04/21/25 @ 12:00am - 04/26/25 @ 12:00am Sharpsburg Paxton Dillon is a queer, trans, and neurodivergent printmaking artist who lives and works in Pittsburgh, PA. He has a BFA from Edinboro University in Edinboro, PA. The majority of these screen prints have been created locally at the printmaking studio in the Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media. Screen printing is a hands-on print process where stencils are created on a mesh screen. Colored ink is then pushed through the stencil onto paper. These prints are hand made with each layer of color printed separately in layers to create the completed image. Learn more about fine art printmaking by searching “printmaking” in the library catalogue!Paxton's body of print work primarily focuses on introspection of his life experiences informed by his intersectional identity as a queer, transgender, and late-diagnosed high-masking autistic/ADHD person. For many years, being openly queer was a part of his life yet he was unsure how to speak about it publicly. Therapy, education, and deep introspection helped him unravel the metaphorical ball of string holding his sense of identity together. This eventually led to learning, in his mid-twenties, he was high-masking autistic, and not long after came a formal ADHD diagnosis. To some, this didn’t come as a surprise, but this was a new, exciting, and complex recontextualizing of his life that he felt compelled to share. However, Paxton realized that he has found communicating often complex thoughts and feelings through “neurotypical” channels difficult. He had to find other ways to express them. Using his work as an indirect yet personal connection to the broader community parallels his mental health journey. He needed to break everything apart to then put it back together. This is also a significant part of understanding how screen printing works: you have to work forwards and back. Starting with the image you want to create you then have to break it apart into individual layers, forcing you to stop and think about the individual pieces of the image and how they all fit together and line up to make the final product.Thinking in Layers will be on view daily through Saturday 4/26 and is a collaboration between the library, the artist, and Evolve Coaching. 25% of each sale will benefit the library. A closing reception with Paxton will be held on Saturday 4/26, 12pm-1:30pm. Follow Paxton on Instagram @pax_dillon or visit his website to learn more!

04/24/25 @ 6:00pm - 04/24/25 @ 8:00pm Reading Room (Scott Family Reading Room) Cooper-Siegel This program occurs after the library closes. Drop-ins welcome as space permits. All supplies provided. Registration is required. Registration starts: 04/15/1970 @ 7:00pm Registration end: 04/24/2025 @ 6:00pm Come hang out with us as we crochet, knit, or do any other fun yarn craft! Finley is here to teach you crochet and if you don't have any supplies, don't worry! The library is regularly donated yarn and we'll have extra crochet hooks and knitting needles on hand to get you started on your yarn journey!

04/26/25 @ 12:00pm - 04/26/25 @ 1:30pm Sharpsburg Join this month's artist Paxton Dillon for the closing reception of his solo screenprint exhibit, Thinking in Layers! He'll be here to discuss his work and his process. Light refreshment will be served. 25% of each sale will benefit the library.Can't make the closing reception? Thinking in Layers is on view daily during library hours through 4/26.Paxton Dillon is a queer, trans, and neurodivergent printmaking artist who lives and works in Pittsburgh, PA. He has a BFA from Edinboro University in Edinboro, PA. The majority of these screen prints have been created locally at the printmaking studio in the Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media. Screen printing is a hands-on print process where stencils are created on a mesh screen. Colored ink is then pushed through the stencil onto paper. These prints are hand made with each layer of color printed separately in layers to create the completed image. Learn more about fine art printmaking by searching “printmaking” in the library catalogue!Paxton's body of print work primarily focuses on introspection of his life experiences informed by his intersectional identity as a queer, transgender, and late-diagnosed high-masking autistic/ADHD person. For many years, being openly queer was a part of his life yet he was unsure how to speak about it publicly. Therapy, education, and deep introspection helped him unravel the metaphorical ball of string holding his sense of identity together. This eventually led to learning, in his mid-twenties, he was high-masking autistic, and not long after came a formal ADHD diagnosis. To some, this didn’t come as a surprise, but this was a new, exciting, and complex recontextualizing of his life that he felt compelled to share. However, Paxton realized that he has found communicating often complex thoughts and feelings through “neurotypical” channels difficult. He had to find other ways to express them. Using his work as an indirect yet personal connection to the broader community parallels his mental health journey. He needed to break everything apart to then put it back together. This is also a significant part of understanding how screen printing works: you have to work forwards and back. Starting with the image you want to create you then have to break it apart into individual layers, forcing you to stop and think about the individual pieces of the image and how they all fit together and line up to make the final product.Thinking in Layers will be on view daily through Saturday 4/26 and is a collaboration between the library, the artist, and Evolve Coaching. 25% of each sale will benefit the library. Follow Paxton on Instagram @pax_dillon or visit his website to learn more!

04/26/25 @ 12:00pm - 04/26/25 @ 2:00pm Community Room Sharpsburg All supplies provided. Spend a Saturday in Sharpsburg! The Sharpsburg Business Group is organizing a quarterly Saturday event, and the library is proud to participate!During Spring Into Sharpsburg, we'll be "growing a garden" of beautiful flowers on our Main Street window! Stop by between 12 and 2pm to decorate the window and make a coffee filter flower for our window garden. Young children should be accompanied by a grown-up. We recommend arriving no later than 1:30pm to participate.This staff-led program is FREE - donations appreciated.Parking is available at the library and the 13th Street Municipal Lot (metered). Library is accessible via PRT's 91 and 1 bus routes -- get off at 13th Street.