Debbie Elmer was raised in Amery, Wisconsin, a small town in the northwest part of the state. Elmer received her first fly reel as a teenager from her high school agriculture teacher, an encouraging gesture she has never forgotten.

Elmer attended Milligan College (Elizabethton, Tennessee) and the University of Wisconsin–Stout to begin her art training. She then completed apprenticeships with renowned equestrian sculptor Nancy Rieke (b. 1952) and later with figurative artist Richard Macdonald (b. 1946). Elmer specialized in bronze sculptures made through the lost-wax method and submitted her work for shows as early as 2000. In 2001, she was a finalist in the National Society of Arts and Letters Small Sculpture Competition, and in 2002 she was awarded first place at the Sedona Sculpture Show as the Best Emerging Artist. Elmer’s works can be found in private and public collections across the country.

Never forgetting her enjoyment of fly fishing, Elmer continued to pursue this pastime as she pursued her art career. She cofounded the Fly Fishing Foxes, a women’s club, while apprenticing in California and created their logo. When her life brought her to Massachusetts, Elmer served as president of the Massachusetts Women Fly Fishers in 2010. She is also active with the International Women Fly Fishers.

Elmer’s current project is titled Unsung Pioneers: Discovering the Early Women in Fly Fishing. She researched and selected eight (deceased) women who have been pioneers in the sport, and she plans to produce a sculpture for each of these women: Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby, Helen Shaw, Elizabeth Greig, Elsie Darbee, Winnie Dette, Mary Orvis Marbury, Carrie Frost, and Carrie Stevens. The final works will be cast in bronze.

Debbie Elmer currently lives with her husband in her native Wisconsin and continues to run her business, Debbie Elmer Studios. Her Unsung Pioneers project is ongoing, and Elmer hopes to promote women’s important contributions to the sport through this series of sculptures.

Note: this text was written in 2011.