The Morean Center for Clay unveils a dual-artist exhibition, Greater Than the Sum of its Parts, focusing on collaborative works from Elle and Charles Dean.

This exhibition will feature many mediums including ceramic, stone, and wood sculpture as well as framed terra cotta landscapes, oil paintings, and photography. These varied works will showcase the artists’ collaborative synergy.

The two artists met through Elle Leonard Dean’s "Tiles and Murals" class and grew their collaborative dynamics from there. Elle designs and builds large, site-specific ceramic installations nationally, including the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA, Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD, and the local St. Petersburg Clearwater Airport, to name a few. She is the founder of Architectural Ceramics LLC in Sarasota and currently leads creative forces for large installations.

Artist Charles Dean, a Detroit native, forms his artistic background from employment as a design sculptor with General Motors, executing clay models of plasticine. There, he learned technical skills which he now incorporates into large installations using earthen clay. He attended graduate school in sculpture at Wayne State University and has also long been an avid photographer.

In this exhibition, you will find Elle’s ceramic works including Bocce, Joy and Geology. Charles’ ceramic pieces will include tableware, hand-built sculpture, and large-framed photographs.

Exhibitions are free and open to the public from Wednesday to Saturday,10am-5pm. The show will be on display from November 9 to December 28.