New Chalk Wall Mural at Pullen Arts Center

Sow, Make, Repeat by Emily Malpass

Artist Statement

Emily Rubin Malpass is a teaching artist most often found working in three dimensions at Pullen Arts Center - teaching or making handbuilt and wheel thrown ceramics, or more recently as a beginner tinkering in the jewelry studio. Her personal artistic path in the past several years has also branched out into the 2-D world, especially in printmaking and letterpress printing at Pullen Arts Center and at Penland School of Crafts. Emily's 2-D work pairs bold graphic imagery and pattern work with text, communicating messages of empowerment, encouragement, and calls to action.

Sow, Make, Repeat centers around the image of the dandelion, which symbolizes resilience, self-determination, and a defiance against conformity and submission. These values are key to Emily's approach to teaching, making art, and engaging in advocacy/activism beyond the studio. The dandelion is prolific, beautiful in its simplicity and repetition, difficult to eradicate or control, and a boon to native ecologies. This spirit is one that creatives need to embrace during the difficult times of the present and future; surrounding the central image and message of the mural are additional messages of encouragement and validation for the artists and makers who pass by throughout the fall at Pullen. Many of these refrains are gleaned from mentors and teachers Emily has studied with; they are seeds of thought that bolster her and that she wishes to send far and wide.

Artist Bio

Emily Rubin Malpass is an interdisciplinary artist with a passion for equipping folks to find their own way with clay at every age and stage of artistic development, while connecting to themselves and each other in the process. She prioritizes inclusion in the craft arts, especially focused on supporting neurodiverse and visually or developmentally disabled learners. Emily leads classes for youth and adults at Pullen Arts Center and for veterans and their families through The Joel Fund's Operation Art program. When she's not making potters, she enjoys creating wheel-thrown ceramics and works in fiber art/quilting, slow mending, lettering and sign painting, and letterpress printing. Emily also trains in the martial art To-Shin Do, and engages in advocacy work in support of public education. She lives in Raleigh with her husband, two school-aged children, and two black cats.

Plan Your Visit

Located at our first-floor entrance, the chalk mural wall provides invited artists with a blank canvas to create new artworks on the wall every two to three months.

• When: Oct. 17 - Jan. 25, 2026
• Location: Pullen Arts Center, 105 Pullen Rd., Raleigh, NC 27607
• Parking: Visitors must have a parking permit between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Check in at Pullen Arts Center's front desk for a license plate-based parking permit. View our parking map
• Cost: Free and open to public
• Hours:
  • Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. - 10 p.m.
  • Friday, Closed
  • Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.