Calvert Library Prince Frederick features approximately two dozen paintings by North Beach-based artist Sarita Pandey in its ongoing Art in the Stacks program through January 2026.
The exhibit opened in October 2025 at the library located at 850 Costley Way in Prince Frederick. A meet-the-artist reception takes place on December 17, 2025, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the library cafe, allowing visitors to discuss Pandey’s work and creative process.
Art in the Stacks turns Calvert Library’s four locations—Prince Frederick, Fairview in Owings, Southern in Lusby, and Twin Beaches in Chesapeake Beach and North Beach—into community galleries. Prince Frederick offers nine designated spaces for displays, while other branches provide varying numbers of walls and areas. The program, which began in 2012, rotates exhibits every three months to feature professional, emerging, and student artists from Southern Maryland or those with regional themes. All displayed art must suit family viewing, and applications are coordinated through branch-specific art contacts listed on the library’s website.
Pandey works primarily in acrylics, oils, and mixed media, creating portraits, figures, and landscapes often abstracted to convey emotion, movement, and energy. Bold colors, strong lines, and expressive forms characterize her style, influenced by vibrant contrasts and light from her upbringing in India.
A member artist at CalvART Gallery in Prince Frederick’s shopping center, Pandey held a solo show titled Juxta Bit of Pink there in September 2025. Her pieces have appeared in juried shows at venues including Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center in Solomons—a Smithsonian affiliate known for blending indoor galleries with outdoor sculpture trails along the Patuxent River—Towson Arts Collective, Glen Echo Park, and the Accelerator space at Howard County Economic Development Authority in Columbia.
Pandey contributes to local arts and education through roles such as teaching artist and workshop instructor for the National Park Service’s Lotus & Water Lily Festival in Washington, D.C., in 2024 and 2025; fine arts judge at the Calvert County Fair during the same years; and teaching artist and volunteer with the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maryland from 2022 to 2023. She joins North Beach community events like First Fridays and donates works to charitable auctions, including those benefiting the Boys & Girls Club.
“I make art because of my unquenchable thirst to see and to cherish what I see, and to celebrate the idea of being alive together,” says Pandey. “My paintings are stories told through color—to communicate, to remember and to honor.”
She describes her approach: “My process is simple. I take a surface, make marks, rub colors in and let the lines meander. I abstract and define everything I see. My hope is that the story that begins in me continues in those who stand before my work.”
Pandey began pursuing art professionally in 2016 after drawing since childhood and completed the Barnes-de Mazia Certificate Program in art history and appreciation at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia in 2025. Her background includes two decades as a communications strategist, filmmaker, and human rights advocate, informing her empathetic visual storytelling.
The Prince Frederick branch serves as Calvert County’s main library hub, offering resources alongside cultural programs like Art in the Stacks that integrate art into daily visits. Exhibits change quarterly across branches, providing ongoing exposure to diverse media such as photography, sculpture, and paintings by area creators. Interested artists can apply via guidelines on the library site, ensuring displays reflect Southern Maryland talents and themes familiar to residents near the Chesapeake Bay and Patuxent River communities.
This installation continues the program’s tradition of making professional art accessible in public spaces, complementing nearby cultural sites like CalvART Gallery and Annmarie Garden that highlight regional creativity.