Latest HOME installation unveiled at Sandhills Community College Horticultural Gardens

Visit Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen’s second sculpture unveiling of the “HOME” public arts campaign took place at the Sandhills Horticultural Gardens Ball Visitor Center on Thursday, October 29 at 10:30 a.m. to a group of visitors and guests. This installation was imagined and created by Luke Huling, MFA, who is a ceramic sculptor and Associate Professor of Visual Arts and Visual Arts Coordinator at Sandhills Community College. His nationally exhibited work explores the human form through intricate textures, symbolism and imaginative compositions.

“The design was completely influenced by the location,” said Huling. “When I found out the garden’s location was a go, I spent a couple of days walking around the paths with a sketch book and a camera documenting all the flora and fauna that interested me. Everything that I sculpted is also something that I have seen during my walks. I really wanted my home piece to honor the plants and animals that we share our home with.”

His piece of work includes 29 pinecones creating the letter “H”; the “O” is made of 16 zinnia flowers and 16 cone flowers; and the “M” is made up with eight pine logs and native birds – one cardinal, one blue bird, and two cockaded woodpeckers. The “E” has 27 green frogs and 33 green anole lizards shaping the letter. Every single one of the letter components are hand sculpted out of North Carolina clay that is manufactured in Star, NC.

“I have been working on this project for the last six months,” he said. “During the summer when I was not teaching in-person courses my average workday was 10-12 hours every day seven days a week. I believe there were only five or six days where I did not work during the summer months due to being out of town. It was a massive undertaking for sure! Starting on October 11th I began installing the M, the O on the 12th, the M on the 13th and the E was finished on the 16th. Each letter took 8-12 hours to install and the E definitely took the longest due to the fact that is has almost just as many components to install as the H, O, and M combined. If I were to guess how much the entire project took from start to finish, I would estimate well over one thousand hours.”

He adds that he’s honored to be one of the five artists to be chosen for the HOME project and happy that he can make a piece about home in a place where he feels so much at home. “Everyone has been so kind and excited to see the finished project, I truly feel such a strong sense of community with everyone here.”

Since this was a commission project, Huling was unable to get students to work on the project with him in the creation of the piece. “However, this opportunity has been a great teaching tool to show my students what it takes to design, build, and install a large public art installation from start to finish. This project has sparked some great conversations on the engineering of public art, especially how important it is for artists to be versed in a variety of power tools and construction elements.”

And of course, work of art will stand the test of time.

“Believe it or not, some of the oldest artifacts known to existence are ceramic. There are ceramic objects that are 30,000 years old, such as the Venus of Dolní Věstonice. The HOME installation is a permanent installation, and as long as viewers are not aggressively yanking the pieces or a tree doesn’t fall into the building, it will last indefinitely,” said Huling. He added there something for little eyes to spy too in the art to make it a real treat.

Huling typically has 10-15 exhibitions around the country each year, however they are always indoor locations such as galleries and museums. HOME is his biggest large-scale project to date. The finished HOME piece is roughly six foot x 25 foot. This is different than the typical work that he creates. His normal work tends to be a bit more conceptual and introspective yet when doing a commission or public art piece he has to follow a stricter set of guidelines or themes.

“This project was a great change of pace as well as a challenge for me to do something that was a bit more foreign to me. I really enjoyed creating the piece, and I will seek out other opportunities like this in the future.”

Guest can visit the installation at the Sandhills Horticultural Gardens located at 3245 Airport Rd., Pinehurst, NC 28374. Visit:https://www.sandhills.edu/horticultural-gardens/

More information from Home of Golf: https://homeofgolf.com/media/press-releases/second-home-public-art-installation-to-be-revealed-oct-29/

Oct. 29, 2026

Jennifer J. Pearce

SCC Director of Marketing and Communications

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