April art shows in Pittsburgh include baseballs and scraposaurs

Each month NEXTpittsburgh features new openings and special art events in our series, NEXT in the Gallery. Keep us posted on what new art is happening in your neighborhood and email lemccullough@mac.com.

April art brings painted baseballs, ambiguous boundaries, digitalized gogottes and a fierce flock of scraposaurs as a spirited prelude to May’s 59th Carnegie International and June’s Three Rivers Arts Festival debut at the new Arts Landing.

From left, clockwise, “Windy Pine”, “Big Tree”, “Fish” by Hugh Watkins (Christine Fréchard Gallery). Photos by artist.

“Hugh Watkins: The Arc of Dreams” on view April 3-29, opening reception April 11, 4-7 p.m.

Since building an electric upright bass at age 20, Hugh Watkins’ artistic endeavors have embraced four decades of painting, sculpture, photography, stained glassmaking, jewelry crafting, printmaking, exhibit designing and bas-relief pipe organ panel carving — all running parallel with a career as a professional bassist with Ploughman’s Lunch, Floyd Beck, Afro Routes, King Fez and other cutting-edge Pittsburgh ensembles.

Curated by Christine Fréchard, “The Arc of Dreams” presents woodcut prints, abstract and en plein air acrylic paintings, a wood sculpture and several monoprints fashioned from a salvaged zinc printing plate for an early 20th-century piece of untitled sheet music.

“Schenley Park: White-tailed Deer” by Sonja Sweterlitsch; “Ornament” by Lynne Feinberg (BoxHeart Gallery). Photos courtesy of BoxHeart Gallery.

“Stillness: New Paintings by Sonja Sweterlitsch” and “Lynne Feinberg Solo Exhibit” on view April 1-May 8, opening reception April 4, 5-7 p.m.

Continuing its 25th anniversary of art matchmaking, BoxHeart Gallery showcases 20 new paintings by Sonja Sweterlitsch and the latest sculptural assemblages by Lynne Feinberg.

From left, clockwise, “Mother of Dragons,” “Little Susie,” “Dino – My Dog’s Better Than Your Dog” by Dale Lewis (Pittsburgh Botanic Garden). Photos by artist.

“Scraposaurs: Ancient Giants, Reimagined in Steel by Dale Lewis” on view April 11-Oct. 31

Promoting the timely message of recycling with an intriguing blend of whimsy and terror, the “Scraposaurs” sculptures of Dale Lewis deploy 14 large-scale dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures fashioned from a melange of recycled metal and found objects including railroad spikes, salvaged rebar, tie-wire, used propane tanks and a Chevy pickup truck frame.

Works range from “Dino,” a 300-pound sculpture inspired by the pet animal in “The Flintstones,” to a stainless-steel pterodactyl with an 18-foot wingspan and a towering 2 ton T-Rex sporting Boeing 747 cargo door latches and remnants from a John Deere rotary hoe.

George Sosnak, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1978, featuring Harold “Pie” Traynor, Bill Mazeroski, and Roberto Clemente, 1978. India ink on manufactured baseball. Courtesy of a private collector, supported by The Chrysler Museum of Art . Photo by Ed Pollard, Chrysler Museum of Art photographer.

“Play Ball! The Art of George Sosnak” on view April 23, 2026-April 4, 2027

Pittsburgh native and minor league umpire George Sosnak (1924-1992) found his lifelong artistic calling while working a Boise Braves game in Idaho in 1956. A fan asked if he could paint her favorite player on a baseball. Sosnak took up the challenge and, using India ink, a magnifying glass and endless patience, produced the first of nearly 800 painted baseballs adorned with portraits, stats, highlights and even autographs.

“Play Ball!” displays over 50 of Sosnak’s colorful orbs, several dedicated to historic Pittsburgh Pirates players. “He did the most wonderful job of hand-painting a baseball,” opined legendary Detroit Tigers manager Sparky Anderson. “He also did a good job of umpiring.”

“Halophilic” by Christine Lorenz; “Landslide” by Kristen Letts Kovak (Mark Rengers Gallery). Photos by artists.

“Ambiguous Boundaries: Kristen Letts Kovak and Christine Lorenz” on view April 3-May 30, opening reception April 3, 6-8 p.m.

“A Showcase of Sweetwater’s 2026 Master Class Artists: Ron Donoughe and Kelsie McNair” on view April 3-Dec. 19, opening reception April 3, 6-8 p.m.

In “Ambiguous Boundaries,” painter Kristen Letts Kovak and photographer Christine Lorenz embark upon a journey of collaboration and accommodation. Kovak explores the interplay of representation and abstraction, creating captivating states of uncertainty. Lorenz uses macro photography to examine salt crystals and single-use plastics at a molecular level; the results resemble galaxies and alien topographies that lie just beneath the visible surface of our everyday awareness.

Simultaneously showing is new work by en plein air painter Ron Donoughe and stained glass maker Kelsie McNair, who will teach summer and fall workshops in Sweetwater Center for the Arts’ 2026 Master Class Series.

“Rainy Reflections” by Heather Kanazawa; “Snow Garden” by Seth Clark (JL Shorr Gallery). Photos by artists.

“Strata: Seth Clark and Heather Kanazawa” on view April 4-May 30, opening reception April 18, 5-8 p.m.

Seth Clark’s two-dimensional paintings are created primarily with collaged paper and typically portray architecture on the threshold of ruin. In his sculptural artwork, scrap wood and other aged materials provide the viewer with a brief glimpse into the moment before structural collapse. Nearly everything appears to hang by a literal thread, calling attention to the rising instability of the American urban habitat.

Heather Kanazawa’s contemporary Expressionist paintings evoke deep-rooted, abstract memories and recollections of place. Influenced by Zen philosophy, she paints landscapes not as they appear but how they are remembered, in the process revealing the finespun poetry of the natural world.

“Welcome to the Jungle” by Janel Young (Atithi Studios). Photo by Hounds.

“Undrafted: Janel Young” on view April 18-May 23, opening reception April 18, 6-8 p.m.

Designer/muralist Janel Young’s “Undrafted” connects sports, community and the youthful spirit of the underdog. Young is a former City of Pittsburgh Office of Public Art commissioner and resident artist at Westmoreland Museum of American Art whose murals have appeared across the U.S. Most recently her “A New Wave” debuted on Riverlife’s Shore Thing floating platform between Roberto Clemente and Andy Warhol Sister Bridges.

From top left, clockwise, “Life, still” by Jannick Wildberg; “Formed” by Peggi Habets; “Thalitha Koum I” by Carolyn Frischling; “The Given” by Linda Price-Sneddon (ZYNKA Gallery). Photos courtesy of ZYNKA Gallery.

“emBodyment: New Work from Carolyn Frischling, Peggi Habets, Linda Price-Sneddon, Jannick Wildberg” on view April 18-May 31, opening reception April 18, 5-8 p.m.

Employing multiple media and materials, “emBodyment” premieres landscape and floral forms reshaped into surreal, boundary-blurring paintings by Linda Price-Sneddon, Peggi Habets and Jannick Wildberg that hover between the familiar and uncanny alongside Carolyn Frischling’s digital stone sculpting inspired by primeval French gogottes.

Group shows

“Collective Energies: A Collaborative PCA&M Staff Exhibition” on view April 3-May 17, opening reception April 3, 6-8 p.m.

“Collective Energies” features the work of 11 PCA&M staff members alongside the work of artists they admire and find community with. Paired up are Alyssa Kail/Drew Kail, Audra Clayton/Vanessa Kettering, Avery McGrail/Jordan Reynolds, Bridget McKenna/Anna McKenna, Catie Rogan/Starling Wolfrum, Emily Stedge/Liz Wells, Eva Catherine Kuhn/Chloe Simpson, Katie Botterman/Paige Burger, Kyle Houser/Ron Copeland, Lucy Zhang/Shuming Zhang, Lindsay Huff/Rebeka Scotland Phillips.

“Intergenerational Echoes” and “Talented Kids Exhibition: Shaping the Future: Modern Artists Expressions” on view April 4-25, opening reception April 11, 12-4 p.m.

Now fully situated in their new Aluminum City Arts venue, Manos Gallery hosts two shows — “Talented Kids Exhibition, Shaping the Future: Modern Artists Expressions,” a juried art show featuring works by 32 artists ages 5-18, and “Intergenerational Echoes” spotlighting new work by Steven Bradley, Tabitha Brost, Rachel Cooper, Amie Costabile, Brock Flotta, Luanne Haak, Cheryl Hallouer, Rebecca Harvey, Stephanie Hill, Trish Housman, Breanna Larson, Chloe Lysiak, Monica Matthews, Alana Pantley, Amelia Sallach, Andrea Savinda, Lily VanDyk, Erin Waller, Dave Winter, Dave White, Michele Wild and Ari Wulff.

“Made on the Mountain” features new work by 8 Wild-ish Women Artists (Spinning Plate Gallery). Photo courtesy of Michel Demetria Tsouris.

“Good Better Best Bested” on view April 10-12, opening reception April 10, 6-9 p.m.

“Made on the Mountain by 8 Wild-ish Women Artists” on view April 17-30, opening reception April 17, 5-8 p.m.

Spinning Plate Gallery opens for two shows in April. “Good Better Best Bested” features papermaker Kathryn Carr, photographer Francis Crisafio and painter David Goldstein anchoring a weekend enlivened by performances from RMR Jazz (April 10, 6-9 p.m.), Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 2025 performer of the year Ken Bolden (April 11, 2 p.m.), jazz cabaret vocalist Phat Man Dee (April 11, 7 p.m.) and novelist/restaurateur Robert Trakofler reading from his new book “Dark Matters” (April 12, 1 p.m.).

“Made On The Mountain” presents an eclectic exhibit of “pots, platters, plates, pitchers, planters, painting, poems and a totem” from Cheryl Boeckmann, Mary Pat Donegan, Dawn Durain, Lee Grice, Sheila McBride, Michel Demetria Tsouris, Dana Ventriglia and Judith Vollmer, members of a longtime Laurel Mountains women’s art collective. The April 17 opening reception features music by Paula Purnell and Long Train with an April 24 performance by singer/songwriter Sarah Fina from 5-8 p.m.

“Monochrome” on view April 18, 8 p.m.-2 a.m.

The annual “Monochrome” art show gathers 50+ artists celebrating the shadings and subtleties of black-and-white illustration, painting and photography with live music from Dopamine and Different Places in Space.

“Keystone Kilnwars” on view April 11-May 10, opening reception April 18, 2-5 p.m.

Pittsburgh Center for Arts & Media and Ceramics Takeover Wheeling co-present entries from a winning team of two dozen Pittsburgh artisans who defeated a Philadelphia team in the epic Keystone Kilnwars ceramic smackdown held in Wheeling last month.

Check these art happenings, too:

April 2, 5-7 p.m. Radiant Hall Homewood (7800 Susquehanna St., Homewood) hosts a free studio mixer giving a glimpse into the working world of professional artists. In May, Radiant Hall will open its fourth location at 308 Seventh Ave. in Downtown Pittsburgh with 21 studios and 24/7 access. Interested artists can inquire at RadiantHall.org.

• April 3, 4-10 p.m. Pittsburgh’s longest-running visual art stroll, Unblurred: First Fridays on Penn Avenue, returns with a lively evening of art openings, live performances, sidewalk markets and innumerable diverse food and beverage selections along the 4800–5500 blocks of Penn Avenue in Bloomfield/Garfield/Friendship.

April 11, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Anna R. Koplik and Patrick Quinn present a blacksmithing symposium at Contemporary Craft (5645 Butler St., Lawrenceville) featuring live demos and presentations.

April 23, 5:30-7 p.m. Artists Brian Charles Johnson and Patrick Lee offer an artist talk on the process of creating the “Outliers” exhibit running to April 25 at Mark Rengers Gallery, 549 Beaver St., Sewickley.

April 25-26, 10a.m.- 4 p.m. Sculptor Cristina Córdova hosts “A Bust, and the Weather of Surface” workshop exploring the intricacies of developing head and facial anatomy. Sweetwater Center for the Arts, 200 Broad St., Sewickley.

April 27, 12-5pm. Clay Pittsburgh sponsors a studio Ceramixer at Fireborn Studios for pottery and ceramic enthusiasts featuring drinks, snacks, live music and silent auction of “Primo Pots” from the last 30 years. 2338 Sarah St., South Side.

April 28, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Each month Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council convenes the Creative Hive, a casual and lively public meetup for artists, creatives, art educators, culture bearers and arts administrators. April’s Creative Hive takes place at Pittsburgh Glass Center (5472 Penn Ave., Garfield). It’s always free, but RSVPs are encouraged here.

From left, “I will be water” by Darya Kharabi (photo by Darya Kharabi); “White Swan” by Isabella Schubert-Jones (photo by Chris Uhren) (Brew House Arts). Ethan Marks, “Untitled (Visible Torso)” by Ethan Marks (photo by Chris Uhren).