Current Exhibitions
ARTINA 2025: Upside Down – Inside Out
September 7 – November 9, 2025
ARTINA, the ART IN NAture sculpture garden, now in its 9th year, is an ongoing partnership between Washington Sculptors Group and Sandy Spring Museum that invites social engagement with the environment through collaborative art making.
This year, artists from Washington Sculptors Group will continue to present site specific works installed across the museum's 7-acre grounds. Juried by Washington, D.C.–based artist and arts professional, Zoma Wallace, the exhibition invites artists to respond to a world that feels increasingly disoriented and unstable.
Wallace's curatorial statement challenges artists to reflect on the confusion of the present moment—where what was once certain is now in flux, and societal norms seem to have flipped. Through sculpture, installation, performance, and sound, artists explore ideas of inversion and reorientation from many angles: geographic, psychological, political, and material.
The exhibition embraces the carnivalesque: a space of disorder and delight, irony and satire, surreal and absurdity. It invites interpretations ranging from playful to profound, silly to serious, uncanny to critical.
Upside Down, Inside Out offers a space for artists and viewers alike to question the status quo, challenge fixed positions, and navigate shifting paradigms with creativity and curiosity.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Esperanza Alzona, Joanathan Bessaci, Matthew Duffy, Gayle Friedman, McCleary Gallagher, Judith Goodman, Barbara Januszkiewicz, Joshua Prince, Lynda Smith-Bugge, and James Wysolmierski.
Artworks from ARTINA 2024
Inside/Outside: Expressions of Identity
September 28 – November 16, 2025
During the 2024-25 school year, students in grades 7 through 12 at Sandy Spring Friends School explored the themes of cultural and family traditions through artwork. Sandy Spring Friends School, founded in 1961, is a community that follows the principles of the Quaker testimonies: Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equity, and Stewardship. These principles can be seen in the students' works.
This inspiring exhibition showcases the creative talents of high school students as they explore and express the deep, meaningful connections between culture and family traditions. Through various media—painting, photography, ceramics, digital art, and mixed media—these young artists invite viewers to reflect on the customs, values, and practices that have shaped their own identities and communities.
Each piece tells a unique story, blending personal heritage with the universal themes of love, resilience, and belonging. The exhibition offers a powerful glimpse into the diverse backgrounds of the student artists, celebrating the richness of their cultural narratives while highlighting the common threads that unite us all.
We invite you to step into this world of expression and reflection, where each brushstroke and photograph is a tribute to the strength of family ties and the beauty of cultural heritage.
Upcoming exhibitions
The Garden of Inspiration by Alla Borovskaia.
August 25 – September 26, 2025
The Garden of Inspiration is an exhibition blooming in the Community Gallery of the museum, presenting the vision of artist Alla Borovskaia. The displayed works are created using techniques with a thousand-year history, combined with the artist's contemporary signature methods.
In these sculptural artworks made of sheep's wool, ancient traditions are interwoven with personal stories, serving as vessels that highlight the lives and voices of local residents. The exhibition offers a contemplative space that connects past and present, collective memory and individual experience.
It is an invitation to reflect, to feel, and to fill the vessel of the soul.
Great Truths without Division: Chinese Garden Culture in Contemporary Art
July 27 – September 21, 2025
Great Truths Without Division: Chinese Garden Culture in Contemporary Art explores how contemporary artists reinterpret traditional East Asian Garden aesthetics to reflect themes of transformation, spirituality, and cultural exchange. Rooted in the philosophies of Taoism, Buddhism, and Christianity, the exhibition reflects on the interconnectedness of all life forms and the shared future of humanity.
Featuring works by 32 contemporary artists, including faculty and students from the Academy of Fine Arts at Minzu University of China, the exhibition blends traditional values with modern artistic approaches. The artworks— ranging from painting and sculpture to installation and digital media—draw inspiration from classical garden design and philosophy while reimagining them through modern global and digital lenses.
This multicultural exhibition illustrates how ancient wisdom can find new expressions in contemporary art, offering fresh perspectives on unity, ecology, and human experience. It emphasizes cultural diversity and invites public reflection on how tradition and innovation can coexist.
By bridging East and West, and past and present, the exhibition fosters meaningful dialogue and strengthens connections between communities in China, Sandy Spring and elsewhere.
Outdoor Public Art: Invisible Paradise
July 28 – September 21, 2025
This summer, experience a 9-foot-tall interactive installation on the museum grounds! Blending sight, sound, touch, and scent, the artwork by Hui Han invites visitors into a playful moment of harmony between humans and nature. Bring the little ones—come play with the panda!
The panda has arrived! Although we originally planned to install the sculpture outdoors, our panda friend—who comes from the cool mountains of China—wasn't too fond of Maryland's summer heat. So, we've invited him inside the museum to enjoy the air conditioning!
Come inside the museum and meet our new friend from China! He's here for you to gently interact with during our regular hours. We can't wait for you to stop by and say hello! Be sure to tag us @sandyspringmuseum in your photos.
Hui Han is a Chinese trendsetting IP (Intellectual Property) artist. He creates an atmosphere inspired by Zen philosophy, leading participants on a journey of self-discovery and the enhancement of life's value.