Image: Antikhof und Galerie, Bissee
The Westmoreland Museum of American Art is presenting ‘Play Ball! The Art of George Sosnak,’ an exhibition devoted to the self-taught artist whose baseballs turned a pastime into a medium. According to the museum, the show is on view from April 23, 2026, through April 4, 2027, and brings together more than 60 of Sosnak’s hand-illustrated baseballs. Many of the works in the exhibition are dedicated to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The museum identifies Sosnak as a Pittsburgh-born figure whose life before art included work as a minor league umpire, baker, and corrections officer. Born in 1924, he became known for making baseballs into highly personalized objects using India ink. The exhibition text describes him as a self-taught artist with an obsession for the game, and the presentation centers on the unusual intersection of sports memorabilia, folk art, and illustration in his practice.
‘Play Ball!’ sits within The Westmoreland’s broader ‘On View’ program, where the museum has paired exhibitions with gallery activities and public events. In the exhibition listing, the museum notes that visitors can decorate their own baseball drawing to take home or display in the Visitor Art Gallery, extending the show’s focus on baseball imagery into a hands-on setting. The museum also places the exhibition alongside other long-term and rotating projects in its galleries, including ‘it takes a long time to stay here: Paintings by Jordan Ann Craig’ and ‘Steel Valley Visions: An American Legacy.’
The Westmoreland’s exhibition page gives a fuller sense of the Sosnak show’s scope. It highlights that the presentation includes many baseballs linked to the Pittsburgh Pirates, reinforcing the local resonance of the artist’s subject matter. The work of Sosnak appears in a museum context that emphasizes American art and Southwestern Pennsylvania, and the exhibition page frames his practice as part of that wider collecting and interpretive mission.
The museum is pairing the exhibition with a family-friendly public program titled ‘Sunday Fun Day: Art in Play’ on August 16, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., which will include the ‘Play Ball!’ exhibition among several sports-themed activities. A separate ‘Homeschool Day’ is listed for August 27, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with the museum noting that Putt-a-palooza, its art-inspired mini golf course, can be added as a separate admission experience. The exhibition itself remains on view through April 4, 2027.
The Westmoreland’s online exhibition listing presents ‘Play Ball! The Art of George Sosnak’ as one of its featured shows for 2026 and 2027, alongside other major exhibitions in its schedule. The museum’s location is 221 North Main Street in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where admission is listed as free and the museum is open Wednesday through Sunday.
