Deborah Keller-Rihn

Bio-Deborah Keller-Rihn 

Deborah Keller-Rihn is a community-oriented creative photographer. 

She has played many roles over the past 40 years in the San Antonio arts community: artist, teacher, mentor, arts organizer, curator and cultural innovator. Additionally, she is the director of the Blue Star Arts Collective in the Upstairs Studios where she has had a studio for twenty-five years. In this space, she creates and exhibits her work as well as the work of many aspiring creatives.

Deborah has a BA in Humanities from UTSA, teaching credentials from UT Austin and a Master’s Degree in Art from Texas A & M, Kingsville. She has traveled to India four times and is a student at the Sri Aurobindo Center of Advanced Research in Pondicherry. India is a major source of inspiration in her art, resulting in exhibitions at Highwire Gallery, San Antonio College, St. Mary’s University, Northwest Vista College, Gallery 20/20, the University of Texas Health Science Center and Keller-Rihn Studio/Blue Star Arts Collective. Deborah has been given a show at the San Antonio Central Library opening in 2025 called The Eternal Feminine that shows the evolution of her work from 2001 to the present. Her plan is to go back to India in 2024 to document the Indian festival called Navratri, the annual Hindu festival observed in honor of Durga, the Supreme Goddess. She will also document temples and women’s rituals done to honor Laxmi and other feminine deities. Images of everyday women who embody qualities associated with the goddess will also be photographed as part of the exhibit.

As an arts organizer, Deborah has the gift of rallying fellow artists, dancers, musicians, poets and community members to create innovative festivals of conscious creativity such as the Mandala Healing Arts Project, Noche de Recuerdos, Lighten Up, Dia de los Muertos on the Old Spanish Trail and El Gran Dia de los Artistas. She also produces workshops and children’s art programs such as Blue Star Kids.