Alumni Gallery: Deborah Larkin '70

On view from January 24 - March 14, 2026.

Deborah Larkin ’70 presents an exhibition drawn from her personal archive, featuring a collection of vintage shopping bags she used as teaching tools during her years on the faculty at Moore College of Art & Design. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, retail stores used shopping bags as signature pieces to promote their identity and communicate their message. Larger stores frequently updated their designs seasonally or to mark special events. Iconic examples, such as Michael Vollbracht’s illustration of a woman’s face for Bloomingdale’s, became showstoppers and fueled a competitive era of well-designed bags in the retail industry. Once—and still—a powerful vehicle for branding, these bags demonstrate how design shapes consumer identity, conveys values and transforms everyday objects into visual statements.

The exhibition also includes selections from Larkin’s professional practice, including greeting card designs as well as catalog and book projects created for corporate clients and cultural institutions. Together, these works highlight design as both a functional discipline and a creative practice, revealing how typography, image and material can extend meaning beyond the product itself. On view in the Alumni Gallery January 24 – March 14, 2026.

Join us for the opening reception on Friday, January 23 from 5 – 7 p.m., held in conjunction with the opening of the Faculty Triennial.