Gallery at City Springs

The Gallery at City Springs features rotating exhibits produced by local artists. The gallery is open during City Hall hours.

Current Exhibit

What Matter Holds Art Exhibition

Note: Installation date: June 29, 2026

Artist: Carla Contreras, Carol Santos, Jeffrey Wilcox Paclipan, Soo Kim Young

What Matter Holds explores how everyday materials can carry powerful stories. Through works created with rice, recycled materials, coffee, beets, natural pigments, puzzles, and other unconventional mediums, the artists transform ordinary substances into expressions of memory, identity, labor, and belonging. By highlighting the emotional and cultural significance embedded in the materials we use, consume, and discard, the exhibition invites viewers to reflect on the connections between personal experience, heritage, and the world around them. Featuring diverse artistic perspectives and processes, What Matter Holds celebrates the many ways material can become meaning.

About The Artists

Carla Contreras
Carla Contreras is an Ecuadorian-American multidisciplinary artist and educator based in Atlanta. Inspired by the natural landscapes of Georgia and Ecuador, her mixed-media works explore themes of home, memory, and human connection to nature. Contreras has exhibited at institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, and the Mint Museum. Her work is also part of the Microsoft Art Collection. She currently creates public art projects and large-scale commissions throughout the United States and abroad.

Instagram: @carlacontrerasart

Carol Santos
Carol Santos is a Brazilian multidisciplinary artist based in Sandy Springs whose work explores memory, heritage, and cultural identity. Working across painting, sculpture, textiles, and performance, she creates connections between past and present through recycled materials and shared stories. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is included in private collections throughout the United States, Brazil, and Europe. Santos holds an MFA in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design and is an active educator, researcher, and community advocate.

Instagram: @CarolAtlantaArt

Jeffrey Wilcox Paclipan
Jeffrey Wilcox Paclipan is a multidisciplinary artist whose work transforms discarded and marginalized materials into mixed-media assemblages rich with personal and cultural meaning. Born in the Philippines and now based in the Atlanta area, his practice explores identity, memory, and belonging through process-driven experimentation. Paclipan has exhibited at institutions including MOCA GA, Atlanta Contemporary, and the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art. His work has been featured in exhibitions and public installations throughout the Southeast and New York.

Instagram: @jeffreywilcoxpaclipan

Soo Kim Young
Soo Kim Young is a Korean-American painter whose work reflects her family's immigrant experience and cultural heritage. Using rice as her primary medium, she meticulously places each grain by hand to honor stories of resilience, labor, and cultural memory. Her work explores themes of identity, connection, and the relationship between tradition and contemporary life. Young's work is included in collections such as the City of Atlanta Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs and the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Instagram: @young.soo.kim

Previous Exhibits

The Gallery at City Springs has previously featured the following artists and exhibitions:

• Gary Bodner
• Lorraine Christie
• Susan Westmoreland
• Jan Eubanks
• Fran Scher
• Diana Toma
• Diane Shaftman
• DAKORO Edwards
• Jody and Cary Goldstein
• Debra Nadelhoffer
• Emerging Artists Group Show
• PeQue
• Clay Fisher
• What Will the City of Sandy Springs Look Like 20 Years in the Future? – Children’s Group Show
• Kathy Rennell Forbes
• Black History Month 2026 Group Show
• The Chattahoochee River Art Exhibition by Gregg Bauer

Future Exhibits

Artists wishing to be considered for an upcoming exhibit may submit an application.

Gallery Application (opens in new tab)