First Friday

Art Shop Gallery

202 W. Pioneer Ave.

Homer Guest Artist Nancy Wise, fused glass artist

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

Fired Light: Come to the Art Shop Gallery to meet and greet Nancy. See her beautifully handcrafted fused glass art. You may find a piece or two to take home. Don’t forget it’s that time of year to start Christmas shopping. Nancy’s glass work makes wonderful gifts for those you love. There will be refreshments available.

Bunnell Street Arts Center

106 W. Bunnell Ave.

Visceral Visions, art by Lukas Easton

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

Visceral Visions – exhibit title

Human emotions and reactions inform much of my carved narratives. This likely comes from several traumatic childhood experiences, and a career in emergency services. Witnessing humanity at its worst, and at its best, has shown me the power and importance of all emotions. These experiences have led me to appreciate the beauty in morbidity and emotionally dark content in art. “Visceral Visions” explores how to evoke deep and visceral responses from the viewer by drawing them in with the beauty of elegant form and technical skill, and then confronting them with images of extreme and raw events. My investigation of ceramics is rooted in a desire for physical interaction with art. A deeper level of understanding and intimacy with the world is obtained through touch. I am drawn to gently curving forms as they contrast with the harsh imagery carved into the surface. Intensified by the large scale of the vessels, this combination is both inviting and repelling.

Fireweed Gallery

475 E. Pioneer Ave.

Love from Alaska, painting and clothing by Amy Kruse

Ceramics by Arlen Hansen

Soapstone Collages by John Hotes

5-7 p.m., First Friday Reception

Fireweed Gallery presents “Love From Alaska”, by Kasilof acrylic artist Amy Kruse. Along with her paintings, Amy’s show features her unique clothing line of hoodies and tights, their designs created from her original acrylic paintings.

Also featured will be new work showing a sampling of distinctively different painting styles , as well as new clothing products, sizes and designs.

Amy, raised in Ninilchik, spent summers on the beach when not working in the family’s seasonal restaurant. She credits the ocean with its strange and unique creatures with her artistic inspirations. Self taught, Amy studied sculpture and ceramics at UAA but began painting seriously after the birth of her son in 2013. The pursuit of art as a career fueled her desire to turn art projects into a successful line of apparel.

Homer Council on the Arts

344 W. Pioneer Ave.

Kachemak Bay Quilters

5-7 p.m., First Friday Reception

The Kachemak Bay Quilters group began over 30 years ago by founding member Beth Schroer. The group originally met in Beth’s home, but quickly outgrew the space. Currently membership averages 15-20 members each week, meeting every Thursday at the Kachemak Center from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Some days are dedicated to making quilts for service projects to give to people in need. Their Burn Out Victims project gifts handmade quilts to people who have lost their homes to fire. The group tries to donate one quilt per family member, ranging from queen to baby quilts. Haven House, Child Advocacy Program receives quilts that average 40”x 60” in size. The group donates the quilts as comfort items that each child can choose to help them during their healing process. Additionally, the innovative Teddy Bear Quilts Program began with Simyra Taback of Hallo Bay Bear Camp. Simyra started collecting teddy bears from her customers from all over the world instead of tips. She donates an average of 30 bears per month to Haven House Child Advocacy Program, and the Quilters create a small quilt in which to wrap each teddy bear. The group’s newest project, Quilts of Valor, focuses on making patriotic quilts to donate to Veterans in our community to thank them for their service.

When the group isn’t working on a quilt to donate, they will bring their own work to do. It is a fun group of people who supports each other and share their love of quilting. “We feel there is nothing better to let people know we care by giving them comfort and a big hug with a quilt in their time of need.”

Ptarmigan Arts Back Room Gallery

471 E. Pioneer Ave.

Scholarship Show, art by various artists

5-7 p.m., First Friday Reception

The artist members of Ptarmigan Arts Co-op Gallery established the Ptarmigan Arts

Visual Arts Scholarship auction, which will open for online bidding November 3, to encourage and assist local high school students to further their education in the visual arts. It’s the only visual arts scholarship in Homer for high school students and the award can be used for supplies, tuition, supplemental classes before college, or any arts-related activity that will help them explore ways to enhance their craft.

The scholarship, in its 25th year, has had tremendous support from the Homer community. All items are donated by local artists and businesses, and enthusiastic bidders have enabled Ptarmigan to give awards to up to three aspiring artists per year. The Ptarmigan Arts Scholarship is supported with a permanent fund administered by the Homer Foundation, a non-profit philanthropic organization. All proceeds from the auction go directly into the Foundation and are used exclusively for scholarship awards.

The auction will be held online at www.biddingOwl.com/ptarmigan. There are pictures and descriptions of the auction items on the website, but they will also be displayed in the Back Room Gallery at Ptarmigan Arts for the duration of the auction. More information can be found at www.ptarmiganarts.com. Ptarmigan Arts’ scholarship auction will open for bidding on November 3 at 5 p.m. and the last day of bidding is November 27 at 5 p.m. The auction items will be displayed at the opening on First Friday at the gallery.