Rebecca Murtaugh

Rebecca Murtaugh is a sculptor whose work explores the relationship between nature and the human made to imbue a sense of wonder and curiosity to engage the viewer to consider their relationship to our biosphere. She investigates the material intelligence of locally harvested clays from Long Island and Central New York through the lens of sculpture and environmental studies. Murtaugh has broadly exhibited in solo and group exhibitions and her work has been included in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The New Criterion, BUST, Huffington Post, Artweek, American Craft, and Bushwick Daily. She was the recipient of the John R. Hatch Excellence in Teaching Award in 2009 and received the Dean’s Scholarly Achievement Award for Notable Year in 2016. She is the Co-Director of the Art Extension of the Urban Soils Institute in NYC. Her work can be viewed at rebeccamurtaugh.com.

Recent Courses Taught

Introduction to Ceramics
Introduction to Sculpture
Art and the Environment
Advanced Three Dimensional and Material Studies
Junior Seminar in Art

 

Distinctions

• Dietrich Inchworm Grant 2024-25 (Forming: Environment as Material, Landscape, Art) 
• Dietrich Inchworm Grant 2022-23 & 2023-24 (Excavating & 3D Printing Local Clays)

Select Publications

• Delia O’Hara. “Powerbroker.” American Craft. Volume 29, No. 1, February/March 2019. 68
• James Panero. “Gallery Chronicle.” The New Criterion. Volume 35, No 8, April 2017. 68.
• Samantha Mercado. “13 Artworks by Nasty Women to Inspire You to Fight Back.” BUST. January 10, 2017.
• Rachel Otwell. “From the DEMO: An Experience with Hard Candy.” NPRIllinios.org. June 16, 2016.
• Staff. Goings on About Town: Art, ‘Francis Cape,” The New Yorker. November 12, 2010.
• Penelope Green. “While You Were Out the Post-it Note Came Home,” The New York Times. June 28, 2007. F1.

Select Exhibitions

Select Solo and Two Person Exhibitions

• 2024, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA, “Measures of Time”
• 2021, Davis Gallery, Geneva, NY, “Telluric Transformations”
• 2021, Kirkland Arts Center, Clinton, NY, “Vital Gestures” (two person)
• 2020, Clifford Gallery, Hamilton, NY, “Telluric Meditari”
• 2020, Sediment Gallery, Richmond, VA, “Relic Drift” (two person)
• 2017, Stout Projects, Brooklyn, NY, “Rough Matter”
• 2017, Goodyear Gallery, Carlisle, PA, “Substance”
• 2016, Thomas Hunter Project Space, NY, NY, “Cascade”
• 2016, DEMO Projects, Springfield, IL, “Hard Candy” (two person)
• 2014, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT, "Alluring Repulsions"
• 2012, Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, Wilmington, DE, "Intimate Constructions"
• 2010, Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI, "Temptations"

Select Group Exhibitions

• 2025, Sarratt Gallery at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, “Celebrating American Craft”
• 2025, Artlink Gallery, Fort Wayne, IN, Horizon: “Contemporary Approaches to the Land”
• 2024, American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA, “Fahrenheit 2024”
• 2023, LMCC The Arts Center at Governor's Island, NYC, NY Urban Soil Institute: “Metabolism of Cities”
• 2023, Ely Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT, “A Way of Seeing Everything and Nothing”
• 2023, Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ, “Clay Bash Triennial”
• 2023, Watts Museum, Morgantown, WV, “Mineral Matters”
• 2019, Underdonk, Brooklyn, NY, “Fur Cup”
• 2019, Katherine E. Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, “The Form Will Find Its Way”
• 2017, Lichtundfire Gallery, NY, NY, “Bound By Matter”
• 2016, Trestle, Brooklyn, NY, “Plus One”
• 2015, Storefront Ten Ecyk, Brooklyn, NY, “Making History”

College Service

• Committee on Appointments, 2023-24 and 2020-21
• Pi for Creative Arts and Technology Grant, 2021-24
• Co-Pi Sherman Fairchild Foundation Grant, Creative Arts and Technology, 2019-21
• Committee for Admissions and Financial Aid, 2016-2020
• New Faculty Orientation: Primary Leader, 2011-13, Co-Leader, 2009-11
• Art Department Chair, 2010-15
• Studio Art Facilities Planning Committee, 2010-14
• Faculty Secretary, Academic Council, 2009-10
• Library Committee, 2007-10

Professional Affiliations

National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts

Appointed to the Faculty

2004

Educational Background

M.F.A., Virginia Commonwealth University
B.S., Pennsylvania State University