juried group exhibitions at the Chuck Levitan Gallery in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, the Tampa Museum of Art, and the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art. Her pieces are held in prestigious permanent collections, including the Ambassadress Collection at the United States Embassy in Paris, France; the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Collection in New York; and St. Mary's College in Maryland. 

CV

EDUCATION

  • Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Painting, Philadelphia, PA

  • The Barnes Foundation, History & Aesthetics, Philadelphia, PA

  • Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, Fine Art Printmaking Atelier, New York, NY

MENTORSHIP

  • Will Barnet, Private Mentorship (1980s–2000s), New York, NY

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

  • The Old Stone House, 10 Years of Art, Hasbrouck, NY (2004)

  • Statler Hall, SUNY Sullivan, Wonderful Webs, Lock Sheldrake, NY (2002)

  • Chuck Levitan Gallery, Paintings ‘89-’93, New York, NY (1993)

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

  • The Imagine Museum, America’s 250, St Petersburg, FL (2026)

  • The Imagine Museum, Fire and Light (Aesop Series), St. Petersburg, FL (2025)

  • The Imagine Museum, Alice Through The Looking Glass, St. Petersburg, FL (2024)

  • Women's Caucus for Art, Traveling ExhibitionS, Various Locations, FL (2022-2026)

  • Firehouse Cultural Center, Alice in Wonderland. (2024)

  • Hotbed Gallery, PAFA Fellowship, Philadelphia, PA (2020)

  • Morean Center for Art, Women Who Work, St. Petersburg, FL (2020)

  • Modern Love Club, FOMO, Lower East Side, New York, NY (2019)

  • KYO Gallery, Resist and Recover, Alexandria, VA (2018)

  • Tampa Museum of Art, Art After Dark, Tampa, FL (2014)

  • Boyden Gallery, Slowey and Barnet, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, MD (2005)

  • Broome Street Gallery, NY Artist Equity 50th Anniversary, New York, NY (2004)

  • Bob Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, Year of the Woman, Beijing, China (2000)

  • Anchorage Museum of Art, From Aardvark to Zebra, Anchorage, AK (1991)

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

  • United States Embassy, Ambassadress Collection, Paris, France

  • St. Mary's College of Maryland, Permanent Collection

  • The Printmaking Workshop Collection, New York, NY

  • Parana Curitiba, Brazil

  • Downingtown High School, Permanent Collection, PA

  • Private collections throughout the United States

BIBLIOGRAPHY & PRESS

  • Tampa Bay Magazine, Best of 2025, 4-Page Feature Spread (2025)

  • John Seed, Critical Essay on Recent Artworks, Review

  • Voyage Tampa, Rising Stars: Meet Debi Slowey-Raguso, Interview (2021)

  • Clark Hulings Fund, Interview by Sofia Perez, Visual Artists Blog (2019)

  • Tampa Bay Magazine, Feature Article (2017)

  • Arts to Hearts Magazine, Feature

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

  • Women's Caucus for Art, Co-Chair, Southeastern US Regional Director

  • The Hope Museum, Board of Directors

  • Contemporary Circle, Member

ARTIST TALKS & LECTURES

  • The Imagine Museum, Gallery Talk for Fire and Light Exhibition, St. Petersburg, FL (2025)

BIBLIOGRAPHY & PRESS

  • Tampa Bay Magazine, Best of 2025, 4-Page Feature Spread (2025)

  • John Seed, Critical Essay on Recent Artworks, Review

  • Arts to Hearts Project, Exploring Myth, Math, and Science in Deb Slowey's Immersive Paintings, Interview

  • Voyage Tampa, Rising Stars: Meet Debi Slowey-Raguso, Interview (2021)

  • Clark Hulings Fund, Business of Art Interview, Feature (2019)

  • Tampa Bay Magazine, Feature Article (2017)