First Friday events

Alaska Marketplace

1130 Ocean Drive

mAKers First Friday by various artists

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

Alaska Marketplace’s mAKers First Friday continues with a launch of a Kickstarter campaign for HomerWhales, individual soft-form toys made by Abigail Kokai. A quilter and fiber artist who did a Bunnell Street Arts Center residency earlier this year, Kokai has created her whales from recycled denim and scraps from NOMAR. Each whale is unique, and she spends a lot of time selecting fabric combinations for each whale. The fin whale is her favorite, although she has also developed a super-rad orca pattern that she is really excited about. They are safe for all ages and intended for use as toys or home décor pillows.

Alice’s Champagne Palace

195 E. Pioneer Ave.

Beer Stained and Bumped: Plein Aire Painting at Alice’s Champagne Palace by Michael Murray

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

For more than 14 years, Homer artist Michael Murray has taken his sketchbook, pens and watercolors to musical events where ever he goes, including concerts at Alice’s Champagne Palace. His show, Beer Stained and Bumped, features mostly originals done at Alice’s events.

“It is hard to take works out of journals as they are like visual diaries, but I wanted the spontaneity to show,” Murray writes. “I usually draw with pen to avoid worrying about making mistakes in these somewhat fast paced settings. I joked that the collection might be called ‘Beer Stained and Bumped,’ and that’s exactly what happened.”

Bunnell Street Arts Center

106 W. Bunnell Ave.

Amy Casey Artist Residency, art and talk by Artist in Residence Amy Casey

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

Rasmuson Artist in Residence Amy Casey shows her work and does a slide talk about her current residency. Visiting from Cleveland, Casey does artist exchanges 3-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Nov. 1. She writes: “I am trying to put down some roots in a landless landscape and move forward. Nature has found its way back into the work, and I am still discovering the role it plays and where this is all going. I am curious about the resilience of life and our ability to keep going in the face of ever shifting circumstances. My paintings celebrate this ability and also my love of the urban landscape.”

Fireweed Gallery

475 E. Pioneer Ave.

Living Color, paintings by Christina Wilson

5-7 p.m., First Friday Reception

Christina Wilson’s acrylic works are inspired by nature, whether it be long walks through Alaska birch forests or quaking aspens admired from her backyard. Impasto acrylic painting, her preferred style of painting, allows the viewer to enter the painting and create a tangible connection, just as they would during a walk in the woods, Wilson said. A Minnesota native, she owns Christina Wilson Art in Anchorage. Wilson has a bachelor of arts in art history and history from the University of Minnesota-Morris and a master of science in counseling psychology from Alaska Pacific University. She uses expressive arts therapy with her counseling clients.

Homer Council on the Arts

344 W. Pioneer Ave.

Between the Tides, works by Kelsey Hardy-Place

5-7 p.m., First Friday Reception

Kelsey Hardy-Place describes her show as “a collection of moments between the tides of Kachemak Bay, drifting with the current of imagination.” Originally from New York state, she earned a bachelors degree in environmental studies and sustainable agriculture from Green Mountain College, Vermont. Hardy-Place works at Two Sisters and at Twitter Creek Gardens, as a kayak guide with True North Kayak, and sings and plays the saw with the Howlin’ Whales. Of her work, she writes: “As a person who takes pleasure in the color scheme of a veggie focaccia, a paddle on the bay is almost overwhelmingly indulgent. So many little visual poems I have the urge to capture, yet rarely time when I bring a camera. Rather the memories follow me around, linger in my mind, and drift into my imagination. Between the Tides is a collection of those memories and the imaginary moments they inspire, all in the form of block prints.”

Kachemak Bay Campus

533 E. Pioneer Ave.

The Silent Horizon, works by Cam Choy

5-7 p.m., First Friday Reception

Artist and art professor Cam Choy shows his new exhibit, “The Silent Horizon.” Choy was born and raised in Honolulu and has a bachelor of fine arts in sculpture and drawing from the University of Notre Dame and a master of fine arts in sculpture and drawing from the University of Kentucky. He teaches art at Kenai Peninsula College’s Kenai River Campus. This body of work represents Cam’s interpretation of the majestic Alaska landscape.

Pratt Museum

3779 Bartlett Street

Ocean Treasure, Ocean Trash

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

A collaboration between the Pratt Museum and the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, Ocean Treasure, Ocean Trash features sculptures of sea creatures made from marine debris collected on CACS beach clean-ups. The museum stays open late so people can view the exhibit during First Friday. The show ends Monday.

Ptarmigan Arts Back Room Gallery

471 E. Pioneer Ave.

No Pattern at All, art by Angela Doroff

5-7 p.m., First Friday Reception

Artist and scientist Angela Doroff displays her first show in 10 years, mostly works made from recycled natural materials. “During this hiatus, I have done a great deal of growing … incubating with a lot of materials around me,” she writes. “My career as a wildlife biologist has informed this body of work and, equally importantly, this work helps me think about the natural world from a different perspective, and I hope, more holistically. The pieces in this show are not behind glass; they are meant to be part of the strength of everyday life and the web of relationships among the internal and external environment.”