State Arts Capital Grant Will Help Annmarie Garden Triple Clay Studio Capacity
Expansion will create more room for creativity, connection, and hands-on learning
SOLOMONS, Md., September 8, 2026 — Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center has been awarded a $500,000 Arts Capital Grant from the Maryland State Arts Council (State of Maryland Department of Commerce) to transform the current maintenance barn into an expanded community Clay Studio, significantly increasing the organization’s capacity to offer ceramics classes and programs. Currently housed in a converted two-car garage, Annmarie’s Clay Studio serves students of all experience levels through classes in hand building, wheel throwing, glazing, and other ceramic techniques. Given current limits on capacity, it is a testament to the ingenuity of the staff and faculty that Annmarie has been able to offer so many classes in such a cramped space. Happily, the new space will triple capacity and allow Annmarie to better meet the demands of the community.
Annmarie Garden is one of nine organizations from across the state being awarded capital grants this year from an applicant pool of 34. The Arts Capital Grant program provides eligible Maryland organizations with state capital funding for projects that create or improve complete, usable, and accessible arts facilities. Over the last three years, 34 organizations have been awarded arts capital grants through this program. Annmarie is the first organization in Calvert County to receive an Arts Capital Grant.
The expansion of Annmarie’s Clay Studio is part of a larger Long-Range Expansion Plan for Annmarie Garden that was adopted by the Annmarie Garden boards in June of 2024. The Plan calls for many exciting improvements to the 50-acre campus, including a new Waterfront Visitor Center, kayak and canoe launch facilities, expanded trails and native beds, new locations for sculpture, a green parking field, expanded classroom space, and a new Nature Center, among other improvements. The Plan will take many years, even decades, to come to fruition, but the Clay Studio expansion was identified as high priority as demand for classes has outstripped capacity. To learn more about Annmarie’s Long-Range Expansion Plan, visit https://www.annmariegarden.org/annmarie2/imagine-future.
The new Clay Studio will triple current capacity, accommodate larger class sizes, increase program capacity, and improve accessibility for students of all abilities. In particular, the new facility will enable Annmarie to offer programs associated with a new practice called social prescribing, an exciting healthcare approach that connects people to non-medical, community-based activities to improve their health and well-being. Social prescribing is based on the idea that community connection and creativity can be an important component of healing and healthy lifestyle choices. With a mission that seeks to “nurture the human spirit and contribute to a healthy society,” Annmarie sees the expanded Clay Studio as a space to expand their mission and reach.
“When we began developing our Long-Range Expansion Plan, the Clay Studio emerged again and again as a priority for our community, and as we embrace the benefits of wellness programming and social prescribing, Annmarie is proud to be on the cutting edge of building a healthy society in our community,” said Stacey Hann-Ruff, Director of Annmarie Garden. “We heard from students, teachers, members, volunteers, and area residents who wanted greater access to clay programs. Their enthusiasm helped shape this project, and this expansion will allow us to welcome more people into this creative space where they can enjoy clay’s many healing and beneficial properties.”
Jaimie Jeffrey, Deputy Director and Curator of Education, and her Clay Studio Dream Team are leading the effort to design and think through the interior space. The Dream Team is comprised of key staff, faculty, and prominent professional clay artists from Southern Maryland, including Jaimie Jeffrey, Ray Bogle, Leigh Dolesh, Kira Okshewsky, Krista Spalding, Geraldine Gancayco, Sasha Dulyachinda, Sarah Houde, Diana Manchak, Parran Collery, Alice Yutzy, Robyn Strayer, and Jennifer Adamson. For the past six months, the Dream Team has been visiting other regional community clay spaces, meeting with staff, and envisioning the best workflow and work zones in the new space in an effort to accommodate multiple groups and functions at one time. Their hours of research will inform the transformation of the space from maintenance barn to clay studio. “Our small but mighty Clay Studio has been ready to grow for quite some time, so this grant award from the Maryland State Arts Council is incredibly exciting,” said Jaimie Jeffrey, Deputy Director & Curator of Education at Annmarie Garden. “Our Dream Team is working hard to design a space that works for our community, tripling our studio capacity to allow us to expand our reach and develop new programs that celebrate wellness through mindfulness, creativity, and connection.”
Ray Bogle, celebrated Maryland ceramic artist, long-time Clay Studio faculty, and member of the Dream Team, shared the impact the Clay Studio has had on his own life and the lives of his students: “More than a place to take a pottery class or a walk, Annmarie is a place of activity, peace, healing, art, and people. Twenty years later, I still recognize the healing effect that the simple act of creating something with clay can have on one’s life. Knowing I may have helped someone smile and feel good about themself is a tremendous blessing and gives me a sense of purpose.”
Annmarie Garden wishes to acknowledge the many people who made this capital grant possible, most notably the staff and leadership at the Maryland State Arts Council and the Department of Commerce, as well as the State of Maryland leadership and the state legislature for their commitment to the arts. Maryland understands that the arts make our communities strong and vibrant, both in terms of quality of life and economic vitality. Annmarie is deeply grateful to the Clay Studio Dream Team for their hard work, and the many artists and students who have supported the Clay Studio over the past twenty years. Thanks to this extraordinary community, a new Clay Studio will take shape at Annmarie over the next two years. A projected construction start date will be announced early next year. To learn more about the MSAC Art Capital grants program, visit https://msac.org/.
About Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center
Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center is located in scenic Solomons, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay. The sculpture garden features a walking path that meanders through the forest past permanent and loaned sculpture, including more than 35 works of art on loan from the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art. Annmarie Garden also presents a variety of award-winning special events, gallery shows, and engaging public art programs. Annmarie Garden’s Studio School offers creative classes for all ages and abilities taught by a talented faculty. Annmarie Garden is conveniently located just off Route 2-4, on Dowell Road in Solomons, Maryland; open 9am-5pm daily; the Murray Arts Building and Gift Shop are open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. To learn more, visit www.annmariegarden.org.
