For June’s First Friday, a landmark Pioneer Avenue building becomes a canvas when art lovers are invited to celebrate Mary Epperson Day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. by writing and painting on the wall’s of Epperson’s Etude Studio next to the Homer Council on the Arts. Visitors are asked to explore the theme “What do the arts mean to you?” Paint and brushes will be provided.

Epperson, a musician as well as a teacher, educated generations of locals at her little studio by Woodard Creek. She also was one of the founders of HCOA. Homer Mayor Beth Wythe officially proclaimed June 6 Mary Epperson Day at the May 27 Homer City Council meeting.

After a First Friday reception from 5 to 7 p.m. for quilter Beth Christiansen, HCOA also holds a Mary Epperson and volunteer reception at 7 p.m. People will be invited to share gratitude to Epperson and volunteers in words and song.

Elsewhere in Homer, galleries in Old Town, on Pioneer Avenue and on the Homer Spit also hold openings. New venue Diamond Ridge Art Studio and Gallery on the Big Bear Boardwalk shows Alaskan Fabrications, work by Leslie Garrison and Royce Page. In Old Town, Bunnell Street Arts Center shows iPad drawings by James Behlke. Take a walk on Bishop’s Beach to see the cenotaph — a clay-brick memorial to the lost loved ones interred elsewhere — built by Old Town Artists in Residence Jesus Landin Torrez III, Jimmy Riordan and Michael Gerace.

Exhibits on Pioneer Avenue include new pottery by Libby Berezin at the Art Shop Gallery, pencil drawings by Sue Taylor Perez at Fireweed Gallery, works by the Homer Life Drawing Group at Picture Alaska, and batiks by Janaan Kitchen at Ptarmigan Arts.

Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.