Art Shop Gallery
207 W. Pioneer Ave.
New work by Liz Bowen
5-7:30 p.m., First Friday Reception
Anchorage artist Liz Bowen draws her inspiration from the beauty of Alaska, the Native art of the Southeast and the animals she encounters living here. Bowen has been designing and making glass jewelry since 1988. Made from semi-precious metal-coated glass, it can have as many as 20 layers of metals like beryllium, titanium and yitrium. Since these metals are often found in glacier tailings, Bowen calls her jewelry line Glacier Glass.
Bunnell Street
Arts Center
106 W. Bunnell Ave.
Native Alaskan by various artists
5-7 p.m., First Friday Reception
6 p.m., Artists’ talk
7:30 p.m., Transit, with musician and artist-in-residence Conrad Winslow. Sliding scale, $15-25, pay as you can.
Curator Michael Walsh asks, “What is a native Alaskan? I’ve heard the term Alaska Native and know that means a person of indigenous origin. I’ve heard people describe folks who are born here as native Alaskan, little n. How long does it take to live here to be called a native Alaskan? I don’t know the answer. I don’t know if anyone does. And if so, does it matter? Should it matter? I think it’s worth a discussion at least. The definition of a native Alaskan that I am using for this show is ‘one who is a life-long Alaskan,’ from artists who can trace their family heritage back thousands of years to artists who are born here as well as artists who may not have been born here, but started their life here at a very young age. The talent of native Alaskan artists is very impressive. I am a fan.”
The show comes to Bunnell from Out North ArtHouse, Anchorage, and features the work of Homer artists Carla Klinker Cope, Tehben Dean, Asia Freeman, Jennifer Norton, Ron Senugetuk and Jimmy Riordan. Other Alaska artists are Sonya Kelliher Combs, Rachelle Dowdy, Elizabeth Ellis, Hal Gage, Mariano Gonzales, Michael Gerace, Ruby Kennell, Drew Michael, Evan Phillips, Ryan Romer, Gretchen Sagan, Ricky Tabagan and Ethan Wood.
At 7:30 p.m., Homer raised musician and composer Conrad Winslow and Transit perform. Winslow is artist-in-residence in July for the Wild Shore Festival, adventurous new chamber music performed in Homer and Halibut Cove. For more on the Wild Shore Festival, visit wildshore.org.
Fireweed Gallery
475 E. Pioneer Ave.
A Welcome Transition from Water to Oil, paintings by Rebecca Middleton
5-7 p.m., First Friday Reception
Kasilof artist Rebecca Middleton’s show represents her transition from watercolor to oil, a change which began after receiving her bachelor of arts degree in 2007. Rebecca’s training began in high school with watercolor artist Pat Irish at the Mendocino Art Center in Mendocino, Calif. At 16 she spent a year in Paris studying daily at a private charcoal life drawing atelier, and evenings at the Louvre Museum. After more than 20 years working in watercolor, Rebecca began her transition into oils. She says she likes to create unity in pictorial relationships of lost and found edges, recognizable shapes linked with unrecognizable shapes, and color and emotional impact.
Homer Council
on the Arts
344 W. Pioneer Ave.
Moved by a Mountain: Inspiration from an Alpine View in Alaska, photographs and
book by Tom Reed
5-7 p.m., First Friday Reception
Black-and-white photographer Tom Reed shows photographs from his new book, “Moved by a Mountain: Inspiration from an Alpine View in Alaska,” also available at HCOA. His photographs also were featured in the July issue of Alaska Magazine.
Picture Alaska
448 E. Pioneer Ave.
Backyard Beauty by JoAnne Noyles
5-7:30 p.m., First Friday Reception
Eagle River artist JoAnne Noyles shows floral paintings on silk. “Silk, as a medium for art, has been challenging and exciting at the same time. It seems to have a life and mind of its own. Except for the boundaries I place on the silk in the form of resist, the dye goes where ever it wants to. It mixes with other colors and creates a richness that I didn’t plan, but am happy to live with.” Noyles writers. “Unlike other mediums which are stiff and unyielding, silk is light, moves and possesses iridescent qualities. It is extremely durable, can be displayed various ways, can be either transparent or opaque, and can even be worn. Working with silk can be as simple as finger painting, and as complicated as figuring out the mind of your spouse.”
Pratt Museum
Contemporary
Art Gallery
3779 Bartlett St.
Encounters: Whales in Our Waters
5-7 p.m., First Friday Reception
“Encounters: Whales in Our Waters” opened in February and features a 38-foot gray whale skeleton, part of a multi-year volunteer effort to salvage, clean and articulate it. The exhibit also includes interactive exhibits of the whale and dolphin species that visit Kachemak Bay and lower Cook Inlet. For First Friday, admission is free to see the exhibit before it ends July 21.
Ptarmigan Arts Back Room Gallery
471 E. Pioneer Ave.
Nature California Style by Grace Errea
5-7:30 p.m., First Friday Reception
Visiting California fiber artist, designer, quilter, author and teacher Grace Errea has been working in textile arts since 2000. Like Alaskans, her art is inspired by the diverse environment of California — its seashore, ocean, desert, mountains and valleys. Errea says that her art focuses on the depiction of inspiring scenes in a “value based” contemporary-realistic manner. Color is important but value — the degree of lightness or darkness of a color — is the primary element used throughout. “It allows the creation of work that is ‘out of the box’ in color but still realistic in look,” she writes. This show includes images of landscapes, flowers, plants and wildlife, such as a blue frog, a green saw and a red ram.
