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This exhibit was on display in Summer 2013. This was an exhibit of oil and water color paintings that referenced the spirit of Sandy Spring and its history. Her work addressed the ways one occupies space and the ways one assigns color and graphics to various objects. Bellairs also explored the Museum’s collection and created new pieces inspired by what she saw. Her favorite objects were documented visually and organized and regrouped by color and pattern in the community. She enabled viewers to see the items in the collection in a new light and imagine what life was like in past times.
Maggie King Johns is an artist and educator based in Washington, D.C. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art in 2014 from the University of Virginia and a Master of Fine Arts in Painting from Boston University in 2020. She teaches drawing and painting at UMGC, College Park and IB art at Girls Global Academy in DC. Her work explores feminine identity and alternate realities through the structures of mapping, language, color, materiality, and symbols.
On Exhibit October 9 – November 23, 2020
Makers Among Us features the work of young, emerging visual artists living in the Washington, DC metro area. The exhibit highlights the freedom, imperfections, creativity, and unique perspectives of artists who are just beginning their artistic careers, and who do not necessarily have years of experience and formal training under their belts. Makers Among Us provides a platform for contemporary artists who have had limited opportunities to share their work with the public and a space for audiences to discover new talent and perspectives.
The individual artists are driven to create but also to share their work with you, the viewer. Their art is not only a vehicle for self-expression but also an avenue to communicate with audiences across generations and other perceived boundaries.
Featured Artists
Connor Czora
Hannah Becker
Dew Charmant
Mariah Gugel
Grace Roach
Daria Parsa
Naja Elon Webb
Gabi Mendick
About the Curator
Gabi Mendick is a self-taught artist who finds that her lack of formal training gives her greater freedom to explore and express her ideas and to experiment with a wide variety of media. She believes art and humor are accessible vehicles to connect with each other, ways to express opinions and emotions that are honest but thoughtful, and that can open considerate debate and discussion. Ms. Mendick views art as a way to begin to understand the least significant and the most significant similarities and differences between people. As the exhibit curator, Ms. Mendick wanted to give other informally-trained artists a platform to express themselves.
On Exhibit August 5 – November 29, 2020
This outdoor juried sculpture garden curated by Gaby Mizes featured works by members of the Washington Sculptors Group installed throughout the rustic museum grounds.
As climate change concerns continue to rise, we need to increase the uptake of renewable energy to help reduce the use of polluting fossil fuels. In this exhibit, LIGHT: A Sculptural Solar Dance, artists used renewable energy sculptures to represent a need for better environmental responsibility. Work in this exhibition re-imagines solar energy as an art form. It adopts sunlight as the medium, the subject matter, or the energy source of the art. Artists explored how light, sun, sound, and energy intersect, capturing the importance of sustainability by using solar energy in existing or site-specific outdoor sculptures: art made from sunlight—the energy source for life on Earth. These sculptural displays celebrate the energy of the sun’s warming rays.
In thinking through the dance between art and light, Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson’s and American artist James Turrell’s thoughts may come to mind:
“I am obsessed with light. How light forms a space. How a space forms light. As a child I grew up in Iceland where there is no sunlight in the winter. It simply stays dark all day. Light became something that pulled people together. Light became a way of connecting to other people. Light is social. Light is life.”
—Olafur Eliasson
“Light is not so much something that reveals, as it is itself the revelation.”
—James Turrell
About the Juror and Curator
María Gabriela (“Gaby”) Mizes is originally from Argentina. She graduated from the Instituto Argentina de MuseologÍa in Buenos Aires and Columbia University in New York and has worked around the world for many museums and art institutions. These include the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires; the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York as Assistant Curator of the traveling exhibition Latin American Artists of the Twentieth Century; and the American Federation of Arts, where she handled traveling exhibitions in the United States and abroad.
In Washington, DC, Gaby founded Latin American ERA, a private consultancy company providing expertise in exhibitions and art collections management for national and international projects, and has worked for the Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and several private art collections. She is currently the Director of Registration at Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Maryland, where she has been coordinating exhibition installations, managing the outgoing loans program, planning and designing art storage facilities, and caring for the collection for thirteen years.
Travel Diary: Isabel R. Farquhar, 1896
Diary, 1991.0084.0003
When I started reading this diary, I wasn’t expecting to be led through a journey of what surely must be one of the more interesting vacations ever recorded. In one trip, Isabel documents mass sea-sickness, horse-drawn carriage related injuries, the beauty of the solar eclipse seen at sea, and the opulence of churches in St. Petersburg. I was enthralled the entire read, due in no small part to the wonderful writing of its author. One passage I found to be particularly enjoyable describes a man who mistakes Isabel’s traveling partner “H.” as an escaped lunatic due to his attempt to see the North Star in St. Petersburg. Vacationing is either difficult or impossible now during the global Covid-19 pandemic, and I found this to be a nice step away from life into the adventures of another, in some ways reminding me of my own experiences traveling.
Letter: George William Brown to Edward Stabler, March 30, 1858
This letter may not be as immediately exciting as others, but the legacy of its contents interests me greatly. Edward Stabler’s prowess as a seal maker and the beauty of his Smithsonian Seal was such that he was contacted by George William Brown, who was the founder of the Maryland Historical Society and the President of The Library Company of the Baltimore Bar, to create a seal for the Peabody Institute. George William Brown is a fascinating character, only two years after this letter was sent he was the mayor of Baltimore, and a year after that, he was in jail. He was an inciting force in the Pratt Street Riots in Baltimore, apparently taking a rifle from the hands of a present soldier and shooting one of the rioters himself. Strangely enough, it seems his arrest had nothing to do with that, but with his authorization of the destruction of railroad bridges during the ensuing riots. The curiosity these archives inspire is truly special, reading through this letter led me to research the people involved and learn about their personal history, and in turn, gave some more context to the letter itself. I can wholeheartedly recommend doing the same, research the subject involved in any documents you come across, you never know what you’re going to find
Diary, 2001.0019.0040
Fifteen-year-old John Caleb Bentley’s copybook will astonish you with not only the detailed complexities of his equations but also the eloquence of his penmanship. As a bonus, John has a habit of doodling in the margins, which gives you a little insight into what a teenager in 1865 thinks about while in school.
Club Minutes: Horticultural Society, April 1863
Have you ever been faced with a dreaded mole invasion in your garden? Apparently the Horticultural Club in April 1863 was facing the same problem as noted in their minutes, “Question: How do you get rid of moles? Answer: Unknown.” Well, some things don’t change with the passing of time. Or, how about this one, “Question: how do you raise broccoli? Answer: as cabbage.” So, I wonder how you raise cabbage!
Scrapbook: Clippings about Sophia Kummer Pierce and relatives, 1923-1932
Those who disparage a diet that includes tea and coffee haven’t heard of Mrs. Sophia Kummer Pierce of Montgomery County. Born in 1824, Sophia lived to be 103 years and credits her long life to “simple living, hard work and a firm belief in the goodness of Divine Providence.” She noted that she used tea and coffee all her life and it had not hurt her! Sophie’s husband, Edward Pierce who spent many years in California during the gold rush, must have shared her penchant for coffee, as he lived for 94 years! Look through this scrapbook dedicated to Sophie’s life and you will wish you’d met this charming centenarian!
Poem: John (Jack) N. Bentley, 1918
Poetry celebrating 25th wedding anniversary of John C. and Cornelia H. Bentley, 1907
This is a collection of poems and notes that celebrate the 25th anniversary of John and Cornelia Bentley. The friends and family of the Bentley’s wrote these words and they are sweet mementos from this occasion. I like the creativity of their friends and the ways that they sent their congratulations.
Invitation: New Zealand Ambassador and Mrs. Munro to Mr. and Mrs. J. Bentley, 1954
This invitation to the New Zealand embassy is very interesting to me as this is an international link to the Bentley’s in the Sandy Spring community. I imagine that attending a cocktail party at an embassy is a classy event and it is interesting to see the handwritten note that is included in this invitation. Clearly the Bentley’s knew some people in high places!
Caricature: by (Earl D.) Chesney baseball of Jack Bentley
Caricatures are always interesting because they highlight a specific aspect of one’s personality or persona. This drawing of Jack Bentley displays his baseball career in a really dynamic way. I especially like the action lines around his exaggerated foot that give the feeling of movement or momentum as he winds up to throw the ball.
Letter: to editor of American Farmer
Letter, 2001.0001.0018aa
Gardening has seen a resurgence and expansion during the coronavirus shutdowns, many are cultivating their land and seeing what varied items they can try to grow. An important aspect to gardening and farming is using fertilizer to add essential nutrients for growth. This letter is an interesting description of bat guano, a fertilizer famously introduced to Sandy Spring in the 19th century, which was traded from Peru.
George Ellicott Survey Book, 1794
Daybook, 20009.0028.0017
One of the oldest holdings in the Sandy Spring Museum Archives is the Survey Notebook of George Ellicott. George, son of Ellicott Mill founder Andrew Ellicott, married Elizabeth Brooke (daughter of James Brooke Jr.) in 1790. She recently inherited part of her father’s share of Pioneer Settler James Brooke’s vast estate. Reading this Survey Notebook of the Sandy Spring region reveals all the commonly known land patents – Charley Forrest, Brooke Grove, Gittings Ha-Ha, and Brooke Black Meadow. It also introduces you to some cleverly named new ones – Hard Bought, Bear Garden Forrest, Pork Plenty, and many more! It is obvious that George Ellicott is very interested in documenting his wife’s newly acquired land holdings. Their daughter, Elizabeth Ellicott, would marry Thomas Lea and later go on to national fame as the author of a famous cookbook!
The Community Council of Sandy Spring Neighborhood Minutes from 1930
Before the days of Homeowner Associations and Civic Associations, there was the Community Council of Sandy Spring Neighborhood. The Community Council engaged with local governments on behalf of the Sandy Spring Clubs to effect positive change in the Sandy Spring Community. Road improvements, landscaping, electricity, water, and sewer were all hot topics. It’s fun to read about the Council’s concerns regarding development and compare it with the issues local residents face today.
Club Minutes: The Neighbors, 1914-1923
In 1921, The Neighbors, a Sandy Spring Social Club, formed a Committee to develop a “Sandy Spring Creed”. The idea was to communicate the spirit of unity embodied by Sandy Springers. Contributions from the community were submitted and the Committee announced the winner at the 268th meeting held August 18, 1921. The winning entry, written by Huldah Janney, is timeless and inspires us to act selflessly, especially during these trying times. You can also read the other entries that were submitted to the Committee by reading the previous pages.
Diary: James P. Stabler, 1827 (Volume 1)
James Pleasants Stabler, the first Postmaster of Sandy Spring and part-owner of the Sandy Spring Store, had recently suffered through the death of his wife Elizabeth Gilpin and 3 children when he decided to take a Trans-Atlantic journey in 1827. He kept a meticulous journal(s) of his adventure. Volume 1 starts on June 16, 1827, and spans 28 days – the time it took the packet ship “Pacific” to cross the Atlantic from New York to Liverpool. Packet Ships were similar to the airlines of today, in that they kept regular schedules between major cities. Reading his detailed diary will teach you about the risks and hardships undertaken by the crews and passengers of the packet ship vessels that sailed the oceans between continents. In addition, we learn what life was like on board the ship for Stabler and his fellow passengers and what they did to while away the many days spent at sea.
Miscellanea found in a ledger of Caleb Edward Iddings, 1888-1901
Advertisement, found in 2004.0004.0005
My days are often brightened by the bits and bobs we find tucked into diaries or ledgers. While often unremarkable scratchings and miscellanea, these stray pieces survive decades and even centuries by simply been unthinkingly slipped between random pages; it feels so personal, a little like preserving the contents of one’s pockets or purse on any given day. When I came across this gem hidden inside one of Dr. Caleb Edward Iddings’ ledgers, I gasped. Who knew creosote could be medicinal!
Letter: John H.B. Latrobe to Edward Stabler, 1845
These three letters from John H.B. Latrobe to Edward Stabler were written between March 16th and April 4th, 1845 in which designs for a stamp for the State of Maryland are discussed. That these two gentlemen collaborated on such a task is somewhat unremarkable; after all, Stabler was a seal maker and Latrobe an engineer. What captures my interest is that both men were true polymaths: Stabler was also a farmer, the postmaster of Sandy Spring, and the head of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company; Latrobe was also a patent lawyer, an inventor (the Latrobe stove), and founding member of the Maryland Historical Association and the American Bar Association. It’s fun to imagine how the genius of one may have fed off of (or collided with) the other.
Diary of Caleb E. Iddings, 1904-1905
This particular diary is a bittersweet testament to marital devotion. Dr. Caleb Edward Iddings was a lifelong diarist faithfully recording his daily experiences throughout his entire adult life. In the year of his death, he continued to write daily until mid-February, after which his wife Harriet begins to sporadically add notes of Dr. Iddings’ declining health and of visitors offering well wishes. Following his passing on June 4, 1904, Harriet picks up the pen and begins a daily chronicle in same book, continuing ritual for many years afterward.
Club Minutes: Mutual Improvement Association, Feb. 7, 1918 and Scrapbook: Deborah Iddings, 1913-1921
I had to giggle when I saw how these two items together illustrate that generation gaps have existed long before the “OK Boomer” crowd! A discussion of the “unladylike and deleterious habit of chewing gum” among the younger generation ensued during the February meeting of The Mutual Improvement Association in 1918. The women rested assured, however, saying that their “dear Sandy Spring is comparatively clear of girls addicted to this disgusting habit”. That said, in browsing the scrapbook of a young Deborah Willson (nee Iddings) from the same period I found, nestled among her most treasured memories and mementos, two gum wrappers! The irony is that Deborah eventually joined the club herself as an adult and I am sure her future self engaged in many discussions regarding the “younger generation.”
Journals, Tales of the Dismal Campers, 1887-1896
Journal, 1982.0007.0003
This journal details the experiences of a group of young Sandy Spring women who attended a summer vacation, where they occupied a building for a week, called Camp Dismal. There are several volumes spanning a few years that chronicle the journey of these ladies. There are quirky tales, notes, songs, and more included in their writings.
Sketchbook: Sarah T. Wood, 1889-1894
This little sketchbook contains small pencil drawings down around the Sandy Spring area. As an artist myself, I know how personal, yet interesting artist sketchbooks can be. They show little outlines or written ideas, in unfinished yet often still beautiful ways.
Seal impression: Orphans’ Court of Prince George’s County
This item is a seal impression from the Orphans’ Court of Prince George’s County. Though not as vibrant to view as the actual seal would be, the impression shows the amount of detail and intricacy included in this seal. It looks a bit like a coin. This seal was designed and manufactured by Edward Stabler of Sandy Spring, which makes it an interesting work of art as well.
Birthday book: Mary Ellicott Gilpin, ca1852-1946
This piece is a book to help keep track of birthdays. I really like this because it shows the pre-digital era before we could access birthdays with a couple of quick clicks. I personally write the birthdays of my family and close friends in my day planner as a way to remember them each year, so this book reminds me of that practice. Also, it’s fun to page through and see if there are any “birthday buddies” on your birthday.
Scrapbook: Mary Bentley Thomas, 1845-1923
Scrapbook, 2008.0028.0001
In 1915, the Suffrage Caravan traveled through Maryland. On their way through Montgomery County, they paid a visit to an aging Mary Bentley Thomas at her Belmont farm. This page from her scrapbook details the visit. Mary Bentley Thomas obviously had a sense of humor based on the newspaper clipping of Francis Snowden’s reasoning why women should have the right to vote.
Sandy Spring has a long history of Social Clubs and the Sandy Spring Museum is fortunate to be the repository for many of the Social Club’s minutes. As a member, and Archival Secretary, of a Sandy Spring Social Club (The Neighbors), I understand the tremendous value the Club Minutes provide historians who wish to research the Sandy Spring Community. In 1986, The Neighbors (founded 1897) celebrated their 1000th Meeting at the Cedars. The following pages, documented in a booklet, detail a history of the Club and its members, along with humorous snippets from its many meetings, along with a tribute to long-time member Dr. Jacob Bird.
Club Minutes: The Mutual Improvement Association
The Mutual Improvement Association is considered by many to be the longest-serving Women’s Social Club in the United States (founded 1857). In 2007, “Association” celebrated its 150th Anniversary at a meeting held at the Cedars. The following minutes paint a vivid portrait of their sweet tooth’s! Then, read the attached poems, pages 17-23, especially Katherine Farquhar’s!
Enterprise Farmers Club Centennial Meeting, January 1966
The Enterprise Farmers Club (called the “Junior Club”), has been meeting since December 1865. Along with the Sandy Spring Farmers Club (founded in 1844 and called the “Senior Club”), they comprise some of the oldest farmers’ clubs in the country. The club membership regularly met to discuss agricultural issues, solutions and to inspect and critique the monthly host’s farming operation (livestock, crops, equipment). If you want to understand the rural and agricultural history of the Sandy Spring Community, look no further than the Enterprise Farmers Club Minutes. They celebrated their Centennial Meeting in January of 1966 and the Minutes give a fine overview of the Club’s history. After reading this, I guarantee you’ll want to read more!
Letter, Jack Bentley to His Mother, October 28, 1918
Letter, 1997.0005.0379
If you love history, then you will enjoy reading about a local Sandy Spring hero—Jack Bentley. His letters (and there are many) tell of his travels and experiences during WWI. If you want to read primary documents, then the letters from Jack Bentley to his mother will keep your interest, to say the least. Within the pages of his various letters, you capture a glimpse into the life of a WWI soldier.
Letter, Jack Bentley to His Mother, September 18, 1918
This letter is a fascinating first-hand account written by Jack Bentley to his mother describing German planes opening fire on his unit, dated September 18, 1918. This primary document is one of many in the Bentley collection.
John Caleb Bentley Copybook, 1865
Fifteen-year-old John Caleb Bentley’s copybook will astonish you with not only the detailed complexities of his equations but also the eloquence of his penmanship. As a bonus, John has a habit of doodling in the margins, which gives you a little insight into what a teenager in 1865 thinks about while in school.
Ellen Stabler was born in 1834 and lived until 1924. The diary entry I chose was written in 1860 when Ellen was 26 years old. Ellen writes of the daily comings and goings of her family and friends in Sandy Spring’s tight-knit Quaker community. It’s hard to imagine how Ellen could get anything done with her full social schedule.
On this page, she writes that her mother and father went to Dr. Howards and Lucy is dining at Phil’s. She went to Uncle Samuels’ and the next day they went sleigh riding then returned home from Cherry Groove just in time for a meeting. After the meeting, Debbie dined at the home in Auburn. The next day Lucy, William, Louis, Debbie, and Ellen went to the cottage in the afternoon and brought Debbie to Phil’s after supper to meet her father. At which point, Joe dined at the Millers’ and brought Fred home with him to supper and went to Phil’s after supper! All of this in 1860 – no cars!
Sandy Spring Store Ledger, Account of Whitson Canby, April 15 – July 30, 1819
Store Ledger, 2013.0008.0001
As a kid, I absolutely loved the arrival of the new telephone book and spent hours browsing all the names, imagining the stories and connections among them. Maybe that is why I am so drawn to the incredible collection of Store Ledgers in our archives and all the stories they can tell. On April 15, 1819, Whitson Canby purchased just over 16 yards of fabric from Sandy Spring Store; a large amount indeed. What was happening in the Canby household at the time that warranted so much fabric? A wedding? Furnishings for a new home addition? Simply the time of year for sewing? On the same day, he settled part of his account with $18.62 worth of earthenware from his pottery works which is equivalent to approximately $378 today. Was this exchange of goods a long-standing arrangement or one-time occurrence? Were both parties in agreement or was there negotiation? How much of the economy of the early Sandy Spring neighborhood was based on barter systems like this? All these questions and this is just one page!
Travel Diary: Deborah Stabler, Summer, 1823
At the age of 60yrs, Deborah Stabler undertook an arduous, several-week overland journey to Clearfield, Pennsylvania in the summer of 1823. She kept a diary that not only recorded the various Quaker Meetings they visited along the way but also vividly detailed the journey and landscapes they passed through. At the bottom of this specific page, she talks about fording a river and you can sense long-standing anxiety about doing so. I find this interesting because Deborah’s fear of river fording is as alien to me as my anxieties related to flying would have been to her. That said, her coping mechanism is all too familiar!
Letter from Sarah Miller Hallowell to Annie, July 23, 1857
In this letter, Sarah Miller Hallowell describes her honeymoon first in Lake George, New York, and then in Niagara Falls, Canada. Having grown up in Canada just 110 km (68 miles) from Niagara Falls, I was tickled to read about all the familiar sights and sounds as would anyone who has visited this area. From the letter, you can sense that Sarah is delighted to be a new bride, having an absolutely wonderful time, and shows off a very sweet sense of humor. When reading the letter, I couldn’t help but hope for a happy marriage for her in her coming years.
Letter: Richard (“Little Dick”) to Elza, undated
We believe this adorable note signed by “Little Dick” was written by Richard Bentley around 1864 to his sister Elza while they were separated during a scarlet fever outbreak. With just a few scratches of a pencil, Little Dick breaks down over 150 years distance between the 5-year experience then and now when he delights in telling Elza that he “rode free (three) times ebry (every) day on the bicycle”!
Diary: Dr. Caleb Edward Iddings, January 23-27, 1881
1983.0083.0012 Diary, Dr. Caleb E. Iddings
In the diary entries for these five days, Dr. Iddings speaks of late nights caring for his youngest child Edward (four years of age at the time) through a bout of croup. As a mom intimately familiar with croup, I could almost hear little Edward’s barking cough and felt an instant connection with Dr. Iddings. His obvious tenderness toward his son is very touching and he tugged at my heartstrings when, on the fourth day when Edward was most sick, Dr. Iddings was riddled with concern and seemingly at a loss as to what else to do so he went to the Ashton Store and bought his son a toy elephant bank.
1981.0025.0005 Copy book, Richard Brooke
Have you ever wondered if the education 250 years ago was more rigorous than the education today? The general consensus is “yes,” but I tend to disagree. Do you know about the “Rule of Three”? Or how about reduction? This copybook belonged to Richard Brooke in 1803. I was amazed that a thirteen-year-old was able to complete these complex exercises. The beautiful handwriting throughout was enough to regret leaving Richard Brooke behind, as I had to move on to the next project.
Autograph Album- Jessie B. Stabler, 1881
1982.0086.0102 Autograph Album, Jessie Stabler
This is a little book of signatures, some with dates and/or locations. I like this item because it is a bit like a school yearbook, where one could have their friends sign their names and leave a little message. Also, the variety of signatures and handwriting styles are very interesting to look at.
Scrapbook: Mary Bentley Thomas, 1845-1923
2008.0028.0001 Scrapbook, Mary Bentley Thomas
This scrapbook is one person’s view of the Sandy Spring Community and the Nation, consisting of periodicals, photographs, and letters clipped from various sources. Mary Bentley Thomas was a pioneer in the Local, State, and National Women’s Suffrage Movement and her scrapbook is chockful of articles written by her and other notables of the time, including Susan B. Anthony. Mary Bentley Thomas lived at the Belmont Farm (Ednor) with her family. The farmhouse and structures no longer exist but my house was built on part of the Belmont tract, less than 100 yards from where she lived!
Josanne Francis is a steel pan musician, educator, and arts administrator based in metropolitan Washington, DC. Francis was born in Trinidad and Tobago in 1988. As a child, Francis became fascinated with the steel pan. Her desire to play the instrument was so strong that, even before she owned a steel pan, Francis took lessons using a cardboard cutout of the instrument’s playing surface and sticks instead of mallets.
During middle school, Francis joined an important Trinidadian steel band, the Starlift Steel Orchestra, and worked closely with Ray Holman — a legendary musician, composer, and arranger in the calypso tradition. The experience inspired Francis to turn her passion for music into a career. At nineteen, Francis left her home to pursue degrees in music education and performance — first a BA from the University of Southern Mississippi and then a MA at Northern Illinois University — in the United States.
In 2014, Francis began working in Maryland as Artistic Director at the Cultural Academy for Excellence (CAFE) — a non-profit arts organization that uses the performing arts as a vehicle for learning, leadership, and academic achievement among youth. As director of the school’s Positive Vibrations Steel Band, Francis empowers students who come from a range of historically marginalized communities. Francis says that the steel pan is the perfect instrument for CAFE’s beginning music students because “they’re not worrying about embouchure or they’re not worrying about fingering. They’re not worried [if] you have a good instrument, [if] you have a good instructor . . . [the steel pan] is very good for those students who would otherwise not be successful in your traditional ensemble classes.” Seeing the impact of the steel band on her students at CAFE, Francis created Steel on Wheels —a mobile set of steel pans and instruction materials available for other schools on a rental basis.
When she is not teaching, Francis is an in-demand performer. With her trio and septet, Francis has performed at the San Juan Conservatory of Music (Puerto Rico), Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Howard University, the University of Maryland, and Humboldt State University. Her performances mix calypso, jazz, reggae, classical, and Hindustani music, representing Francis’ diverse musical background. Francis is also the co-creator of Parallel Intersections — a duo with Chinese dulcimer (yanguin) player, Chao Tian. The two met in 2017 when Francis was an Artist-in-Residence at the prestigious Strathmore Institute for Artistic and Professional Development.
Josanne Francis performs with her septet at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage in 2018.
Parallel Intersections, Josanne Francis and Chao Tian, performing “Shanghuai Shanghuai,” in 2019.
Through her performing and teaching, Francis has also become an experienced non-profit administrator. In 2020, she was hired as the Executive Director of the Cultural Academy for Excellence. As she moves into the future, Francis will continue to share her gifts as an educator, performer, and administrator with others in the Mid-Atlantic, while looking back to her Caribbean roots for inspiration.
Click here to virtually view this exhibit.
On exhibit March 5-May 31, 2020
Jews and Muslims Making Art Together (JAMMART) is a group of unaffiliated, Muslim, and Jewish artists, that gathered together in 2008 for the purpose of creating art, learning about each other’s beliefs and values, and ultimately becoming friends. As they learned more about one another, they decided to create a work of art that focused on areas of deep intersection. The resulting work, composed of paint, fiber, metal, glass, ceramic, and wood, is a declaration of the beauty contained within the two religions and the intermingling of shared values and beliefs.
An American Story exhibited the original JAMMART artwork plus works by sixteen individual artists who are members of JAMMART – all of whom are immigrants, children of immigrants, or grandchildren of immigrants. JAMMART hopes that these works can be a reminder of the ideals that the United States was founded upon. JAMMART’s members want their art to show the power of friendship, community, faith, hope, and love.
Robin Ziek began working with clay in college as an apprentice with a Danish potter. After a long career in history and architecture, she is very glad to come back to clay. Her work involves a combination of wheel and hand-built techniques.
Pamela Reid is a teaching artist and co-owner of Blue Thistle Pottery. She teaches at the Montgomery County Department of Recreation, Artivate in Silver Spring, MD, and Sandy Spring Museum.
Jean Fletcher was an economics professor at Gettysburg College from 1983-2014 and is now a professor emerita. One summer, on a whim, she took a ceramics class and found her true passion. Jean’s work emphasizes the synthesis of modern shapes and natural or traditional designs.
Karen Blynn has been a practicing potter for a long time – while in school, while raising a family, and now after retiring from NASA. Karen resides in Silver Spring, MD after living and playing in various cities and pottery studios across the country.
Julie Smith has lived in the Olney/Sandy Spring area since 1989. Her work blends representational and abstract styles. Her primary medium is in acrylic and mixed media/collage. She was a resident artist at Washington Artworks in Rockville and is currently a resident artist at Gallery 209 in Rockville. She is also a signature member of Potomac Valley Watercolorists and the Baltimore Watercolor Society. Her work is influenced by nature and the fleeting miracles that enrich us all, expanding the common ground where we all celebrate life.
After earning her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 1994 and a Master of Fine Arts from the State University of New York, Silversmith Eun Ju Lee began exhibiting her art all across the country before setting up her studio at Sandy Spring Museum in 2013.
Studio Hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 11 am-2 pm. Click here to contact Eun Ju or call 240-463-5241.
Susana M. Garten, a vitreous enamels, metals, and mixed media artist, lives and works in the greater Olney area and maintains a studio at Sandy Spring Museum. Exhibiting for over 30 years, she has been a member of the Enamelists Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia, a Resident Artist at Rockville Arts Place, a participant in fine arts and craft fairs, and an instructor at Glen Echo Park. She exhibits her work locally and all across the United States and in Canada.
Studio Hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 11 am-3 pm | Some Fridays and Saturdays
Click here to contact Sue.
Learn more about how to build a strong coalition in the fight for racial justice. Local activists and leaders share their insight on building a stronger community.
Panelists: Josephine Garnem, Mohamed Abubakr, Yi Shen, Moderator – Luz Chavez Gonzales
Resources
Do you know what the Police Advisory Commission is? Learn about how the commission and other programs are creating opportunities for citizen-led change within our local police department.
Panelists: Chief Marcus Jones, MCPD, Dave Thomas, Cherri Branson, Moderator – Dr. Rashawn Ray
Resources
Education is a legal right – not a privilege – yet it is one of the most pervasive systems of keeping people trapped in generational poverty. What does meaningful educational reform look like? How do we keep the current system from perpetuating systematic racism in education?
Panelists: Professor Natalie Thomas, Dr. Daman Harris, Dr. Joshua Starr
Resources
Anton Black, an Eastern Shore teenager, died in police custody nearly two years ago. Black was one of 31 people to die in Maryland in an officer-involved incident in 2018. “Anton’s Law” can prevent this from happening in the future. Learn how to advocate for effective change in our community.
Panelists: Delegate Pam Queen, Delegate Gabriel Acevero, Councilmember Will Jawando, LaToya Holley (sister of Anton Black), Moderator – Monty Cooper
Resources
Constant experiences of racism lead to lasting trauma. Racial trauma can result from major experiencing of discrimination or be the result of many microaggressions over time. How do you recover from this race-based stress? What role does art play as a platform to heal trauma?
Panelists: Karah Palmer, M.Ed. and Meghan Malik
Resources
Coffee ceremony convener, storyteller, and entrepreneur, owner of Blessed Coffee
Tebabu Assefa is an Ethiopian-born coffee ceremony convener, storyteller, and entrepreneur living in Takoma Park, Maryland. With his wife, Sara Mussie, Assefa organizes and leads Ethiopian coffee ceremonies for social engagement and community-building throughout Maryland and Washington, DC.
Growing up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in the 1960s, Assefa participated in coffee ceremonies as a child. He recalls being asked by his mother to visit their neighbors and let them know that coffee would soon be ready at Assefa’s house. Later in life, Assefa learned more about the coffee ceremony from participating in the ceremony throughout Ethiopia. Coffee would take on new meanings for Assefa when he left Ethiopia and eventually settled in the United States in the 1990s.
Deciding that he wanted to be a storyteller and filmmaker, Assefa enrolled at the University of Minnesota for a degree in communications. His goal was to portray the cultural vitality of the Ethiopian community of greater Washington, DC. But, living in the United States was not an easy transition for Assefa. He struggled with the individualism of North American society, particularly because of his upbringing in Africa. He explains:
By nature [individuals] have social elements. In African contexts, it’s a very profound notion. From South Africa to Ethiopians in South Africa, they call it mbutu. In Ethiopia it’s like who I am is directly related to who we are. I am because we are; because we are, therefore I am. And if that relationship is disrupted, psychologically, spiritually, financially, in any way you think of, there’s no help, because you cannot live by yourself. It’s impossible.
For Assefa, the solution to sharing the story of Ethiopian communities and addressing a lack of mbutu in the United States was coffee. First, coffee is loved by both Americans and Ethiopians. Second, coffee is central to telling the story of Ethiopia’s history, economy, and social life. Third, Assefa understands the coffee ceremony as a chance to slow down and to socialize with others. He says:
In [Ethiopia], people on a daily basis, take time . . . villages, families, friends, will take time out of a day, and sit in a ritual of coffee, traditional coffee culture, where they sit in a circle, they roast, smell, brew, drink, enjoy the coffee . . . they talk about everything about themselves. Dreams are translated, businesses are discussed, social news is [shared] . . . so the relationship between the individual to the family is cultivated or incubated in that same space. So the sense of I and we are very profound for the community. It’s not an intellectual concept. It’s a dance, it’s a ritual. And people have to do that collective ritual, collective dancing, to really value who they are to one another.
In bringing the coffee ceremony to the United States, Assefa meets his goal of telling the story of Ethiopia and giving those in America an opportunity to experience the benefits of socializing together.
During coffee ceremonies, Assefa narrates the ritual and discusses its significance, while his wife, Sara Mussie, is busy roasting, brewing, and pouring the coffee into small cups for drinkers. The husband and wife also work together through their social enterprise called Blessed Coffee—a “Benefit Corporation” which uses for-profit and non-profit business models to offer quality coffee to American drinkers while providing the maximum economic benefit to Ethiopian coffee cooperatives and farmers. Mussie’s official title is Co-Founder and Chief of Mission, while Assefa works as Co-Founder and Chief Storyteller at Blessed Coffee.
Since he began working with coffee ceremonies, Assefa has led the gathering at several important events. Notably, Assefa hosts a coffee ceremony at the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington, DC each year on Passport Day. An estimated 10,000 people take part in the event. (Editor’s note: The photo used in this profile depicts Tebabu Assefa, Sara Mussie, and the Ethiopian Ambassador to the United States, Fitsum Arega, taken on Passport Day at the Ethiopian Embassy). Assefa has also seen strong connections made among participants in the coffee ceremony. Once, two individuals who did not know each other prior to the ceremony, realized they lived in the same apartment building during their conversation. Other times, Assefa sees people from various countries find common experiences, even though they have grown up on different continents. For Assefa, the coffee ceremony is an opportunity to move beyond national identities and toward shared humanity. He says, “Though we have different flags of cultures and religions, at the end of the road, in essence, we’re all one and the same. The flag, or the culture, that we carry of the village . . . shouldn’t really define our essence because, at the end of the day, we’re just celebrating humanity or trying to figure out the meaning of life. We’re just human beings.”
Mr. Assefa’s first name, Tebabu, was given to him by his mother because it means “wisdom.” Yet, as a young man, Assefa was not happy about his name. He says, “I went to my mum and I said, ‘From all the names you could give me, why Wisdom? What happened, what did you think of?’ She looked at me, cracked a smile, and softly said, ‘It’s my hope and prayer, someday you’ll bump into it.’ I thought that was remarkable because all my life has been set in motion in search of wisdom.” Now, as an artist, storyteller, and community builder in Maryland, Mr. Assefa is using coffee and its accompanying ceremony to offer tebabu through caffeinated conversation.
Zentangle is an American method for drawing, which not only promotes concentration and creativity but at the same time increases personal well-being. Follow along with this Henna Zentangle tutorial by Charming Henna.
Give a Mandala a try at home with Charming Henna.
SSM Garden Club member and beekeeper, Julie, gives a look into the hive of the Honey Bee. Learn about pollination, honey, workers, drones and the queen.
Sylvia Karman is a Maryland writer who loves to hike, especially in the Adirondack mountains where she, her husband, and their German Shepherd mix return every spring for five months of north woods forest bathing. She has just completed her first novel and is already busy with the next one. Her poems have recently appeared in Delmarva Review and Blueline. Sylvia is a member of the Maryland Writers’ Association, the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, the Adirondack Center for Writers, and the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD.
The Writer’s Corner is brought to you in part by MoCo Underground.
A step by step tutorial by the museum’s Garden Club on how to make a prayer flag for your fairy garden.
A new, free educational resource from Tinkergarten providing free DIY activity plans, advice, and a virtual community to help the whole family continue to get outside and learn during this challenging time.
Click here to learn more and sign up.
Materials Needed:
– Tongue Depressors/Popsicle Sticks
– Paint and Paint Brushes or Markers
– Glue
– Scissors
– Googly eyes (optional)
– Buttons (optional)
– Pipe Cleaners (optional)
Materials Needed:
– Paper
– Marker
– Glue or Double Sided Tape
– Scissors (parent supervision recommended)
Fortune Tellers
Materials needed:
– Paper
– Marker
What are germs and what is the best way to protect yourself from them? Why is hand washing important? How does your body fight germs and infections? Explore how germs affect people and how to protect yourself.
Germs Part 1
Germs Part 2
Halau Ho’omau I ka Wai Ola O Hawai’i, meaning “through hula and halau, we remain young at heart and full of life,” is a traditional Hawaiian cultural school organized by Suz and Manu Ikaika. The Halau, serves students of diverse backgrounds from Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC. In class, all music and chants are performed live by Halau musicians. Oli (hula chants); hula olapa and hula kui (ancient hula); hula auana (free-flowing modern hula in the traditional style); Hawaiian arts and crafts, history, language, and music (ukulele and ancient hula implements) classes are offered to perpetuate all aspects of Hawaiian culture and to educate the local community about Hawaii and its people. Their primary goal is to keep Hawaiian heritage alive by celebrating the traditions of our native Hawaii.
Beijing Opera, or Chinese Opera, or Peking Opera is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century.
Beijing opera features four main types of performers. With their elaborate and colorful costumes, performers are the only focal points on Beijing opera’s characteristically sparse stage. They utilize the skills of speech, song, dance, and combat in movements that are symbolic and suggestive, rather than realistic. Above all else, the skill of performers is evaluated according to the beauty of their movements.
The Arev Armenian Dance Ensemble performs traditional Armenian folk dances of Anatolia and the Caucuses under the direction of Carolyn Okoomian Rapkievian. The ensemble is accompanied by the Hyetones playing traditional Armenian folk music.
Cultura Plenera is a non-profit organization dedicated to community building in Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia areas through the traditional Puerto Rican musical styles of Bomba and Plena. Bomba is a Puerto Rican musical genre that dates back more than 300 years, has heavy African influences, and expresses the sentiments of Puerto Ricans and their culture through barrel drums, maraca, cúa, singer and dancers. Plena is another Puerto Rican musical genre, which dates back more than 100 years, and also narrates stories of the Puerto Rican experience through hand drums, güiro and singers. Both Bomba y Plena are central to life in Puerto Rican communities inside and outside of the island.
Participants of the monthly Museum Jam invite you to a “virtual jam session.” Join the fun by emailing a YouTube video link of you playing one of your favorite songs and other jammers can play along to the recording. Below are some examples, along with lyrics and chords.
At the turn of the 20th century, the black population living in Sandy Spring far exceeded the white population. Both free and enslaved blacks have been living in Sandy Spring since the 1700s but there is little written history on the people and the self-sufficient, segregated black communities that were built.
In summer 2019 the Museum was awarded a grant from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority to document the homes and businesses of all free blacks living in the Sandy Spring area between the late 1700s and the mid-20th century.
Click here to learn more about this project and explore the communities of Davis Corner and Ebenezer Church.
Sara Caporaletti is a visual artist born and raised in a small suburb of Montgomery County, Maryland. She received her BA in studio art from McDaniel College in Westminster, MD and her MFA in interdisciplinary fine art from American University in Washington DC. Her work explores various autobiographical elements related to Catholic religious practices and beliefs through a variety of media.
She has participated in various residency programs and has had her work included in group exhibitions at various galleries around the DMV area. Sara has been a part time staff member of the Sandy Spring Museum working with exhibits and the archive digitization project over the past three years.
Stay active at home with No Excuse Moms.
Enjoy the January and February History Happy Hours, filmed by Montgomery Municipal Cable.
Wire Guys and Shooters: The Best of Sports Journalism (January 17, 2020)
Three Centuries of LGBTQ+ History in the Mid-Atlantic (February 28, 2020)
Help with the next phase of the Archive Digitization Project by transcribing pages at home. Click here for the written instructions.
Enjoy a virtual tour of An American Story: Jewish & Muslim Perspectives.
Our friends at DanceInTime share some steps to learn Salsa at home. This video explains the basic step, side rocks, right turn, and the cross body lead. These moves are enough to get through a full Salsa song.
Join them live on Facebook every Friday night at 9pm for a virtual class!
Missing the world of sports? Take a virtual tour of Action and Reaction by Mark Goldman. This sports photography exhibit was featured at the museum January 9 – March 1, 2020.
How to rid your garden of the common weed Hairy Bittercress
Exhibited January 9 – March 1, 2020
Action and Reaction by Mark Goldman centered on the two most important parts of sports photojournalism: action and reaction. The exhibit captured the instantaneous intensity, athleticism, and success created through highlighting game action of area professional and collegiate level sports teams, while also revealing the competitiveness, heart and emotion behind each player’s reaction. An accomplished photographer Mark utilizes his skills in photography, to reveal the in depth knowledge of sports it takes to photograph picture-perfect moments in such a fast-paced, competitive environment. He demonstrates his knowledge of a variety of sports by being one step ahead of the game action by carefully selecting proper placement, studying each sport, and watching the important interactions between players and coaches. The exhibit drew parallels and displayed the equal level of importance between action and reaction to convey the complete story of the game.
Fata Togba-Mensah is the CEO of FAsmarketplace in Wheaton MD, a one-of-a-kind place where the focus is to stimulate local economic and community growth. Fata’s inspiration to create such an environment came from growing up in her home country Liberia. Fata’s mother owned a tailor-shop, her grandfather was a storyteller and her dad was an eloquent speaker who taught her the importance of self-expression. Fata, who is a trained educator, says that her major source of strength comes from the support of her husband James and her children. She decided to pursue her interest in the arts, full-time, as a toy maker, designer and an author of children books. She created the FAs Marketplace to help other small artisans start their dream businesses too.
Fata explained that the marketplace was created out of the need for independent artist and “creatives” to launch, maintain and grow their businesses in Montgomery County. In its first year over sixty businesses have passed through the Marketplace, from pop-up-shops to those with long-term arrangements. FAs Marketplace is housed in a formerly abandoned building. “Of course,” Fata says, “the business has not been short of challenges, especially since the location was closed and unused for a long period of time. So letting people know we are here in the community and getting the word out is pivotal to our survival in the space.”
The marketplace is getting ready to celebrate its one-year anniversary on April 17, 2020, but got the news that they have to relocate because of increased rent. The anniversary events would have started off with a fundraiser to get a commercial kitchen that would have been used by food vendors and artisans who create skincare products. The kitchen would have also been a place where different cooking classes would have been held, all this now has to be put on the back burner because of the recent news.
When asked what success of the FAs Marketplace would look like, Fata says that each individual artist, musician, crafts person could reach their own personal goal through being at the Marketplace. “An artist gets a major record deal, a designer gets a major contract or they are featured on a major platform. That would be the ultimate success.” The Marketplace also hosts art and sewing classes for adults and children, family movie night, “Live at the Marketplace” (where local performers showcase talent), sip-and-paint nights and karaoke.
FAsmarketplace is surely a place that is contributing significantly to the fostering of folk life in Montgomery County. I you know of a place that they can relocate, please contact us. You may also contact the Marketplace directly at:
FAsmarketplace
#11319 Elkin Street
Wheaton, MD 20902
240-558-3263
Fata@FAsMarketplace.com
www.Fatutors.com
www.Krustyle.com
www.BesiumReveal.com
Please email the library. The Collections Manager offers up to ½ hour of complimentary assistance per inquiry. This allows time to determine if there are materials that will answer your question.
The non-lending library is available when the Museum is open, as long as there is not a private event occurring. However, the archives are not open when the Collections Manager is not on site. If you prefer to come in person, it is best to make an appointment by email.
Yes. Charges vary depending on the intended use. Please email the library for information about image reproduction.
On exhibit January 9 – March 1, 2020
Reception: Sunday, January 12, 1 pm – 3 pm
This exhibit featured the work of students enrolled in doll making classes at Montgomery College taught by Wendelin Daniels. Her students explore mixed media art and the human form through the design and creation of original art dolls.
The dolls show a wide range of personae — from portrait dolls of historical figures to fantasy dolls, and everything in between. Adorned with their own distinctive costumes, accessories, and props, each doll conveys a unique individual personality and story. Unlike dolls that are manufactured as children’s toys, art dolls are irreplaceable, one-of-a-kind figurative sculptures.
The exhibit also illustrated some of the procedures used in making art dolls so the audience can see “behind the seams.” Doll making is a painstaking process that requires many skills including sculpting, painting, designing, wig making, costuming, and sewing. But it all begins with an idea — a vision of who the artist wants to create. Students refine their original concepts through brainstorming and research. They develop drawings of the character they have in mind, which includes sketches of the face and proportional drawings of the body and then delve into sculpting, painting, and assembling the doll. Costumes are created after the doll’s body is completed. Careful editing takes place throughout the process to ensure the clear communication of ideas. Students often utilize found objects in implementing their design as they undergo creative problem-solving and repurposing of existing materials. In the end, students are rewarded and delighted with seeing their vision brought to life
At the turn of the 20th century, the black population living in Sandy Spring far exceeded the white population. Both free and enslaved blacks have been living in Sandy Spring since the 1700s but there is little written history on the people and the self-sufficient, segregated black communities that were built.
In summer 2019 the Museum was awarded a grant from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority to document the homes and businesses of all free blacks living in the Sandy Spring area between the late 1700s and the mid-20th century. During this two-year research project, the goal is to identify everyone who lived in and/or owned the properties and to learn how the towns grew and changed over time.
The success of this project depends upon community participation. If you would like to learn more about getting involved, please contact us.
Jim Dugan is well-known as the past-kiln manager at Baltimore Clayworks, where he worked with the wood, gas, and soda kilns. He is currently managing the wood kilns at Monocacy River Pottery near Frederick, MD, in collaboration with owner, Marsha Mason. He has taught classes on firing with Shino glazes.
Kevin Crowe is a potter and teacher with a focus on wood-fired stoneware. He provides short term residencies at his Tye River Pottery in Virginia and teaches workshops nationwide, including a course in throwing large forms at Hood College in Frederick, MD.
“I throw functional wood fired pots with English and Asian influences. Pots are fired in an anagama Wood fired kiln. Firings are seven days and produce around 2,000 pots. My work ranges from 4 inch tea bowls to 36 inch jars. They are objects for the rituals of daily life…making a quiet difference.”
John Jessiman has worked with ceramics for over 60 years, including as a graduate teaching assistant for Val Cushing at Alfred College of Ceramics. He built his first wood kiln in 1965, and taught ceramics for 33 years at SUNY-Cortland. His work has been included in over 100 International and National exhibitions. In 2002, he established the Cub Creek Foundation in Virginia to provide opportunities for intensive practice in ceramics through residencies and workshops.
“I am interested in the ceramic process as a means to manifest ideas, create form and to invest work with energy, mystery and intrigue.
In my own work and in my teaching, I have stressed the distinction between influence and imitation. I have always tried to take the many influences and distill them into a unique and personal statement.”
Joe Hicks maintains the appointment of Associate Professor of Fine Art at Marymount University in Arlington, VA. There, he developed and continues to grow the ceramics and 3D design program in the Department of Fine Arts, including the establishment of a ceramics minor in 2016. The ceramics program at Marymount focuses on developing skills in traditional production and sculptural techniques, exploring new methods associated with product design and industrial manufacturing techniques, and building community relationships.
Joe retains a serious commitment to producing high quality ceramic vessels and functional pottery, and has exclusively focused on experimenting with Shino glazes for more than a decade. He participates in exhibitions and craft shows on regional and national levels, leads workshops focusing on his research of carbon trap Shino glazes and firing techniques, and enjoys building constructive relationships throughout the artist community.
“I control the radiant energy of fire to transcendentally engage with, and decorate, the surfaces of my vessels. This interaction between atmosphere and material is unpredictable, and provides endless investigation in colliding randomness with structure, challenging my ideas of control.”
Loren Scherbak has had a love of clay since attending Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, Maryland. She earned her BFA in printmaking and ceramics in 1979 from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. She has been making and showing ceramics for more than 45 years.
Loren explores the physical and historical characteristics of ceramics to communicate subtle visual, tactile, and emotive experiences of the natural world. She incorporates local flora, such as leaves, directly as tools for drawing, to create forms, textures, and patterns that evoke her Mid-Atlantic home.
Loren reduces the use of harmful chemicals by working with local clay and an energy-efficient wood-fueled kiln. Her palette uses readily–available iron oxide which reacts with the atmosphere in the kiln to create surfaces that are integrated into her forms. The atmosphere in the kiln consists of free–floating ash, flame movement through the kiln, unburned gases from the combustion of wood, and oxygen. The amount of available oxygen in the kiln at different stages in the firing affects the iron oxide and creates different colors and textures on the surfaces of her work. She is committed to minimizing her environmental footprint while still achieving her artistic goals.
November 29 – December 31, 2019
The annual Fine Arts & Crafts Holiday Gift Show features one-of-a-kind pieces including jewelry, quilts, pottery, and other fine arts and crafts – handmade by local artists. The Museum’s eleven resident artists offer their newest creations; ranging from glossy enamel work and mixed media collage to a variety of metal jewelry and unique had built ceramics.
In addition to the Museum’s many talented artists, local artists from the community have hand-crafted items made in a variety of media for sale. Every item on display for sale is unique and individually crafted by an artist who puts their heart and soul into making something special for everyone on your gift list.
on display September 5- November 24, 2019
An exhibit of creative people at work captured in action by professional photographer Larry Marc Levine. Mr. Levine is interested in watching people create different forms of art and finds it as fascinating as the creative process itself. For this exhibit, he interviewed and photographed a variety of talented individuals from different backgrounds with experience in different areas including a glass blower, a Native American pow wow dancer, painters, fabric artists, a Chinese zither player, a violin maker, and many others. Most of these creative spirits are from the local Montgomery County area. Levine believes that respect for the individual and appreciation for diversity of people, of ideas, of processes are all important aspects of his photography.
Courtesy: Maryland Humanities
on exhibit August 1 – September 1, 2019
Each year, Sandy Spring Museum and the Olney Art Association work together to offer visitors new views of the surrounding area. This year’s theme was “Moments in Time.” On display were the beautiful works of local artists in varied mediums including watercolor, acrylic, oil and pastel. An opening reception was held Thursday, August 8.
On display May 2 – July 28, opening reception May 2
“Our Life in Art” features artwork from the students of St. John’s Episcopal School. Students have been working since October 2018 on these pieces and are thrilled to have the community view their work. For most students this is their first formal exhibition.
Each class, kindergarten through eighth grade, created a collaborative artwork that focuses on subjects such as reflections of themselves, their community, the world around them, religion, spirituality, and personal values.
Upper School students, fifth through eighth grade, were selected as solo artists and designed large-scale drawings and paintings that concentrate on personal experiences and ideals that they value as important. Their artwork consists of many different media including colored pencil, pastel, acrylic paint, and graphite.
On display May 2 – July 28, opening reception May 2
“Colored Folks” is an art exhibit of Normon Greene’s paintings that show people as they really are- a mixture of colors, sizes, and differences. People come in all colors, from very light skin to very dark skin and all shades in between. This exhibit will display a collection of paintings celebrating our differences and similarities and the many ways in which we complement each other.
Greene draws inspiration from a number of art historical periods including cubism and futurism. He admires the expression and forms of Marcel and Raymond Duchamp, Henry Moore, and Umberto Boccioni. In his art, he strives to honor the human form through reflections on people’s relationships with themselves, each other, and their environments.
On display February 7 – April 28, 2019
Artists Martha Spak and Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg explored the interwoven quality of our Sandy Spring community through both two- and three-dimensional interpretation, inviting visitors to join them in creation of the art.
The exhibit included abstract expressionist oil and acrylic paintings, colorful film panels, life-scale figurative sculptures, and photos from the local community. Additionally, community members and guests joined in with the artists in finishing a mural depicting Sandy Spring faces and places, forming the unifying center of this exhibit. Visitors were invited to add to the mural, in both color and content, to join in the dialogue of the communal form itself. This visual dialogue invited visitors to explore the artist that resides in each of us and illustrate their unique place in the Sandy Spring Community.
On display January 3 – February 3
Closing Reception on February 2
An exhibit of art by students from the Barnesville School of Arts and Sciences, which explores and takes inspiration from the local history of the Sandy Spring community.
In early November, Middle School students spent a “Collaborative Day” visiting the Museum to prepare for this exhibit. Fifth through eighth graders explored a variety of objects from the museum’s collection, ranging from newspaper publications and handwritten correspondence to clothing, daguerreotypes (an early form of photographs), and athletic gear. Items were selected to represent four notable people from Sandy Spring’s past: suffragist Mary Bentley Thomas, baseball player Jack Bentley, postmaster and bank founder Alban Gilpin Thomas, and free black, shingle maker Remus Q. Hill.
Students were taught guidelines for object handling and were able to study pieces chosen specifically for this exercise. Explanations were shared of each item’s importance in the life of its prior owner. Students were asked to select objects that interested them most to sketch, and then wrote detailed descriptive paragraphs about them. These objects were the inspiration for artwork students created for the exhibit that will be on display at the museum through February 3.
An exhibit by the Countryside Artisans of Maryland
On exhibit September 27 – November 18, 2018
In 1814, the Quakers built their meetinghouse in Sandy Spring village. A six-mile radius from the Sandy Spring Meeting House defined that rural community, as this was the farthest members of the Meeting could travel to and from the meetinghouse by horse or carriage in one day, arriving home before sunset.
Today, we can travel farther than six miles in one day and still be home by sunset, but the foundation of a rural community still lies within that day trip. The Countryside Artisans of Maryland, a group of artists that live in the countryside within a day’s drive, brings that rural community back to life. Wind your way through the exhibit and experience this rural way of life and community. On display will be art in ceramics, glass, enamel, stone, wool, oil paint, watercolor, pastel, and much more.
This exhibit featured the traditions of various cultural groups. It explored El Salvadorean dance, Cambodian foodways, Indian dance, Vietnamese folk stories, and Nigerian wedding traditions.
The photographs of artist, Bruce McNeil, in this exhibit documented the flow of water from the eponymous Sandy Spring to the tributaries that lead to the Anacostia. From Sandy Spring, where McNeil claims, “one can drink the water from the ground” to the Anacostia, which is sometimes referred to as “one of America’s most-polluted rivers,” the journey is meant to inspire a feeling of connection to the beauty of the rivers and a sense of spiritual transformation.
This exhibit featured handmade books filled with personal stories of migration. The books were created by students from Sherwood High School in collaboration with Beatriz del Olmo Fiddleman, the museum’s Community Artist in Residence.
This exhibit featured Islamic calligraphy, geometric paintings, and architectural photography by local residents, artists, and father-daughter team Ahmed and Ayah Belal. With Pen and Camera explored both the geometry and lyricism of Islamic calligraphy and architecture through the eyes of two Egyptian-American artists.
Works in wire by Floyd Roberts
This exhibit displayed a collection of multi-media sculptural works exploring issues of nature, race and artistic identity. Mr. Roberts, a native of the island of Trinidad, seeked to show the contributions and challenges of those of African and Caribbean descent to the artistic community. Mr. Roberts also expressed his concern for the environment and his appreciation of wildlife by creating pieces representing all corners of the animal kingdom, from the deep sea octopus to the wild horses of Assateague.
An exhibit of traditional Korean quilting and textiles by In Sook Park
This special exhibit highlighted an art form that dates back to the 14th century. These quilted patchworks were historically used as wrapping cloths – covering sacred texts, food, or as clothing (for “wrapping” a loved one). More than 50 textiles were flown in from Korea. Sandy Spring Museum is the only location in the United States where this work was exhibited.
The Art of Stewardship Project is a private foundation established by the Mort Family to encourage stewardship of the earth and environmental awareness through the arts. A grass roots effort, The Art of Stewardship Project assists arts communities by organizing and providing forums for interaction and dialogue offering resources and opportunities to artists in their role as Stewards of our Earth.
Painter, Greg Mort’s collection consists of 8 large-scale giclée canvas mounted prints. Mort’s prints were on display at the Museum during the 2018 Fall Gala on October 25th.
Sculpture Park at Sandy Spring Museum
ARTINA 2018: Introspective is the third collaboration between Sandy Spring Museum and Washington Sculptors Group. Up to 20 sculptures were on view in this outdoor exhibit juried by Cecilia Wichmann. ARTINA 2018: Introspective asks the visitor to explore through sculpture our conscious thoughts, feelings, psychological processes, or other human acts of self-reflection as they relate to the landscape.
An audience immersive experience, this performance by members of Sinclair Dance explored the experiential concept of being free while living in the shadows of societal constraints and social constructions.
See highlights by clicking here.
Conflicts around the globe and the current political climate have put an acute focus on the plight of refugees. Six refugee artists from different areas of the world, including Iraq, Ethiopia, and Somalia, shared paintings and drawings that express the stories of their personal journeys.
Memories, dreams, and the history of their respective homelands were depicted, as well as the transitions and changes arising from their new lives in the USA. The participating artists included Fetun Getachew, Ahmad AlKarkhi, Alemzewd Alemu, Khalid Alaani, Rand Shihab and Abdurahman Abukam Mohamed.
Listen to NPR coverage of the exhibit.
More than forty sculptures in wood, bronze and stone representing the body of work by artist and retired Senator Karen S. Montgomery.
The turban has been the most powerful and obvious symbolism of the identity of a Sikh. The Sikh Project is a celebration of that identity. Historically, the turban was worn by royalty and the rich in South Asia. The turban, as an article of faith in Sikhism, is a public declaration of sovereignty and equality of all people.
Sikhs have been a vital part of the American fabric for over 125 years. The 38 new portraits captured by London photographers Amit and Naroop embody the beauty and diversity of the community and recognize the challenges and triumphs of what it means to be Sikh in America.
This exhibit was made possible through a partnership with The Sikh Coalition.
Sandra Atkinson, Light Switch Dance Theatre, founder and artistic director of Light Switch Dance Theatre created a site-specific modern dance piece on the history of Sandy Spring. Sandra described the project this way, “I conducted research at the museum’s archives for about six months and visited various sites in the area, like the Quaker Meeting, the Sandy Spring, and the Underground Railroad Experience Trail, just to get a feel for the place. It seems that most people know that the Quakers freed their slaves about 50 years prior to the Civil War but I wanted to learn more about how the lives of Quakers and African Americans intersected in the years after the War. One of the most interesting documents I found in the archives was a receipt from a land purchase. It was a transaction between two women – one white and one black.” So how does this become a dance? “The movement is generated through words and images from my research. You will not see a literal interpretation of local history but you will see gestures that evoke certain images. My hope is that the experience of watching the dancers will make people want to engage in conversation.” Sandy Spring Project: Frame of Mind was accompanied by an original score written by Wesley Meyer, who also performed live at the event. One section of the dance piece was performed by students in the conservatory teen program at the Sandy Spring Studio of Ballet Arts.
This memorial exhibit, curated by Nina Cordaro, was a tribute to her cousin Christina Koutsoukos. Christina was a budding young photographer when she was killed in an automobile accident at the age of 18. Her dreams and creative vision live on through her photos, which were on exhibit, alongside works of art by some of her talented friends. On several dates, photos were sold to raise money for a charity in Haiti that Christina supported. On exhibit November 30 – January 7, 2017.
Works by Dirk Holger, resident of Olney and native of Germany, who fell in love with the process and product of tapestry while it was in a nascent comeback led by Jean Lurçat, for whom Mr. Holger served as an assistant. While only several of Mr. Holger’s tapestries were on exhibit, you could see the artist’s pen drawings have a woven, hatched quality that would lend themselves to tapestry. Indeed the artist had that in mind when he created the first of his Blue Earth series.
In the spirit of the Annals Of Sandy Spring, in which travelers from our area in the old days returned from foreign lands with tales of their adventures, this photography recaptured that experience with a few pictures and stories from Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America (Africa and South America coming soon?) The photographer, Jim Thomas, is a lifelong resident of Sandy Spring, and a direct descendant of John Thomas, who, together with James Brooke, founded Sandy Spring in 1728.
This exhibit of new and existing work identified the artist’s interest in the importance of time as an event itself. During his residency at the museum, Mr. Winston worked with students of Our Lady of Good Counsel High School. The artist’s intention was to create connections between people of different ethnicities and show how everyday personal objects are uniquely linked to the students’ cultures. Original prints by the students as well as collages by Mr. Harris that combine student work with his own were on exhibit. This exhibit was funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
on exhibit October 4 – November 18, 2017
This exhibit by members of the Maryland Society of Portrait Painters featured works inspired by the people and places of Sandy Spring, past and present. Artists connected with the community of Sandy Spring using photos of contemporary local residents and images from the Sandy Spring Museum archives. See Sandy Spring’s people, landscape and history portrayed in artwork through a variety styles and media including oil, watercolor, clay and pastel.
on exhibit April 1 – July 29, 2017
An exhibit of new photo-collages by Gail Rebhan that are an unsentimental look at the cultural history of various locations in the Sandy Spring, Maryland area. Ms. Rebhan examined changes in land use as a result of shifting societal values, desires, government actions, and market forces and blending archival and contemporary photographs, along with historical newspaper articles, maps, advertisements, ephemera, and text into one final image for each site. Using layers of various opacities, she conveyed a sense that the past never goes away and continues to influence the present.
The image depicted here, “18035 Georgia Avenue, Olney, Maryland – 1917/2016,” explored the evolution of a family business that operated from 1885 to 2004. Beginning as Finneyfrock’s blacksmith shop, it evolved into Finneyfrock’s Power Equipment and Welding Company. Currently, Domino’s Pizza and Al Sospiro Trattoria operate at this location. This photo-collage blended a 1917 photograph with today’s scene. The artist’s writing, a handmade cake dish, 1956 receipt, 1999 advertisement, and a 1967 patent document provided evidence of the site’s changing uses. Click here for a review of the exhibit. This project was funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
on exhibit June 29 through July 29.
A community-curated exhibit that brought together a collection of historic and contemporary images of the Friends Meeting House, as we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the construction of the Meeting House. This place of worship has captured the attention of artists, from professionals to amateurs. Images in this show included painting, photographs and models made by community members. This beautiful building has been enjoyed for its simple beauty and we honor it for its part in the life of our community.
on exhibit June 29 – September- 30, 2017
Wind your way through a sculpture park of original works of art situated on the museum’s rustic grounds. ARTINA 2017 created awareness among visitors of the need to reconnect with the land and preserve nature for future generations. It included installations that interpret historic land use.
Juried by Ursula Achternkamp, artists include c.l. bigelow, Elsabé Dixon, Mary Annella “Mimi” Frank, Eve Hennessa, Martha Jackson Jarvis, Jin Lee, Cat Lukens, Raina Martens, Grant McFarland, Maryanne Pollock, Marc Robarge, Casey Snyder, and Diane Szczepaniak.
ARTINA 2017 is the second collaboration between Sandy Spring Museum and Washington Sculptors Group. This project is funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
On exhibit August 2 to September 2, 2017
For many years, Sandy Spring Museum and the Olney Art Association have worked together to offer visitors new views of the surrounding area. In this year’s theme, “Celebrating Our Neighborhoods,” each artist has strived to capture that special something in our neighborhood, loosely defined as the 6-mile radius stemming from the Sandy Spring Meeting House – that gives him or her cause to celebrate.
With an exhibit of over 40 original works of art by members of the Olney Art Association in multiple media, they celebrated the everyday life in these communities – Ashton, Brighton, Brinklow, Brookeville, Burtonsville, Cloverly, Ednor, Norbeck, Norwood, Oakdale, Olney, Sandy Spring, Spencerville, Sunshine, Roslyn, Tridelphia and Unity.
Photographer David Wonderling exposed both the beauty of nature and determined skill in this exhibit.
Wonderling invited his audience to study the juxtaposition between the graceful beauty of nature’s butterflies and the similar exquisite grace of a ballerina’s training, dedication, and determination.
Having photographed a variety of subjects, Wonderling felt these two were his most challenging projects. Neither butterflies nor ballerinas hold still for long!
The images of ballerinas featured in his exhibit were captured at the Studio of Ballet Arts in Sandy Spring and the butterflies at the Wings of Fancy exhibit at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton.
Original wearable sculptures created by artists from around the country, responding to the theme of Inner Light, chosen because of Sandy Spring’s Quaker heritage. The sculptures illustrated the duality of lightness and darkness, positive and negative.
The Inner Light is your connection to something greater than yourself. In order to find your Inner Light, you must also have an understanding of darkness. The Inner Light opens the unity of all human beings to our consciousness. Quakers believe that the potential for good exists in everyone and that your Inner Light can shine through darkness. Everyone has an Inner Light but one must be willing to seek it.
Wellspring Visions was an exhibit of art works made by residents of Sandy Spring Friends House in a variety of media including paintings, prints, drawings, pastels, photography, ceramics and textiles.
Wellspring Artists was established at Friends House in 2011 for the purpose of inspiring and giving encouragement to those who create art and those who aspire to do so. Members are professional and avocational artists. The group maintains a small gallery space in Flower Alley of the Main Building. It is open to all residents whether or not they are currently practicing artists.
Friends House is a 50-year old retirement community located in Sandy Spring, Maryland. This non-profit organization was established in 1967 by Quakers to provide affordable housing and fulfilling retirement experiences for seniors. The multicultural community is based on values that include equality, simplicity and peace.
CHILD DEATHS IN THE SANDY SPRING FRIENDS MEETING GRAVEYARD FROM 1755-2015
Research conducted by Anthony A. Taylor and Lorne K. Garrettson
If you walk through the Sandy Spring Friends Meeting Graveyard and read the stones, you will notice certain trends in the information. There aren’t many children buried there, but of those who are, most died in the 1800s, with far fewer child deaths in the 18 and 20th centuries. Why the sudden increase in child deaths in the 1800s, and why did they suddenly seem to stop? We set out to solve this small mystery.
We used the electronic records of the Sandy Spring Friends Meeting graveyard. In the cases of the children, cause of death isn’t recorded. There are 104 records in total and 70 (67.3%) died under the age of five. In the 1700s, only 6 (2.8%) children were buried here. In the 1800s, 72 (69.2%) children were buried here. In the 1900s, 21 (20%) died and 14 died before the year 1925. In the 2000s until now, only one child has been buried in this graveyeard. We do not have good population figures for this period of time, so death rates of the general population cannot be calculated for comparison. We assume that the population was increasing steadily throughout the period of study.
Child deaths were few and far between in the 1700s, but then instances of them spiked and became more frequent in the 1800s. This pattern continued into the early 1900s, but after 1925, they suddenly drop off. This child death rate decline in the mid-20th century strongly suggests that improvements in prevention and care were major contributors, as these improvements in medicine were occurring at a rapid rate during that time.
To further this analysis about the causes of these deaths, we pulled more detailed information to scrutinize the child mortalities occurring between 1900 and 2005. We searched the Maryland State Archives for death certificates to determine the listed cause of death, but to no avail. The use of death certificates did begin in Maryland in the late 19th century; but these records were not widely used in the early years after their introduction. However we did learn the causes of death for some of the children through these records. Most of the rest were learned from other sources such as the Annals of Sandy Spring. Of the 14 who died during this period, 9 have a known cause of death. Of the nine with known causes, three, or one-third, were due to diphtheria. One third of a sample is quite a large amount when put into context, and beings as the diphtheria vaccine was starting to be circulated in 19201, around the same time the child deaths sharply declined, we inferred that the vaccine along with other advances in medical science was the cause for the sudden and drastic decrease in child mortality.
So the next time you feel like a stroll, take one through the Sandy Spring Graveyard. The gravestones have stories to tell.
Resources:
1 Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases. 15th Edition. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA p 113
In 1753, James Brooke — Sandy Spring’s first permanent settler– carved out a parcel of land from the 392 acres gifted to him by his father-in-law, Richard Snowden. Brooke conveyed several acres adjacent to his home and tobacco plantation to the Society of Friends for a place to worship and bury their dead. For the next 64 years, church members most likely met in a barn on the property or in private residences pending the construction of the Sandy Spring Meeting House.
Two of the oldest paintings of the Meeting House were created by American impressionist painter Milton H. Bancroft (1866-1947) in the 1890s. Educated in Massachusetts and Philadelphia, Bancroft exhibited in major U.S. cities at the turn of the 20th centuries. One of his major commissions was a set of 10 murals for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco.
What was the artist’s connection to Sandy Spring?
Like James Brooke, Bancroft lived on land in the Sandy Spring area originally owned by Snowden and passed down through his father-in-law, Joseph Townsend Moore, a member of the Sandy Spring Meeting. In 1893, Bancroft married Margaret C. Moore at the Norwood family home in Sandy Spring owned by her father. The couple met at Swarthmore College, a small Quaker school outside of Philadelphia, where Bancroft was teaching while Moore was a student.
After they wed, the couple lived in Paris for several years. Moore returned to Norwood while her husband supported the family by painting in Europe and in New York. Too old to enlist, he served with the YMCA in France during World War I. He visited the Western Front where he documented wartime destruction in a series of drawings. He also created recruitment posters for the U.S. Armed Forces.
Moore inherited Norwood in 1920, where Bancroft retired after the war and continued to paint until his death in 1947. He is buried in the Sandy Spring Friends Meeting House Cemetery.
Bancroft’s trove of paintings housed at Norwood were sold with his estate in 1978 and donated to the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Two of his paintings of the Meeting House belong to the Sandy Spring Friends and will hang in their newly renovated Community House.
Contributed by Audrey Partington
References:
Chronicles of Sandy Spring Meeting and Environs, Martha C. Nesbitt and Mary Reading Miller
https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/PDF/Montgomery/M;%2028-13.pdf
Find a Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7660923
Thursday, February 22
Hometown Habitat is a 90-minute environmental, education documentary focused on showing how and why native plants are critical to the survival and vitality of local ecosystems.
Featured is entomologist, Doug Tallamy, whose research, books and lectures on the misuse of non-native plants in landscaping sound the alarm about habitat and species loss. Tallamy provides the narrative thread throughout Hometown Habitat.
The message: each individual has the power to conserve resources, restore habitat for wildlife and bring beauty to their patch of earth.
Thursday, February 8
Filmmaker Thomas Balmès criss-crosses the globe to observe and record the first two years in the lives of four infants and their families.
Ponijao is the youngest of nine children and lives in a village in Namibia.
Bayarjargal’s family lives in Mongolia.
Hattie is a San Francisco couple’s first child.
Mari is the first child of a couple living in Tokyo.
Babies trailer on YouTube
Thursday, January 25
Aishol-pan, a 13-year-old girl, trains to become the first female in 12 generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle hunter and rises to the pinnacle of a tradition that has been handed down from father to son for centuries.
While there are many old Kazakh eagle hunters who vehemently reject the idea of any female taking part in their ancient tradition, Aisholpan’s father, Nurgaiv, believes that a girl can do anything a boy can, as long as she’s determined.
The Eagle Huntress Trailer on YouTube
Want to take a tour of Sandy Spring without getting in your car? Here is a virtual tour that you can enjoy from your computer. You can also drive to each location and listen to the audio on your smart phone.
This project was done by Megan Glixon.
Spend a Sunday strolling through the city and land at one of the most prominent historic clubs: The Cosmos Club. Here you’ll be treated to a champagne Brunch at The Cosmos Club. The Cosmos Club, incorporated in Washington, D.C. in 1878, is a private social club for women and men distinguished in science, literature, the arts or public service housed in the elegant Townsend mansion constructed in 1873. Members come from a wide variety of professions; a common theme is a relation with scholarship, creative genius, or intellectual distinction. The Club offers an impressive array of intellectual and cultural programs for every member interest. The Club’s collection of 9,500 volumes and nearly 140 periodicals is housed in exquisite rooms that offer a quiet haven for reading and contemplating.
Champagne Sunday Brunch and Tour of the Cosmos Club
Explore the opulent and historic building and appointments as guests of the club for an individualized tour led by docent Susan Fifer Canby. Following the tour you’ll be treated to an inspired Champagne brunch with Susan Fifer Canby, Tom Canby and Barbara Gibian.
For up to 4 people.
Schedule this prize for a mutually convenient Sunday in October, November or December.
And then…
Enjoy the grandeur of seeing a show or an original program at The Kennedy Center. Tickets for two can be used for any of their season’s events.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally called the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. The Center, which opened September 8, 1971, is a multi-dimensional facility, and as memorial to John F. Kennedy and a cultural center, it produces a wide array of performances encompassing the genres of theater, dance, ballet, and orchestral, chamber, jazz, popular, and folk music, offers multi-media performances for adults and children, and is a nexus of arts education.
Challenge yourself with 4 individual performance sessions with trainer Todd Wilson of HolisticA Fitness. Coach Wilson specifically incorporates a three-tier approach to training: combining cross-fit type strength and conditioning with a personalized nutrition program bolstered by mindfulness training and practice. This results-oriented technique has given HolisticA’s athletes an edge over others, and is the training program utilized by the Sherwood High School Wrestling Team, as well as used by other groups and athletes.
To solidify your commitment to your bodily health, use this one month voucher to Anytime Fitness to support the techniques and training program designed for you by Coach Wilson.
This custom designed open “reverse living” home has an ample well-appointed kitchen, dining, and living room. It features a large beautiful wooden deck and screened dining porch. The entire perimeter displays views of the southeast, facing toward Quonnie Pond and the Atlantic Ocean. It is in the tiny gem of a town called Weekapaug.
There are two bedrooms and two baths on the second floor connected with an outdoor balcony. Additionally, there are two bedrooms, two baths, a den, a laundry room, and a simple kitchenette on the ground floor. There is a sunny hot/cold outdoor shower and laundry line to dry beach towels in the sun.
Spread out on the large flat lawn space for whatever yard game you prefer to bring – Can Jam, or Spike Ball, Corn Hole or Croquet.
There is a beach box at Fenway Beach that guests can utilize.
The home is within walking and biking distance to Fenway Beach or the Inn Beach, Yacht Club, Tennis Club, and the Weekapaug Inn (which also houses a golf course and restaurant!)
In total, this house has four individual bedrooms, upstairs and downstairs kitchens, a family room, four bathrooms, and an elevator. All of the views are fantastic! Available to the winner any months except July and August.
Friday, Oct. 6 BUY TICKETS HERE
MANHATTAN SHORT is not a touring Festival; rather, it is an instantaneous celebration that occurs simultaneously across the globe, bringing great films to great venues, like the Sandy Spring Museum, and allowing the audiences to select their favorites.
If the Film Festival experience truly is about getting great works in front of as many eyes as possible, MANHATTAN SHORT offers the ultimate platform — one that sees its films screened in Sydney, Mumbai, Moscow, Vienna, Cape Town to cinemas in all fifty states of the United States and beyond.
Finalists will be part of the MANHATTTAN SHORT Oscar Qualifying Run. This means all selected films will screen for a full week at a cinema in the county of Los Angeles. This run qualifies every film selected in MANHATTAN SHORT for the Oscars.
Many past Finalists from MANHATTAN SHORT have been nominated for an Oscar (SHOK and Bear Story from 2015, to name just two).
Our audiences and cinemas love nothing more than seeing a film they voted for at MANHATTAN SHORT at the Oscars.
http://www.manhattanshort.com/
To see event in our online calendar and buy tickets Click Here
Latest News:
Sept 5, 2017:
Record Number of Entries:
The 10 MANHATTAN SHORT finalists hail from nine countries with films from Syria, Latvia and Georgia representing their respective countries for the first time in this event. Two short films hail from Spain, the only country with multiple Final 10 selections.
These Final 10 short films represent the best short films among a record 1615 submissions from 75 countries received by MANHATTAN SHORT for 2017, testimony to the enduring vibrancy and creativity of short films. This year’s Final 10 represent an extraordinary range of film genres with comedy, drama, horror, sci-fi, animation and martial arts short films all part of the MANHATTAN SHORT program.
Click on films to see interviews with directors, film stills and synopsis of films.
The Final 10 are:
Do No Harm (New Zealand)
Behind (Spain)
Fickle Bickle (USA)
Hope Dies Last (United Kingdom)
The Perfect Day (Spain)
Just Go! (Latvia)
Mare Nostrum (Syria)
Viola, Franca (Italy)
In a Nutshell (Netherlands)
8 Minutes (Georgia)
Trailers:
Click Here and view the Trailer
For a Complete list of venues hosting MANHATTAN SHORT click here:
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“It’s the Public that Creates Stars”
MANHATTAN SHORT began in 1998, when Mason screened 16 short films onto a screen mounted to the side of a truck on Mulberry Street, Little Italy New York City. A year later the Festival moved uptown to Union Square Park in New York City. MANHATTAN SHORT transformed into a worldwide phenomenon, becoming the only film festival on the planet that unfolds, simultaneously, in more than 250 cinemas on six continents, bringing over 100,000 film-lovers in all corners of the globe together for one week, via the next generation of filmmakers.
How often do you drive through Sandy Spring on Route 108 and stop to think about the area and how it came into existence? If you don’t take time to slow down and enjoy your surroundings, this exhibit was created for you, with more than 40 pieces of artwork in various media created by the artists of the Olney Art Association (OAA), each one telling its own unique story about the community as interpreted by our very talented neighbors.
The Sandy Spring Museum is a non-profit institution that operates without dedicated funding from federal, state or county agencies. Maintaining the archives is costly. Fees help pay for staff, archival supplies, and maintaining proper environmental conditions to preserve the collection.
Museum members are permitted to use the archives free of charge, whether in person or submitting questions via email.
Non-members who come in-person are charged a daily fee of $10.
Non-members who submit written questions are charged an hourly fee of $25, after receiving the ½ hour of complementary research.
Research assistance is available at the Sandy Spring Museum. You can either visit the archives and have records pulled to search yourself, or you can submit a question via email to have it answered for you.
Yes, without a flash. Such images are for private use only.
Yes. The Museum charges $.25 per scan or copy for non-photograph items.
You can expect to receive an estimate of the time to complete the question within two weeks of your initial email. The estimate will include the types of materials available, the number of hours needed, and the fee. You will receive your information as soon as possible after agreeing to make the contribution.
The collection includes papers, photographs, and objects documenting over 200 years of local history. Highlights include:
The original minutes of many of Sandy Spring’s early social and agricultural clubs and the six volumes of the Annals of Sandy Spring, begun by Quakers in 1863, chronicling a century of community history, the longest such record in the nation.
Everyone has objects, heirlooms, or other personal items that hold special meaning about their origins, identity, or history. On display in this exhibit were objects, artwork, and artifacts of significance that people brought with them to the U.S. to maintain important cultural traditions. We examined the many reasons why people immigrate and migrate, the things they bring with them, and the things they leave behind.
Visitors experienced an unexpected encounter with art and nature, set on the Museum’s rustic grounds and throughout the adjacent woods, as 11 members of the Washington Sculptors Group showcased site-specific and time-based sculptures. Renowned art historian Martine Van Kampen of the Netherlands served as the exhibition’s juror. Several of these sculptures were constructed with community participation. The 11 artists who Van Kampen selected were Allan Arp, c.l. bigelow, Jeff Chyatte, Eve Hennessa, Jin Lee, Darcy Meeker, Vanessa Niederstrasser, Salvatore Pirrone, Mike Shaffer, Diane Szczepaniak, and Fabiola Alvarez Yurcisin.
Works of art by Maryland Colorists created in Sandy Spring of local scenery, residents, and artifacts in the museum’s collection. The artists presented a vision of continuously pursuing the expression of light’s myriad effects and how it illuminates the world around us. From landscapes and figurative works painted around Sandy Spring to still life paintings of artifacts in the Museum’s collections and plein-air portraiture of Sandy-Springers, viewers connected with the vibrancy that is Sandy Spring. Maryland Colorists: Michele del Pilar, Melissa Gryder, Abigail McBride, Nancy McCarra, Sarah Wardell, and Andree Tullier.
