Image courtesy of the artist
On View August 7 - September 16, 2026
Gallery Hours:Wednesday-Saturday, 10AM-5PM
Find us at 114 3rd St. NE
New City Arts Welcome Gallery is free and open to the public. Questions? Email us!
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First Friday Opening Reception
August 7 from 5-7:30PM; Artist talk at 6PM. Free and open to the public. All ages welcome. -
Welcome Gallery is free and open to the public. The space is wheelchair accessible and our restroom is ADA compliant and gender-neutral.
Please note that the gallery’s front door is heavy and opens out. If you need assistance opening the door, please knock! A staff member would be happy help.
Each month, Sensory Friendly Second Saturdays (10AM-5PM) offer visitors with sensory sensitivities an opportunity to view exhibitions with modifications to sound and lighting. Additionally, fidgets are provided and exhibition tours are offered in ASL during these hours.
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Check back here for content notes and a visual description of the exhibition.
This exhibition is supported by Pond Life. First Friday events are sponsored by William Taylor & the Taylor Associates of Truist Investment Services.
About Keepers of Wonder (courtesy of the artist)
I make objects as vessels for wonder :: sculptural worlds and portals to places that exist just outside reality. My work is rooted in clay but stretches toward story, memory, and the quiet magic embedded in ordinary things.
Not long ago, I learned I have aphantasia, the inability to summon mental images. This absence has only sharpened my desire to make the unseen tangible. Clay becomes my way of thinking in three dimensions, building forms I cannot visualize, but can come to know through making. Whether it is an underwater seascape inspired by a magical snorkeling trip, mid-century modern dollhouse rooms, Gimmies from the planet Glona, or Mother Mary protesting the current state of our world, each becomes a sculptural world that translates my conceptual imagination into physical form through clay.
I am also drawn to making shrines of all sorts, wonderkeepers, as I call them - containers and compositions for awe. They are my way of holding onto the fleeting beauty I find in both the natural and the made world: a seedpod’s spiral, the patina of a weathered tool, or the well-worn handle of a broken coffee cup. Through form, texture, and scale, I try to hold these moments still long enough to be savored.
Clay is my constant collaborator. I favor clean lines, wild and joyful glazes, and forms that invite inspection. While much of my work begins on the slab table, I embrace experimentation: altering shapes, layering hand-built elements on wheel-thrown vessels, and inventing new uses for familiar tools. I believe in the value of play, not as a frivolity (though sometimes that’s enough on its own) but as a method for discovery. Play lets me bypass the part of my brain that craves certainty, opening a path to work that feels alive and full of whimsy.
I hope each piece carries a small invitation to pause, to notice, to connect with something beyond the pace of the day. My work is not only about the object itself but about the spark it carries: a silly companion, a keeper of wonder, a reminder of the strange and beautiful world we share.
About the Artist
Emma Terry (she/her) is a Charlottesville-based ceramic artist whose work transforms clay into vessels for wonder - sculptural worlds that invite play, memory, and awe. She creates shrines, whimsical creatures, and miniature realms that honor both imagination and the beauty of everyday objects. Emma studied Anthropology at William & Mary and completed postgraduate studies in Folklore & Ethnography at University College Cork, Ireland. She is the Programs & Communication Director for UVA Arts. She has served on the boards of Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative, WTJU 91.1 FM, Empowered Players, and The Fralin Museum of Art Volunteer Board, and is a co-founder of CreativeMornings Charlottesville. She teaches ceramics at City Clay and is a member of the newly formed Milkweed Clay Studio, where she maintains her studio practice. She believes clay is the best collaborator, full of surprises, joy, and just enough mischief to keep her curious.
Located at 114 3rd St. NE on Charlottesville’s downtown pedestrian mall, New City Arts’ Welcome Gallery supports artists who live in the Charlottesville area. Welcome Gallery exhibitions and programs are made possible by generous sponsors, donors, and grants. Interested in sponsoring an exhibition? Connect with us!