Homer Alaska - Arts

106 W. Bunnell Ave.

Seen From the Maze, new paintings by K.N. Goodrich

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

Community based video in Vietnam, presented by Wendy Erd

7:45 p.m., $7 donation requested.

Born and raised in Alaska, K.N. Goodrich is primarily self-trained and works in acrylic paint on torn and joined paper mounted to hardboard. She explores themes of sacrifice and betrayal from a female perspective. "I create artwork in a search for peace, clarity and order from my own experience of the world as a place of disorder, chaos and uncertainty," Goodrich writes.

Inspired by a community video project in Port Graham, video facilitator Wendy Erd discusses how her work on that project led to similar videos in Vietnam and China. "In the most wonderful way, the seed was a film I had worked on together with people from Port Graham about their Alutiiq language," Erd said. "I shared their story at a Community Documentary Film Festival in Yunnan, China, and it rippled out to become this project."

Erd presents a 10-minute video on her project followed by two 40-minute videos, "Nhay Boi Festival in Tham Ve Village," about a Dao tradition of Shamanism, and "Our Jiabi Village," about Tibetan daily life in a small remote village below sacred Kawagebo Mountain.

Fireweed Gallery

475 E. Pioneer Ave.

New works by various artists

5-8 p.m., First Friday Reception

Fireweed Gallery reopens with new works, including a new Dalton Highway oil painting by Dale Webster Samples, designs in glass by Laura Mendola, whalebone sculptures by Aaron Barrett and Andre Vasseka, antler reliefs by Dan Buesseler, and "Mittens With a Past" by Nancy Nolfi.

Kachemak Bay Campus

533 E. Pioneer Ave.

Foreign Film Fridays: On Each Side

7 p.m., donations requested

Part of the Global Film Initiative, "On Each Side" explores the transformation of Victoria and Rosario and the people who live there as a bridge is built connecting two towns. As construction goes on over years, the film looks at the lives of two teenagers growing up, a mysterious engineer who rents a room from two elderly sisters and a photographer documenting the construction.

Observance of Hermits

East Village Shopping Center, 3585 East End Road

Wood carvings and block prints by Findlay Abbott

5-7 p.m., First Friday Reception

Findlay Abbott shows wood carvings and woodblock prints. A longtime Yukon Island resident, Abbott has worked as a draftsman and architectural model builder for about 30 years. He has been studying the human form since life drawing in college at Fairbanks in the late 1960. His inspirations for this show are mermaids and cottonwood bark.

Picture Alaska

448 E. Pioneer Ave.

New works by Paula Dickey and James P. Buncak

5-7:30 p.m., First Friday Reception

Paula Dickey shows two new floral watercolors and James P. Buncak shows a new oil painting. Both artists are longtime Homer residents with a distinguished body of work.

Ptarmigan Arts Back Room Gallery

471 E. Pioneer Ave.

Perceptions of Time, paintings by various artists

5-7 p.m., First Friday Reception

For 2010, the Back Room Gallery will look at the abstract side of the creative process, incorporating themes that reflect the thoughts and feelings that go into creating art. "Perceptions of Time, " an invitational exhibit featuring local artists, focuses on the idea expressed in this Fred Babb quote: "We have all had the experience when, in the depths of creativity, all sense of time seems to vanish and hours pass in what seems like minutes. When an artist is caught up in his or her work, only the presence of the moment exists. Creativity is the gateway to the NOW, a space in time where the past has no pull and the future cannot beckon."

Other events

Down East Saloon

59909 East End Road

Time Stands Still CD Release Tour, concert by Chris Smither

7 p.m. today, $21 in advance, $23 at the door

Boston singer-songwriter Chris Smither visits Homer for his "Time Stands Still" CD release tour. "'Time Stands Still' may be the best release of his career, full of hard-earned insights delivered in his careworn baritone drawl over an immaculately fingerpicked guitar," The Independent (United Kingdom) said. "With a weary, well-traveled voice and a serenely intricate fingerpicking style, Mr. Smither turns the blues into songs that accept hard-won lessons and try to make peace with fate," wrote the New York Times.

Homer Council on the Arts

355 W. Pioneer Ave.

February Paint Together with Kachemak Bay Watercolor Society

Noon- 4 p.m. Saturday; $10 for guests

Join the Kachemak Bay Watercolor Society for its monthly Paint Together. A live model will be on hand for a practice in figure painting. For more information, call Paul at 235-7953 or Mike at 235-0120.

Homer Theatre

Corner of Main Street and Pioneer Avenue

The Met: Live in HD series: "Der Rosenkavalier," by Richard Strauss

Noon Sunday, adults $15, seniors $10, children 11 and under $5

The Homer Theatre shows the latest opera from "The Met: Live in HD" series. In "Der Rosenkavalier," Strauss's comic masterpiece of love and intrigue in 18th-century Vienna stars Renée Fleming as the aristocratic Marschallin and Susan Graham in the trouser role of her young lover. Edo de Waart conducts a cast that also includes Kristinn Sigmundsson and Thomas Allen.

Bunnell Street Arts Center

106 W. Bunnell Ave.

Jazz Lovers Valentine Special, concert by Melissa Bledsoe Fischer with Dirk Westphall and Pat Owens

7:30 p.m. Feb. 13 $35 general admission$30 Bunnell members

Anchorage jazz diva, Melissa Bledsoe Fischer, a pianist /vocalist with over 25 years of professional music experience, performs with Dirk Westphall on bass and Pat Owens on trumpet and flugelhorn. Included with the evening are appetizers by Maura's Café, wines selected by Mel Strydom of the Grog Shop, truffles from Homer chocolatiers Kim and Gordon Terpening, and Bear Creek Winery's chocolate raspberry port for dessert.

Homer Council on the Arts

355 W. Pioneer Ave.

Harp for the Soul with Julie Ann Smith

7 p.m. Feb. 24; $15 members, $18 nonmembers

JulieAnn Smith, classically trained pianist and harpist, presents a mixed palette of musical style, including classical, original and jazz pieces on the harp. Raised in Arizona, Smith studied under Rudolph Serkin's direction and with the grandmother of famous harpist Carrol McGlaughlin. She has performed around the world on piano and harp and has played under several famous conductors.