EASTON, MD.- The Academy Art Museum announced the opening of “More Clay: The Power of Repetition,” a groundbreaking exhibition of ceramic sculpture guest curated by Rebecca Cross. On view through February 2026, the exhibition features seven acclaimed artists—Zimra Beiner, Bean Finneran, David Hicks, Walter McConnell, J.J. McCracken, Kate Roberts, and Vanessa Ryerse—whose works explore repetition, abundance, and transformation through clay.

Blurring the lines between craft and fine art, these artists transcend clay’s traditional functionality to create works that are monumental in scale, ambitious in concept, and captivating in execution. Through innovative construction, repetition, and assemblage, they magnify their messages and challenge viewers to reconsider the potential of this humble, sustainable material.

Originally organized in 2022 by the Katzen Arts Center at American University, the exhibition has been reimagined for the Academy’s Calvert and Spitaleri Galleries. In its Easton iteration, More Clay includes a special community collaboration led by the Museum’s ceramics instructor Loretta Lowman. This local addition, an homage to renowned British ceramic artist Edmund de Waal, celebrates the tradition of making and the communal nature of clay.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog featuring an essay by esteemed art critic Janet Koplos. Public programs, including curator and artist talks, will be offered from October 2025 through January 2026.

From Chinese export-ware mosaics to stupa-like monuments and haunting gates, the artists in More Clay explore themes of labor, nature, consumerism, and time. Their shared ethos of building with abundance—rather than restraint—results in intricate, meditative works that invite reflection on our personal and collective obsessions.

In a world driven by efficiency and speed, More Clay is a powerful reminder of the beauty in devotion, process, and deliberate creation. These works, shaped by hand and hardened by fire, reflect the spiritual and human potential of repetition, and offer a rare moment of reverence in a world often in motion.