Rachel Gloria Adams and Ryan Adams will transform the Worcester Art Museum’s Salisbury Hall with a vibrant new mural. The artists blend their distinct styles—Ryan’s signature “gem” lettering and Rachel’s quilting-inspired abstraction—into a dynamic geometric design that will envelop the space. Line drawings with iconography alluding to their family will punctuate the mural, as if embroidered on an heirloom patchwork quilt, creating moments that reward close looking and contemplation.
The title, The More I Wonder, The More I Love, will feature prominently in the mural and embodies the core sentiment behind the work, which is inspired by the artists’ young daughters. Having each grown up as one of few Black children in predominantly white environments, the artists reflect, “the stereotypical expectations of what was expected from you as a young Black man/woman created these invisible boundaries around us that restricted us from partaking in certain activities and seeing ourselves as capable of doing anything we dreamed of. We are trying our best to show our girls a world outside of those invisible barriers, when they are free to wonder and explore all that life can offer.”
The title is inspired by a quote from the novel The Color Purple (1982) by Alice Walker: “I think us here to wonder, myself. To wonder. To ask. And that in wondering bout the big things and asking bout the big things, you learn about the little ones, almost by accident. But you never know nothing more about the big things than you start out with. The more I wonder, he say, the more I love.” Alluding to curiosity as a path to empathy, the mural’s title is an apt invitation to open-mindedness as visitors travel through the space and into the Museum’s intercultural galleries.
More about the artists
Rachel Gloria Adams (American, born 1987) is a multidisciplinary artist whose vibrant, graphic
pattern-based visual language is filled with references to the natural world. She works in various
forms, including quilting, painting, design, and large-scale murals. She has exhibited artwork at the Portland Museum of Art, Center for Maine Contemporary Art and Dowling Walsh Gallery. She has attended residencies at Speedwell and Pace House and is an Indigo Arts Alliance David C. Driskell Fellow. In addition to her studio practice, Adams has been commissioned to create murals for institutions including the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine, the Farnsworth Art Museum, and the University of Maine on the Orono campus.
Ryan Adams is a painter and muralist. His background in traditional graffiti led him to creating
large-scale mural work, hand-lettered signage, and paintings. His signature ‘gem’ style of work
is a geometric breakdown of letterforms with shadows and highlights embedded within, to create
depth and movement throughout. His studio practice is rooted in the exploration of form and
abstraction while remaining true to his background in letter studies. Ryan has exhibited his work at the Portland Museum of Art, The Institute of Contemporary Art in Portland, and The Center for Maine Contemporary Art. Adams has also been commissioned to create murals for Nike, Patagonia, Converse, Samsung, L.L.Bean, Google, and the Newport Jazz Festival.
The artists live and work in Portland, ME, where they co-own and operate a mural company.
Contemporary art installations in common spaces at WAM are supported by the Fletcher Foundation, Larry and Marla Curtis, the Don and Mary Melville Contemporary Art Fund, the John M. Nelson Fund, and Marlene and David Persky.
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