Celebrating summer

New First Friday exhibits showcase local and statewide artists

Art Shop Gallery

202 W. Pioneer Ave.

Wool paintings by Nancy Wise and wool sculptures by Susan Williams Polgar

First Friday Opening Reception, 5-7 p.m.

Art Shop Gallery hosts “Dimensions in Felting,” wool paintings by Homer artist Nancy Wise and wool sculptures by West Virginia artist Susan Williams Polgar. Wise is a lifelong artist and Homer resident for nearly 50 years. Her wool paintings are a combination of wool rolving and batt in a blend of wet felting, needle felting and free motion machine embroidery. Wise’s sister Polgar is a felt artist from Randolph County and has been creating needle-felted work for the past 10 years. Both women’s work is inspired by the landscape surrounding them, from Alaska to Appalachia.

Bunnell Street Arts Center

106 W. Bunnell Ave.

Paintings by Linda Infante Lyons

First Friday Opening Reception, 5-7 p.m. Artist talk, 6 p.m.

Bunnell Street Arts Center presents paintings by Anchorage artist Linda Infante Lyons. Raised in Alaska, with her family from Kodiak Island and of Alutiiq/Sugpiaq Alaska Native and Estonian/Russian ancestry, Infante Lyons’ exhibit blends the spiritual symbols of Western culture with those of the Alaska Native people in the spirit of inclusivity. With a creative practice that spans more than 20 years, including studying art at the Viña del Mar Escuela de Bellas Artes in Chile, where she lived for 18 years, her work can be seen in museum collections including the Alaska State Museum, the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, the Alutiiq Museum, the Pratt Museum and the Allen Memorial Art Museum in Ohio. She has received Rasmuson Foundation Artist Fellowships, as well as national awards such the Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant and the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation’s National Artist Fellowship. Infante Lyons’ work has been featured in Inuit Art Quarterly, First American Art Magazine and American Art Collector.

Creative Fires Studio and Dean Gallery

40374 Waterman Rd.

New and current work

Open 5-7:30 p.m. First Friday

The Dean Gallery hosts an Open Studio to view progress on Jeff’s third version of “Fishing Bear with Raven”, a six-foot-tall metal and wood wall piece that is being made from cut-out layers of heat-colored steel and local cottonwood. Visitors to the studio and gallery can also view originals and reproductions of M’fanwy’s intricately-carved maple panels, other heat-colored steel wall art by Jeff and Ranja’s graphite drawings. You’ll also find bronze and wood sculptures, cards, stickers, and other gift items.

Fireweed Gallery

475 E. Pioneer Ave.

Landscape photography by Tim Davis

First Friday Opening Reception, 5-7 p.m.

Fireweed Gallery presents “Alaska Through the Seasons,” photography by Anchorage nature photographer Tim Davis. Finding inspiration in moments spent outdoors, Davis enjoys the constant curiosity he feels living in Alaska and considers photography as a way to meditate on nature’s beauty and to try to share a small part of it. His images convey intimate scenes of the natural world and he views his images as glimpses of a grand narrative that nature shares with us. His portfolio includes the Aurora Borealis, brown bears and a special collection called “Winter Light,” an intimate portrait of hoar frost and the brilliance of cold winter days.

Grace Ridge Brewing

870 Smoky Bay Way

Paintings by Tracy Hansen

First Friday Opening Reception, 5-7 p.m.

Grace Ridge Brewing presents welcomes Tracy Hansen, Homer artist and owner of 59 North Creations. Raised in Idaho, Hansen studied art and design, has lived in Homer for 12 years and enjoys painting in acrylics, interpreting the world around her and using her creativity as a way to relieve stress. During this exhibit, she will share her original paintings, prints, stickers and cards. Her shop, 59 North Creations, is located at the base of the Homer Spit where she sells her work and represents other local and statewide artists.

Also at the brewery is Homer youth artist Daisy Walker, who will be on hand from 4-7 p.m. and available to paint colorful designs on community members’ boots, hats, shoes, wallets, belts or anything they would like to have splashes of color added to.

Homer Council on the Arts

355 W. Pioneer Ave.

Photography by Jenifer Cameron

First Friday Opening Reception, 5-7 p.m.

Homer Council on the Arts presents “Beauty and the Beach: Small Views from Seldovia” with Seldovia photographer Jenifer Cameron. In this exhibit, Cameron explores the close relationship between nature and art using magnifying eye loupes to discover the hidden textures, colors and patterns in kelp and other beach treasures. From timeworn sea glass to the life-sustaining kelp, the wrack line offers daily entries to entice her curiosity and collecting, and learning about the biodiversity and fragility of the living inhabitants at the ocean’s edge offers her an endless palette of discovery. An art teacher, Cameron grew up the daughter of artists, her father a commercial artist and her mother crafting and painting, and has taught in St. Mary’s in western Alaska, Wrangell in southeast Alaska and Fairbanks in northern Alaska. Now living in Seldovia, she volunteers as a ceramics teacher and is inspired by the ocean, coastal weather and ocean life.

Pratt Museum & Park

3779 Bartlett St.

“In A Time of Change: Boreal Forest Stories” and “Pier One Theatre Celebrates 50 Years”

First Friday free admission 4-6 p.m., no reception

Pratt Museum & Park hosts their summer exhibit, “In a Time of Change: Boreal Forest Stories,” a cross-disciplinary, collaborative project examining change in the boreal forest through narrative. The exhibit opened in May and continues through September. New in July is a celebration of Pier One Theatre’s 50th anniversary, including photo boards, costumes and creative props from previous popular shows. Stop by and meet some of the theater’s longtime and newer cast and crew as they celebrate the more than 350 shows produced in their 50 years under the direction of founder and longtime director, Lance Petersen.

Ptarmigan Arts Back Room Gallery

471 E. Pioneer Ave.

Camera trap bird photography by Ted Heuer

First Friday Opening Reception, 5-7 p.m.

Ptarmigan Arts presents “Up Close and Personal,” a show of camera trap bird photography by Homer artist Ted Heuer that will be exhibited July 7-9.

Best known locally as a wood turner, Heuer returns to the theme of his popular May 2022 show and includes several new images of local birds and wildlife captured with a motion-activated camera trap. During his 30-year career with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Wildlife Refuge System, Heuer contributed many images to the System’s photo library. After spending 16 years as the Manager of the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge based out of Fairbanks, he and his wife Beth retired and moved to Homer. Unlike conventional wildlife photography, which utilizes long-range telephoto lenses, a camera trap system uses a wide-angle lens, a fast shutter speed, and a small aperture to photograph a subject within one to four feet of the lens. He will also offer a collection of turned wooden shorebirds, along with photo cards, matted prints, and metal prints. Heuer will have his camera and sensor on display and be available to answer questions.

“Marion’s Garden,” a wool painting by Nancy Wise is on display through July alongside felted work by Susan Williams Polgar at the Art Shop Gallery in Homer, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Art Shop Gallery

“Marion’s Garden,” a wool painting by Nancy Wise is on display through July alongside felted work by Susan Williams Polgar at the Art Shop Gallery in Homer, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Art Shop Gallery

“Shorebirds Grouping 3,” woodworking by Ted Heuer is on display at Ptarmigan Arts during a popup event running July 7-9 in Homer, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Ptarmigan Arts

“Shorebirds Grouping 3,” woodworking by Ted Heuer is on display at Ptarmigan Arts during a popup event running July 7-9 in Homer, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Ptarmigan Arts

“Tide and Texture,” a macro landscape photograph by Seldovia artist Jenifer Cameron is on display at Homer Council on the Arts through July in Homer, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Homer Council on the Arts

“Tide and Texture,” a macro landscape photograph by Seldovia artist Jenifer Cameron is on display at Homer Council on the Arts through July in Homer, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Homer Council on the Arts

“SnowBirds,” a painting by Anchorage artist Linda Infante Lyons, is on display at the Bunnell Street Arts Center through July in Homer, Alaska. Photo provided by Bunnell Street Arts Center

“SnowBirds,” a painting by Anchorage artist Linda Infante Lyons, is on display at the Bunnell Street Arts Center through July in Homer, Alaska. Photo provided by Bunnell Street Arts Center

“Peak A Boo,” a photograph by Anchorage photographer Tim Davis taken in the summer of 2022 at Katmai National Park, is part of Davis’s exhibit at Fireweed Gallery on display through July in Homer, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Fireweed Gallery

“Peak A Boo,” a photograph by Anchorage photographer Tim Davis taken in the summer of 2022 at Katmai National Park, is part of Davis’s exhibit at Fireweed Gallery on display through July in Homer, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Fireweed Gallery

A painting by Homer artist Tracy Hansen is on display as part of her exhibit at Grade Ridge Brewing through July in Homer, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Grace Ridge Brewing

A painting by Homer artist Tracy Hansen is on display as part of her exhibit at Grade Ridge Brewing through July in Homer, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Grace Ridge Brewing