Whether this opinion is positive, negative or just plain bafflement, the Clay Center is delighted that it has ignited artistic discourse among so many.

“It’s doing what art does best: creating a dialogue – getting a reaction,” said Barbara Racker, art curator of the Clay Center. “It would be disconcerting if no one said anything about it.”

Now, a year-and-a-half later, the Clay Center wants to take this widespread discussion and focus it into a single stimulating conversation between the community and a panel of four local artists called, “Hallelujah: A Dialogue with the Art Community.”

The discussion is an extension of an exhibit called “Geometric, Staccato, and Lyrical: The Sculpture of Albert Paley,” which opened in the Clay Center’s art gallery in October 2010. In addition to “Hallelujah,” the exhibit features an array of Paley’s art, spanning his 40-year career in metal sculpture.

On display in the art gallery are 20 maquettes – scaled down models – of Paley’s sculptures, which are featured all over the globe. The display includes Paley’s sketches and cardboard mock-ups, photographs and video footage of Paley at work, and finally his maquettes ranging from 2 to 12 feet in height, giving visitors a better understanding of the artist’s creative process and technique.

“I think the exhibit really shows Paley’s range and represents him well,” said Lewis Ferguson, director of Visual Arts and Sciences at the Clay Center. “It’s a great way for people to see his representational side, as opposed to just his abstract or non-objective style.”

From his utilitarian pieces such as a table and floor lamp, to the downsized maquettes of life-sized African savannah animals he created for the St. Louis Zoo (including an elephant, a giraffe and a rhinoceros), this range is certainly apparent.

Perhaps what is most impressive is the execution of the physical feat of building these larger-than-life sculptures.

“To look at the sculptures in the gallery right now, they’re impressive on their own,” Ferguson said. “But when (visitors) realize that they’re just maquettes, it just amazes people.”

The exhibit includes photographs of these final sculptures in their environments: people walk below the leafy-arches of “Animals Always” at St. Louis Zoo, the tree-like “Evanesce” seemingly grows next to a highway in Mexico City, and so on.

Observing Paley’s process for each sculpture in each location, it becomes clear that each of his sculptures was created with both intention and purpose: that each creation was made to belong in that exact location, to both embody and represent its environment.