Mary Defer (she/her) is a visual artist living and working in Lakewood and a lifelong Northeast Ohioan. She grew up drawing and painting on a family farm and discovered her love of photography at Kenyon College, where she earned a B.A. in Studio Art. Her work has been exhibited both regionally and nationally through organizations such as the Erie Art Museum (Erie, PA), Praxis Fiber Workshop (Cleveland, OH), Soho Photo Gallery (New York, NY), and the Filter Photo Festival (Chicago, IL). In 2012, a book of her photography was included in DIY: Photographers & Books, the first-ever museum exhibition of print-on-demand photobooks at the Cleveland Museum of Art. 

Mary is passionate about forging connections through art. In 2023, she partnered with residents of Slavic Village to gather plant clippings used to craft a series of lumens for Rooms to Let, an immersive art experience. During her time at the Mastery School of Hawken, she advised the photography club and taught a weekly course focusing on analog techniques. She has led pinhole camera workshops and mentored students through the Cleveland Print Room, and created a photography session for the Akron Art Museum’s Creative Aging Institute. Currently, Mary serves as Events and Engagement Manager at Ideastream Public Media, a local NPR and PBS affiliate.