Welcome to a new year of art events, exhibits and activities. Take the opportunity to stroll downtown, meet artists and enjoy the variety of media on display at galleries hosting exhibits and others open during regular hours, with special exhibits starting up again in the months to come.
Art Shop Gallery
202 W. Pioneer Ave.
Next monthly exhibit will be April
Gallery hours Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Art Shop Gallery will host their next monthly exhibit in April. Until then, their hours are Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit the gallery online at artshopgallery.com.
Bunnell Street Arts Center
106 W. Bunnell Ave.
Special exhibit opening reception, 5-7 p.m. Artist’s talk, 6 p.m.
Bunnell Street Arts Center hosts “Solastalgia”, an exhibit by Homer artist xochiyollotl. As an artist, xochiyollotl works with a variety of mediums including ceramics, textiles and painting. Her work explores social, environmental and political issues, often combined with memory or personal experience. Raised in Soldotna, xochiyollotl received a bachelor’s degree in art with a concentration in ceramics from Humboldt State University in 2014 and a Master of Fine Arts degree in ceramics and painting from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2019. She began working at Homer Council on the Arts in May 2023, and that fall received a Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Award to build a studio near her Diamond Ridge home.
Through Feb. 15, Bunnell welcomes storytellers Quentin Simeon and Amber Webb as artists in residence who will be creating a stop-motion animation of Simeon’s new screenplay about Yup’ik culture and the “War of the Eye.” Simeon is a Yup’ik storyteller who lives on Kachemak Bay. He was raised on the Kuskokwim River, fishing and hunting. Camping and family traditions of harvesting the bounty of the land and the rivers of the region are the foundations of his cultural relationship with land and water. He has worked as an Alaska Native cultural liaison and intercultural communication specialist. Webb is an Yup’ik artist and activist from Dillingham. Through portraiture and textiles, her work visually explores the effects of colonization and the evolution and strength of Indigenous people after genocide and intergenerational trauma. She uses pictorial Yup’ik storytelling to communicate contemporary stories of oppression, historic trauma, resilience, humor, changing climate, motherhood and resistance.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 25-26, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Bunnell hosts a spoon carving workshop with Tony Perelli. During this two-part, hands-on workshop, participants will learn the basics of wooden spoon carving from log to spoon blank, including knife safety, carving techniques and simple design along the way. Everyone will leave with a hand-carved spoon and a deeper appreciation for traditional spoons, nature and craft. Perelli brings a patient, hands-on approach that helps student build skills, confidence and a deeper connection to their work. Tools and materials provided. There will be 12 spaces available, open to ages 16 and older. Additional workshop information and more on Perelli is available at www.tonyperelli.org/workshop.
During the months of February and March, community members are invited to paint a commemorative plate for Bunnell’s 32nd Annual Plate Project fundraiser. Bisqued, handmade ceramic plates made by local potters become canvases for brilliant food-safe underglazes. Plates are exhibited at the Plate Project Opening in May and competitively selected by new and renewing Bunnell members in thanks for $125 to $1000+ donations. Painters may paint in-person during gallery business hours. This project welcomes adult and older teen artists but requires a devotion to detail and a commitment of time to create a quality art plate. Painted plates are due back Tuesday, April 1. Contact Brianna Lee, b.lee@bunnellarts.com, with any questions. Visit the gallery online at bunnellarts.org.
Fireweed Gallery
475 E. Pioneer Ave.
Closed for business
Fireweed Gallery is now closed for business. Thank you to owner Irene Randolph for nurturing Homer’s art community for more than 30 years.
Grace Ridge Brewing
870 Smoky Bay Way
“Repurposed with Purpose” by the Alaska Rug Company
Opening Reception, 5-7 p.m.
Grace Ridge Brewing presents the Alaska Rug Company’s exhibit, “Repurposed with Purpose: Retirement in the Material World.” Jen Luton and Ryan Burnard are the faces behind the Alaska Rug Company, creating sustainable rope art primarily from retired Alaskan commercial fishing line. This body of work will showcase a mix of decorative pieces and classic nautical knotwork, incorporating rope from a recent community project at Bunnell Street Arts Center with artist Lucas Murgida. The artists hope to underline the importance of reusing what is already on the planet. They like to think they’re giving these hardworking materials a well-earned retirement, helping them live on as beautiful, eye-catching objects after seasons spent hauling in some of the best seafood in the world.
Homer Council on the Arts
355 W. Pioneer Ave.
HCOA Members Show
Opening Reception, 5-7 p.m.
Homer Council on the Arts hosts their annual Members Show, featuring a range of techniques, styles, materials and mediums created by their creative community. From literal stick figures to mosaics to ceramic altars, this exhibit showcases the diverse work of the South Peninsula community. Learn more about HCOA’s ongoing and upcoming classes, workshops and performances online at homerart.org.
Homer Public Library
500 Hazel Ave.
Multimedia work by Joella Clove
Available during library hours Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The Friends of the Homer Library host quarterly special exhibits in the library’s Fireplace Lounge. On display through March is an exhibit of photography and digital drawings by Homer artist Joella Clove, an intuitive artist who blends together the material and energetic realms, favoring expressionist, surrealist and minimalist works. Clove works in watercolor, acrylics and ink, as well as photography and multimedia.
Kindred Spirits Weaving Studio
501 E. Lee Drive
Open Studio 5-7 p.m. Artists talk at 5:30 p.m.
Kindred Spirits Weaving Studio is offering opportunities to introduce community members to weaving. Stop by for First Friday Open Studio where, in honor of Black History Month, owners Bonita Banks and Lisa Talbott will share about the African American quilters from Gee’s Bend, Alabama, who passed down unique quilting styles that survived slavery, reconstruction and Jim Crow. These free-form, abstract designs elevated the essential craft of quilting to a whole new art form. Talk starts at 5:30 p.m. You are invited to bring a quilt of your own to share about.
Through the months of February and March, Banks and Talbott will be offering classes for Basics of Rigid Heddle Weaving, an introductory class for individuals who would like to explore weaving. Participants will learn how to warp a loom, weave a plain weave scarf, table runner or wall hanging, tie the fringe and wet finish it. Classes will be six instructional hours held over two days, Fridays and Sundays. Materials and tools provided. Limit three people per class session. Two-class dates are Feb. 6, noon to 4 p.m. and Feb. 8, 2-4 p.m.; Feb. 13, 2-6 p.m. and Feb. 15, 2-4 p.m.; March 13, 2-6 p.m. and March 15, 2-4 pm; and March 20, 2-6 p.m. and March 22, 2-4 p.m. Private classes also available. Sign up by email or text at either kindredspiritsweaving@gmail.com, or 907-242-0679. Find the studio by parking in the semicircular lot off Pioneer Avenue next to the Wildberry Products building and walking up through the woods, parking in the Wildberry lot and walking up the driveway and across the lawn or parking at the WKFL area and walking the Lee Street trail.
Pier One Theatre
2026 Winter Performances
Homer Senior Center, Silver Linings Cafe
Performance Sunday, Feb. 8, 1 p.m.
The Mud Bay Bards of Pier One Theatre, the Friends of the Homer Library and the Homer Senior Center present Second Sunday Shakespeare, a free monthly read of the work of the Bard, open to everyone. On Sunday, Feb. 8 at 1 p.m., the Mud Bay Bards will read “Romeo and Juliet” at the Silver Linings Café in the Homer Senior Center, 3935 Svedlund Street. Join in person or virtually by Zoom, uso2web.zoom.us/j/6148777956. Learn more about Pier One Theatre at pieronetheatre.org.
Pratt Museum
3779 Bartlett St.
“50 years of Limited Entry: The Closing of Alaska’s Salmon Commons”
Opening Reception, 4-6 p.m.
The Pratt Museum opens its spring exhibit, “50 years of Limited Entry: The Closing of Alaska’s Salmon Commons” through mid-May. This thought-provoking exhibit by the Kodiak Maritime Museum will examine the conditions that spurred the creation of the Limited Entry Program, the effects it had on Alaska’s fishermen and fishing communities over the past half century, and recent proposals to address unintended consequences of the program. Visit the museum online at prattmuseum.org.
Ptarmigan Arts
471 E. Pioneer Ave.
Work by newest gallery members
Gallery hours Monday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Ptarmigan Arts welcomes two new members, Jan Peyton and Krista Etzwiler. Peyton, a former Ptarmigan member, recently re-joined the gallery and is showing her watercolor paintings and acrylic painted recycled buoys. Etzwiler, a ceramic artist, creates nature-inspired works using organic hand-formed clay, driftwood and glass in a variety of color combinations that evoke the vibrant beauty of the outdoors. Visit the gallery online at ptarmiganarts.com.
The Dean Gallery
40374 Waterman Road
February “Open Studio”
Open 5-7 p.m.
The Dean Gallery is family-owned and features contemporary art by M’fanwy, Ranja and Jeff Dean. On First Friday, the gallery will host an open studio where visitors can see M’fanwy’s intricately carved wood panels, Ranja’s bronze sculptures and drawings and Jeff’s metal and wood wall art and bronze sculptures. There will also be an opportunity to see Jeff’s recently completed heat-colored steel engraving commission, “Redfish,” for a home in Florida. Visit them online at deangallery.com.
Yup’ik storytellers Quentin Simeon (left) and Amber Webb (right) are Bunnell Street Arts Center’s February Artists-in-Residence and will be creating a stop-motion animation. Photo provided by Bunnell Street Arts Center
A painted buoy by Jan Peyton, a new member to the Ptarmigan Arts co-op gallery, depicts a sunflower in bloom. Photo provided by Ptarmigan Arts
“I look down now, at remnants of what was,” is a 5-by-7-inch acrylic painting on canvas by xochiyollotl and is one of numerous paintings on display for the month of February in the artist’s solo exhibit at Bunnell Street Arts Center. Photo provided by Bunnell Street Arts Center
Kindred Spirits Weaving Studio offers an open house with an artists’ talk on First Friday, as well as upcoming weaving classes. Photo provided by Kindred Spirits Weaving Studio
“Shower” is an ink drawing by Joella Clove, on display in her mixed-media exhibit at the Homer Public Library through March. Photo courtesy Joella Clove
Tony Perelli has hosted several spoon carving workshops at Bunnell Street Arts Center in years past. Photo provided by Bunnell Street Arts Center
“Winter’s Night Maiden” is a ceramic wall hanging by Sarah Sims and one of numerous works on display through February in Homer Council on the Arts’ annual Members Show. Photo courtesy Sarah Sims
Recycled rope art created by Jen Luton and Ryan Burnard of the Alaska Rug Company will be exhibited at Grace Ridge Brewing for the month of February 2026. Photo provided by Grace Ridge Brewing
