New Works: An Artist-in-Action Group Exhibition
2020-10-09 - 2021-01-17 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Avenue, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
Originally founded in the 1930s as an artists’ colony, the Maitland Art Center proudly continues that legacy through our Artists-in-Action program, which grants on-campus studio space to Central Florida-based artists each year. The 2019-2021 group will exhibit the work they’ve created in their residency in this collaborative show: Nicholas Kalemba, Matthew Mosher, Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz, Jacoub Reyes, Ericka Sobrack, and Victoria Walsh. Much of the work is a response to the Coronavirus pandemic and social unrest of 2020.
Learn more about the Artists-in-Action program here.

Love & Compassion: Images of Mother and Child
2021-02-04 - 2021-05-09 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Avenue, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
Artwork by Jules André Smith
The theme of mother and child has been explored throughout art history and is often charged with strong emotions. Through this motif, motherhood has been canonized, elevated, and idealized over centuries. Since the Renaissance, artists have made muses of their mothers, or paid homage to the Christian representation of Mary and Jesus. In this contemporary show, selected Florida-based artists reflect on the time-honored themes of motherhood, unconditional love, and sacrifice in a show that is at once traditional and edgy.
Featuring works by:
Taylor Battle
Richlin Burnett-Ryan
Jessica Caldas
Herman LeRoy Emmet
Eileen Hernandez
Robert Hoekstra
Taymon Loring-Smith
Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz
Renato Rampolla
Weldon Ryan
Jules André Smith
This exhibition is sponsored by The Grafton Family

View photos from the exhibition opening reception below!

On Seeing Segovia
2021-05-22 - 2021-09-19 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Avenue, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
On Seeing Segovia
Paintings, Etchings, and Story by Jules André Smith
Do you need a vacation? Experience the sights and sounds of majestic Spain this summer as the Art and History Museums of Maitland presents On Seeing Segovia in the Maitland Art Center galleries. One hundred years ago, Art Center founder Jules André Smith traveled from Paris to Segovia, Spain during the spring of 1921. He recorded his adventure in dozens of drawings, etchings, watercolors, paintings and a witty short story that chronicles his first impressions and experiences in Spain. Most of these never-before-seen, incredible works will be revealed to the public for the first time. Several of Andre’s original etching plates will be exhibited alongside his original cast iron printing press that dates back to the mid 1800’s. Bring the family and join us as we explore Spain through the eyes of our founder!

An Evening in Spain: Exhibition Opening Reception | Friday, May 21, 6:30-9pm
This exhibition opening event will feature a performance by Flamenco del Sol, music by contemporary flamenco guitarist Don Soledad, passed tapas by John Michael Exquisite Weddings & Catering, plus a bar with sangria & other libations, as the campus is beautifully lit for your stay-cation to Spain.
Free for members; $5 general admission.

The Recollections of Doretha Hair Truesdell: Alfred Hair and the Florida Highwaymen
2022-02-05 11:00 - 2022-05-08 16:00 (America/New_York) | A&H’s Maitland Art Center, 231 W. Packwood Avenue, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
The Recollections of Doretha Hair Truesdell: Alfred Hair and the Florida Highwaymen
February 5 – May 8, 2022
Maitland Art Center galleries
The African American painters known as the Florida Highwaymen are renowned for their depictions of Florida’s natural landscapes, but the story of the genesis of the collective is as intriguing as the works themselves. This exhibition focuses on the recollections of Doretha Hair Truesdell, widow of Alfred Hair, universally accepted as the founder of the group. Mrs. Hair Truesdell’s firsthand account breathes new life into the narrative of this vibrant community of artists.
Una traducción al Español de esta exposición está disponible. Por favor pida al personal una copia.
(Spanish translation of exhibition is available!)
A&H would like to express our deepest thanks to the Orange County Regional History Center for their loan of 26 significant Florida Highwaymen works for this exhibition. Without this loan and their wonderful cooperation, this beautiful exhibition would not have been possible.
Plan your visit >>

CORPUS DELICTI
2022-05-21 11:00 - 2022-09-25 16:00 | A&H’s Maitland Art Center, 231 W. Packwood Avenue, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
CORPUS DELICTI, a solo exhibition by Jessica Caldas, runs May 21 – September 25, 2022 in the Maitland Art Center galleries (Extended by one week!)
This exhibition features the work of Jessica Caldas, a Florida-based Puerto Rican artist and advocate. Visitors navigate the space in an immersive experience that mirrors the complexities of the stories and issues being explored, focusing on the generational struggles and triumphs of women. Caldas’ first solo museum exhibition incorporates paintings, drawings, collage, performance, and enormous soft sculpture installations — including a new sculpture, Milk Bath (Graces), created specifically for the space. The exhibition is complemented by writings by women from the artist’s life – family, members, mentors, and fellow artists who made an impact on the body of work, as well as artifacts from her artistic process.
The exhibition title translates from Latin as the “body of the crime”. Legally the term means that requisite elements of a crime, such as a body, must be provided before an individual can be convicted. This title was chosen because the art of Jessica Caldas seeks to provide evidence of injustices that often go unspoken. The exhibition becomes a healing space for both artist and viewer — embracing joy, resilience, tenderness, and community care.

The Matriarch’s Timeline

Fumecheliga: A History of the First Peoples of Florida
2022-09-23 11:00 - 2023-02-05 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Avenue, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
Fumecheliga: A History of the First Peoples of Florida
September 23, 2022 – February 5, 2023
in the Maitland History Museum
Florida has been home to thriving indigenous populations well before it received statehood in 1845. In September, A&H will examine these important histories in the Maitland History Museum’s exhibition, Fumecheliga: A History of the First Peoples of Florida. Fumecheliga is Muscogee (or Creek), which is one of the languages spoken by the Seminoles, and translates to “muskmelon place”. In this exhibition, guests will experience Florida’s beginnings through the indigenous cultures that inhabited it.
From the indigenous Timucua, who lived among the tropical landscape well before it was known as “La Florida”, to the unconquered Seminole and Miccosukee who endured through the Seminole War era, this exhibition aims to examine the histories of these indigenous peoples and discuss the truths that history hasn’t always acknowledged. The artwork of Black Seminole descendant Johnny Montgomery will also be featured.
This exhibition is co-curated by Seminole State College professor Dr. Neil Vaz and A&H’s Exhibitions Manager Katie Benson. Our thanks to the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum for their guidance and review of exhibition text.

In Between: Painting the Post Immigrant Experience
2022-10-08 11:00 - 2023-01-22 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Avenue, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
In Between: Painting the Post Immigrant Experience
runs October 8, 2022 – January 22, 2023 in the Maitland Art Center gallery
This exhibition features the work of three extraordinary painters, Cuban-born Leo Cordovi, Filipino-born MJ Torrecampo, and Syrian American Mär Martinez. The resulting three visual narratives of the post immigration experience all unite to form a picture of modern American identity. Through explorations of memory, resilience, family, and sanctuary, these artists are redefining themselves in a space between seemingly opposing cultural forces. This sense of evolving identity, like the brushstrokes of their paintings, is layered and reworked by time.
Opening reception is October 7, 6:30-9:00pm. Tickets available here >>

Sweet, Fresh, Juicy: Florida Citrus in Art and History
2022-11-16 11:00 - 2023-03-16 17:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Avenue, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
The citrus industry had an enormous impact on Central Florida and Maitland in particular during the mid-20th century. This exhibition, which spans the Maitland Art Center Gallery and the Maitland Historical Museum, celebrates the region’s finest export.
In the Maitland Historical Museum, examine the rise and fall of the Central Florida citrus industry through a collection of historic citrus labels from some of Central Florida’s growers and packers, many on loan from the Orange County Regional History Center’s vast archives.
In the Maitland Art Center Gallery, we embrace Florida’s premier citrus while honoring the farmworker through a collection of citrus-themed artwork from local and national artists, as well as Maitland Art Center founder J. André Smith’s interpretations of the orange groves that once surrounded his studio.
Sweet, Fresh, Juicy is sponsored by:

(un)Common Form
2023-02-04 11:00 - 2023-04-02 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Avenue, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
20The concept for (Un)Common Form began as an experiment, a question that we posed to ourselves. Could we craft an exhibition that would reveal the unspoken conversations between a sculptor and their chosen material choices, revealing the how and why, along with the history and the relevance of their physical palette? Our answer came in the form of this solo exhibition of work by Bahamian sculptor Kendra Frorup. Her work speaks of the influence of the culture of the Bahamas on her identity, of her travels, of her deep understanding of material processes and of how common everyday objects can be liberated from their original constraints to speak of higher things. (Un)common Form is the first in a series of five exhibitions in 2023: a diverse season of artists, mediums, conversations, and voices, all revolving around the theme of (Un)common Conversations.

The show is an exploration of artist Kendra Frorup’s Bahamian roots as well as a conversation about her travels throughout the African diaspora. Gallery guests will encounter everything from discarded wood and broken lamps to the hands of a Haitian Voodou Priest, cast from the wax of his own prayer candles.
Frorup’s work pulls guests into conversation with her art through augmented reality and physical interaction with her sculptures. “Pecking Order” invites visitors to gently rock a kettle to set a sea of chickens pecking below a towering wave of text that speaks to the sculptures’ origins. “If I Fall Asleep” invites viewers to bend low and put themselves as off-balance as the artwork itself appears to be. “Collecting Plates” is an installation of more than 50 dishes. It uses augmented reality to bring members of The Links Inc., whose membership numbers thousands of women of African descent, face-to-face with gallery visitors to share stories of their successes.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Artist Kendra Frorup was born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas, and embodies her memories of this time in her work. She earned her BFA in Sculpture at the University of Tampa and her MFA at Syracuse University. She is currently an assistant professor of sculpture at the University of Tampa. Gil DeMeza, one of her former professors at the University of Tampa, describes Frorup as “the collector,” stating that her “unique ability to take the old, used, and discarded and turn them into other-worldly, exquisite moments in time is like a magical talent.” Frorup states that her work “delves into a personal history formed by different cultural motivations and through the investigation of the evocative qualities of a variety of materials.”
In 1989, she embraced an opportunity to study art and live in the United States. “In an atmosphere of possibility and experimentation—combined with traditional methods of casting, carving, and construction—I began to create representational images or the essence of forms that are considered a commonality within my culture. The progressive concept of repetition in my work implies that repeated effort may be necessary to accomplish things but that the accomplishment is worth the struggle. The mindset of a collector and an affection for disdained items, urban refuse, and industrial materials is central to the process of art-making to me as an artist. The objects used within the artwork maintain their integrity to reflect where they have been, and the artwork I create is reflective of who I am.”
Frorup has also traveled extensively throughout Ghana, South Africa, and Tanzania. I gained familiarity with issues—with terms and concepts involved in discussing African art—and I analyzed selected African art forms, artists, and regions.” Elements of all these experiences—the memories and the history, as well as all the learned processes—are reflected in Frorup’s work. Her work can be found in major international collections.

Maitland's Attic: A Journey Through A Small City's Past
2023-03-03 11:00 - 2028-03-03 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Avenue, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
This exhibition is an interactive, hands-on exploration into the history of Maitland and its surrounding areas!

There were a lot of things that did not happen in Maitland. There were no great battles fought on the soil, nor was it home to any infamous individuals. The town was not the epicenter of any great social movements, nor was it home to discoveries that would better humankind. Maitland was, and continues to be, a small town, like so many others.

The story of Maitland is a story of seemingly ordinary people who lived through extraordinary times, a place where people made their homes while dramatic events unfolded in other parts of the world. People labored here, raised their families, loved, lost, thought, and created. The objects in the museum’s collection reflect the brightness of these lives against the backdrop of a changing and often troubled world.

Each artifact tells a story specific to a place and time. They are the carriers of the memories of the people who owned them, who felt that they were important enough to their own story to preserve them. Many of them are the prototypes of the objects that we use and hold dear today, objects which will one day carry our own memories forward.
Welcome to Maitland’s Attic, a gathering place of the unique items that tell of Maitland’s past. From the everyday to the downright weird, these objects and their stories open a window onto important moments throughout the history of the town, and the people who called it home.

¡Esta exhibición es interactivo y de primera mano adentro de la historia de Maitland y las áreas cercanas!
En Maitland no ocurrieron muchas cosas. En su suelo no se libraron grandes batallas, ni fue cuna deindividuos infames. No fue el epicentro de grandes movimientos sociales ni de descubrimientosrevolucionarios.
La historia de Maitland es la historia de personas aparentemente corrientes que vivieron tiemposextraordinarios, un lugar donde la gente estableció su hogar mientras se desarrollaban acontecimientosdramáticos en otras partes del mundo. La gente trabajaba aquí, criaba a sus familias, amaba, perdía,pensaba y creaba. Los objetos de la colección del museo reflejan el brillo de estas vidas en el contextode un mundo cambiante y a menudo turbulento.
Cada artefacto cuenta una historia específica de un lugar y una época. En conjunto, son portadores delos recuerdos de las personas que los poseyeron, que consideraron que eran lo bastante importantespara su historia como para conservarlos. Muchos de ellos son prototipos de los objetos que usamos yapreciamos hoy, objetos que un día serán portadores de nuestros propios recuerdos.Bienvenido a Maitland’s Attic, un lugar donde se reúnen objetos únicos que hablan del pasado deMaitland. Desde los más cotidianos hasta los más extraños, estos objetos abren una ventana amomentos importantes de la historia de la ciudad y a las personas que decidieron llamarla su hogar.

(Un)Common Light
2023-04-15 11:00 - 2023-06-11 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Avenue, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
Wallpaper Dragon (Detail), by Elisabeth Condon
This exhibition showcases the work of two abstract painters, Elisabeth Condon and Carole d’Inverno.
Elisabeth Condon’s paintings are an intersection of nature, décor, and abstraction. Their vocabulary of flower, lattice, pour evolves from combinations of sumi-e, expressionist, and Color Field paint applications. Carole d’Inverno’s work translates historical and geographical data from local communities into humanized abstractions. The resulting paintings and drawings naturally reflect the community and its people.
The conversation taking place in this exhibition will center around the concept of light and its various layered meanings. Both artists seek, through their paintings, to bring to light not only the formal aspects of color, line, and shape, but also to personal and collective histories, memories, and experiences. Both women have served as Artists in Residence at the Art & History Museums of Maitland.

Ungrateful Amphibians, by Carole d’Inverno
Esta exposición mostrará el trabajo de dos pintoras abstractas radicadas en Nueva York: Elisabeth Condon y Carole d’Inverno. Las pinturas de Elisabeth Condon son una intersección de naturaleza, decoración y abstracción. Su vocabulario de flor, celosía y vertido acuoso evoluciona a partir de combinaciones de aplicaciones de pintura sumi-E, expresionista y del campo de color. El trabajo de Carole d’Inverno transforma datos históricos y geográficos de las comunidades locales en abstracciones humanizadas. Las pinturas y dibujos resultantes reflejan naturalmente la comunidad y su gente.
La conversación que tendrá lugar en esta exposición se centrará en el concepto de luz y sus múltiples significados. Ambas artistas buscan, a través de sus pinturas, sacar a la luz no solo los aspectos formales del color, la línea y la forma, sino también las historias, recuerdos y experiencias personales y colectivas. Ambas mujeres se han desempeñado como Artistas en Residencia en los Museos de Arte e Historia de Maitland.

Jules André Smith: The Masterworks
2023-07-08 11:00 - 2023-09-03 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Ave, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
Maitland Art Center founder Jules André Smith (1880–1959) created a prolific body of work, beginning with his early years as an etcher, to his later excursions into modernist and surrealist expressions. He constantly shifted from one medium and style to another with great inventiveness, defying easy categorization as an artist. Today the greatest collection of his works is held by the Art & History Museums of Maitland. This retrospective shows the scope of his abilities and vision, and provides a comprehensive introduction to his greatest work.
Plan your visit >>

(Un)Common Bond
2023-09-16 11:00 - 2023-11-05 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Ave, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
This exhibition will feature the photography and audio/visual work of Monica Jane Frisell and Adam Scher from their time as Artists in Residence here at the Art and History Museums of Maitland. Plan your visit here>>
About the exhibition: Since 2021, photographer Monica Frisell and audio recorder/editor Adam Scher (self-described “collectors of faces and stories”) have been zigzagging across the country in The Ark, amassing an audiovisual archive which they call Portraits of US. The stories are garnered from people based in both rural and urban communities, each one a snapshot of one ordinary person but which when threaded together, produce a mosaic of community life and what binds us together, collectively, as Americans.
Just some of the topics that have been entrusted to and captured by Frisell and Scher for their now 250-and-counting portrait portfolio include: grappling with health problems or issues of sexual or cultural identity and body image; dealing with grief or the pressures of starting a business or becoming a parent; handling the impact of addiction, sobriety, faith or politics; what binds a person historically to a place; and just recalling important personal memories, such as a first kiss…
As Frisell explains, “Many folks seem to derive relief from the experience – particularly after the isolation of the Pandemic – the project provides a moment for people to feel seen and heard, albeit by two seeming strangers.”

(Un)Common Thread
2023-11-18 11:00 - 2024-01-07 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Ave, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
(Un)Common Thread showcases the works of three significant and culturally diverse emerging and mid-career artists working in the medium of fiber art. Plan your visit here>>

Eugene Ofori Agyei is a ceramic sculptural artist and an educator originally from Ghana, now living in Gainesville, and a recent winner of The Pathways 2022: The Carlos Malamud prize from the Rollins Museum. He describes his work as, “memories, without voice yet want to be heard. I reveal these unspoken stories of beauty, migration, and my cultural history through my sculpture”.
The next artist is Alisha McCurdy Holzman. Primarily embodying sculptural and installation forms, McCurdy’s art borrows craft-based techniques that are familiar to Appalachia and the coal fields of Western Pennsylvania, where she grew up.
Jacob Z. Wan is the third artist. He defines himself as a contemporary book artist, crafting conceptual books and poetic fiber art to explore his identity, sexuality, and relationships as a Chinese-American gay man.

The artists’ unique personal stories and histories play a major role in the exhibition. The resulting conversations between their works will examine the overlap between environmental and social issues as well as the wide-ranging possibilities and applications of their overlapping mediums.

A Constant Goodbye: The Table Runner's Stories
2024-01-27 11:00 - 2024-04-14 16:00 | A&H’s Maitland Art Center, 231 W. Packwood Avenue, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
When artist Gisela Romero emigrated from her native country of Venezuela five years ago, she chose to take a table runner with her as her remembrance of home. In this powerful exhibition, the visual symbolism of the table runner becomes the basis for the story of Romero’s experience, along with her meditations on the experiences of all who are compelled to leave their home countries. Romero, now an American citizen, has constructed a compelling narrative through written texts, textiles, drawings, and installation. This exhibition examines the human drama of immigration by embodying the wide range of raw emotions that accompany individuals when they decide to leave their country of origin to start a new life. Plan your visit >>

The View from Within
2024-04-27 11:00 - 2024-07-14 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Ave, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
When one speaks of a view, they are speaking about a unique vantage point or perspective. The View from Within provides a rare opportunity to do just that, enabling the viewer to look within the lives of two emerging artists, Trinidadian artist Nneka Jones and African American artist Shannon Elyse Curry, into the fullness of their thoughts, motivations, and meditations on their artistic practice. This exhibition is a unique partnership between A&H and The Links, Incorporated, an international service organization established in 1946 that consists of more than 17,000 professional women of African descent. Both the artists and the works for this engaging exhibition were selected by members of The Tampa (FL) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated.
Plan your visit >>
Attend the exhibition opening reception >>
—-
About the artists:
Nneka Jones is a contemporary multidisciplinary artist who enjoys working in mixed media, embroidery, textiles, and paint exploring both large-scale mural work and small-scale, intimate pieces. The Trinidadian born artist produces thought-provoking artwork that comments on social and environmental injustice, and is a graduate of the University of Tampa.
One of her most notable achievements was a commission from TIME magazine to produce the cover artwork for the August 31st/ September 7th issue 2020. Her work has since been acquired by the Tampa Museum of Art, FL, Florida Craft Art Gallery, FL, The Ferman Center for the Arts, University of Florida, and many other private and public collectors. She uses her artwork as a tool to advocate for the protection of women and girls of color, and is most known for her realistic embroidered portraits with lasting impressions, but continues to be open and experimental in her practice.
Shannon Elyse Curry was born in Carmel, California. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Studio Art and Art History as an honors scholar at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA. Moving around the globe as the daughter of a career Naval Officer shaped her art and creative sensibilities. Shannon is a jazz musician and vocalist, book cover illustrator, a muralist, painter, educator, and sought-after artist for exhibition and commissioned work. Shannon works in many artistic mediums and experiments with color and its place and influence in art spaces.
She has a passion for education and as a certified teacher in Art K-12 and ESE K-12, Shannon Elyse offers a wide variety of artistic and creative experiences tailored to both children and adults. Shannon has taught art and exceptional education for over ten years and is keenly focused on the benefits of artistic expression for students receiving exceptional education services. She has focused much of her work on intersections between the arts, art as therapy and student achievement. As a working artist, she has earned accolades exhibiting in various arenas throughout the United States, most recently, Reverberations at the James Wildlife Museum in collaboration with the Carter G. Woodson Museum of Florida and the Scarfone Gallery and the Tampa Museum of Art. In addition to exhibiting and work acquired by galleries, her work has been sold to private collectors around the world.

A Bright Light from the Embers: A Story of Love, Art, and Place
2024-07-27 11:00 - 2024-09-29 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Avenue, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
This exhibition will showcase the works of late artists Que Throm and Cicero Greathouse, who had key roles in growing the Central Florida arts community. This exhibition will be a window into the life and love they shared, and the deep affection they each had for the Maitland Art Center. Through their art, letters, personal artifacts, and the recorded memories of those who knew them best, this exhibition will serve as a remembrance for those who had the pleasure to call them friend, as well as an open invitation to those yet to experience their rich and layered story.
Celebrate the opening of this new contemporary art exhibition with music by Alberto Irausquin, food for purchase from The Bruja’s Table, a cash bar, and honoring our featured artists on our beautiful National Historic Landmark campus! Featuring the art of the late Que Throm and Cicero Greathouse. Reserve your free tickets here >>
Plan your visit >>

Man and Machine
2024-10-19 11:00 - 2025-01-05 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Ave, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
Join us for the opening reception on October 18 from 6:30-9pm: Meet the artist and curator, enjoy music, food, and a cash bar all just 15 minutes from downtown Orlando on our beautiful National Historic Landmark campus. GET YOUR FREE TICKETS HERE >>
Man and Machine is a solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Mauro Wieser that explores the intricate relationship between humanity and technology, echoing D.H. Lawrence’s notion that “Man invented the machine and now the machine has invented man.” Through a fusion of traditional woodworking techniques and contemporary AI-assisted machinery, Wieser delves into the complexities of male identity, challenging the notion of men’s replaceability and the myriad societal expectations thrust upon them. His engravings and kinetic sculptures juxtapose classically depicted male figures with the tools of their expected trades alongside snippets of their inner thoughts, liberating men from the confines of the traditional masculine ideal, and portraying them as vulnerable beings grappling with evolving societal norms. Plan your visit >>

Future Nature: The Silent Conversations of Sinuhé Vega Negrin
2025-01-25 11:00 - 2025-04-13 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Ave, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
Future Nature: The Silent Conversations of Sinuhé Vega Negrin showcases paintings and ceramic sculptures that delve into themes of ecological and human fragility. Inspired by the Dutch Vanitas tradition, Negrin’s new works evoke contemplation on mortality and the pursuit of divine wisdom through earthly reflections. His paintings depict balancing sculptural heads and vessels within lush tropical landscapes, symbolizing humanity’s precarious mental constructs and our disconnection from nature. Negrin’s conversation centers on our future relationship with the natural world, calling for greater ecological awareness and a renewed spiritual connection. These pieces invite viewers to reflect on their role in envisioning a future nature, where the need for a harmonious coexistence with nature is paramount, and where human and ecological resilience are intertwined.

LOSS
2025-04-26 11:00 - 2025-07-13 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Ave, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
LOSS explores the emotional layers of loss through abstract representation. Viewers can navigate the physical pieces and nuanced lighting, creating a contemplative space to reflect on their own experiences.
St. Petersburg-based sculptor Michael Massaro transforms discarded materials—stone, wood, metal, rubber, plastic, and textiles—into contemplative works of art. Through his nonverbal commentary, Massaro explores a world in flux, reflecting on the loss of human rights and environmental stability. By bringing together these disparate, forgotten objects, he creates unexpected reflections on harmony and discord—offering a visual meditation on resilience, renewal, and the stories hidden within what we view as disposable. Massaro was awarded his BFA from the University of Tampa. Plan your visit >>

A Return to Espero
2025-07-26 11:00 - 2025-10-05 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Ave, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
Join us for the opening reception on July 25, 2025 from 6:30-9pm: Meet the curator, enjoy live music by Shine, food truck, and a cash bar all just 15 minutes from downtown Orlando on our beautiful National Historic Landmark campus. Thank you to Red Bud Landscaping for sponsoring this exhibition opening! GET YOUR FREE TICKETS HERE >>

About the Exhibition
For nearly a century, the story of the Maitland Art Center’s founding seemed complete.
Then, the letters surfaced.
Recently discovered in the archives of the Curtis Institute of Music, an extraordinary trove of correspondence between artist J. André Smith and philanthropist Mary Curtis Bok reveals a deeper, more compelling origin, born of a powerful creative alliance and a shared vision for what Central Florida’s art community could become. Illustrated by Smith and brimming with artistic and philosophical exchange, these letters illuminate the origin of the Research Studio as never before. Paired with rarely seen works from Smith’s evolving career, A Return to Espero reframes the birth of the site as a profound creative partnership.
Plan your visit >>
This exhibition is generously supported by a grant from the Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation

Pangarap: Espero Reimagined
2025-10-18 11:00 - 2026-01-04 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Ave, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
Pangarap: Espero Reimagined transforms The Maitland Art Center gallery into a canvas of speculative storytelling under Filipino artist Isobel Francisco’s guidance. Drawing inspiration from Jules André Smith’s pivotal decision to establish an artist colony in Florida, Francisco envisions an alternate reality where Smith’s path leads instead to 1937 Philippines. Through a collection of fictional artifacts, iconographies, and artworks, the exhibition invites viewers to ponder the intriguing parallels and contrasts between this imagined scenario and the museum’s own rich history. Pangarap, which means dream or vision in Filipino, will offer a compelling alternate reality, inviting audiences to ponder the impact of one artist’s decision on the cultural landscape of 1937 Philippines and beyond. Plan your visit >>
Click here to see photos of the opening reception>>
This exhibition is generously supported by a grant from the Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation

The Situated Body: Reconfiguring the Symbolic
2026-01-24 11:00 - 2026-04-05 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Ave, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
About the Exhibition
From soot on paper to felt, The Situated Body, an exhibition of the work of Mexican sculptor Jacobo Alonso, redefines the classical depictions of the human form through contemporary materials. Alonso transforms traditional drawing and sculptural practices into expressive and tactile abstractions, all referencing the configuration and movement of the human form. Inspired by both pre-Columbian traditions and the Art Center’s Mayan Revival architecture, his work, some created during his 2025 residency at A&H, challenges assumptions about form, identity, and materiality.
Alonso stated, “Each body possesses its own geography and undergoes numerous inevitable mutations that reveal the genealogy of its image and form. It is a territory inherent to the individual, tracing the constellation of their identity yet always appealing to an inherent instability”.
This exhibition is the first time that Alonso’s “fumage” works of soot on paper will be shown alongside his vibrant sculptural works of reconfigured felt.
Plan your visit >>

All 2025-26 free programs at A&H are supported by a grant from Duke Energy Foundation.

a loom, a fence, a wire, a thread
2026-04-25 11:00 - 2026-07-05 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Ave, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
Join us for the opening reception on Friday, April 24 from 6:30-9pm: Meet the curator, enjoy music by DJ Nigel John, La Patrona Tacos & Birria House food truck, and a cash bar all just 15 minutes from downtown Orlando on our beautiful National Historic Landmark campus.
FREE Tickets Here!

About the Exhibition
Mär Martinez, a Syrian American artist and Fulbright scholar, presents new work developed during her 2024–25 Fulbright research in Istanbul. Her project investigates traditional Turkish and Middle Eastern textile techniques while reflecting on themes of urbanization, surveillance, and cultural memory. Drawing from nighttime walks through Istanbul’s neighborhoods, Martinez transforms architectural barriers, barbed wire, fences, hostile design, into motifs of resistance and reweaving. Her haunting wood paintings explore personal heritage, global textile history, and contemporary social commentary in poetic, layered form.
Plan your visit >>

US
2026-07-25 11:00 - 2026-09-27 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Ave, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
Join us for the opening reception on Friday, July 24 from 6:30-9pm: Meet the curator, enjoy live music, food truck, and a cash bar all just 15 minutes from downtown Orlando on our beautiful National Historic Landmark campus.

About the Exhibition
US celebrates the intergenerational legacy of creativity at the Art & History Museums of Maitland. Featuring twelve new works from recent Artists-in-Residence and Artists-in-Action, the exhibition pairs contemporary pieces with historic works from Jules André Smith and the original Bok Fellows. Together, they form a conversation across nearly a century of creative experimentation, honoring the enduring impact of A&H’s residency programs and the vibrant community of artists shaping Central Florida’s cultural identity.
Plan your visit >>

Vilomah: Against the Natural Order
2026-10-17 11:00 - 2027-01-03 16:00 | Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Ave, Maitland, FL, 32751, United States
Join us for the opening reception on Friday, October 16 from 6:30-9pm: Meet the curator, enjoy live music, food truck, and a cash bar all just 15 minutes from downtown Orlando on our beautiful National Historic Landmark campus.

About the Exhibition
Soude Dadras is an artist, curator, and educator currently living and working in Atlanta, Georgia. She was born in Iran and graduated from Islamic Azad University with a bachelor’s degree in Persian Rugs. Dadras was awarded her MFA from the Welch School of Art & Design at Georgia State University in Atlanta. In her solo exhibition, Vilomah: Against the Natural Order, Dadras investigates the traumatic sociocultural experiences she encountered firsthand in Iran, as well the processes and rituals of healing which enabled her to turn her pain into positivity. This unique installation of traditional handwork, found objects, video, abandoned textiles, and discarded data will seek to centralize disparate voices in this multidisciplinary exhibition.
Plan your visit >>
