Homer’s art scene encompasses all ages, as seen last weekend when work by local youth was showcased during a Pop Up event at Ptarmigan Arts, the community’s co-op gallery.

Work by 13 artists, ages 3 to 18, included beaded jewelry, Fimo Clay jewelry, woven bracelets, painted rock magnets, watercolor bookmarks and cards, drawings, acrylic and watercolor paintings, clay figures, ceramics, copper swords, wire-wrapped rocks, tie-dye, resin cast trays and paper flowers.

The first its kind at the gallery, the event was inspired by one of the members who was eager to showcase her children’s artwork. All of the participating youth artists in this Pop Up are children, grandchildren, stepchildren or family friends of Ptarmigan Arts’ artists.

Allison Galbraith is a jewelry artist who does bead weaving and silversmithing. She joined the gallery five years ago and is currently the president of the board.

“Ptarmigan Arts members love encouraging budding artists,” Galbraith said. “After all, we were once there too. Like all locally owned galleries, the member-owners of Ptarmigan have deep ties to Homer and we believe there’s a huge benefit to making art a focus in our community. One of our goals as a gallery is to promote local artistry and learning through art, and where better to start than with those who may one day become Ptarmigan members themselves.”

Galbraith’s children participated in the event, including Novi, 10, who makes beadwork jewelry and, taught by her mom, has been beading since she was 8.

“I like playing with beads, making my own patterns and picking colors,” she said. “Sometimes it can be hard to think of designs that will look good and my mom won’t let me copy hers, so I have to come up with my own.”

Of the beaded jewelry she had on display, her favorite was a fox fair that were inspired by her Red Husky dog. Along with beading, she likes to sketch, write stories and play music.

“The world would be very dull without art,” Novi said. “Whenever I feel bored, I make art. Also, my favorite thing to do is to read and the people who write stories are making art, so without their art, there would be nothing to read.”

Her siblings, Cedar, 8, made woven bracelets for the display, and Roan, 6, made painted rock magnets and watercolor bookmarks. This is the first time the younger two showed their work publicly, whereas Novi showed a painting in the Homer Council on the Arts Jubilee youth exhibit last year. This was, however, the first time Novi’s art was for sale.

“I’m nervous and excited,” she said. “I hope people like my jewelry.”

Galbraith is proud of her children’s creativity.

“It’s been pretty incredible to watch them progress through the stages from baby art to unique creations of their own design,” she said. “Their school, McNeil Canyon Elementary, has a pretty incredible focus on art in the school which has exposed them to a huge variety of styles, techniques and mediums. I’m appreciative that they get the opportunity at school to try out art forms, such as pottery, that I’m not able to do with them at home. Their artistic capability always seems to catch me by surprise and they pick up concepts so quickly.”

Potter Ruby Haigh has been a Ptarmigan Arts member for the past nine years. Showing their work in the Pop Up were her grandchildren, including Arabellis, 18, who lives in the Lower 48 and draws, as well as Timmy and Ella Christman, both age 8, who live in Homer where their creative endeavors include painting and working with clay and copper.

During the exhibit, Timmy showed his copper swords and wire-wrapped rocks, among other artwork, honing his talents since the age of 2 when his Grandma Ruby began teaching him various mediums. He is especially fond of working with copper and clay.

“I love pounding on things and smooshing stuff to make new things,” he said. “Copper can be difficult because if you pound it too much it gets hot and can burn your hands and the pieces break.”

Working in his own workshop in the family’s garage, Timmy likes to have multiple projects going at the same time. On one table he might have his copper swords, which take several days to complete, and on another table, he carves walking sticks and spears from wood from his grandparent’s property.

Making art at home and at Paul Banks Elementary School, Timmy plans to continue doing art as he gets older, but just for fun.

Like her twin brother, Ella has her own studio workspace in the garage where she has been working with clay and drawing and painting for the past several years. For the Pop Up, she created several clay pieces, including a sunflower, a fish and a basket with a girl inside of it.

“The girl in the basket took me two weeks to make,” she said. “I wanted to make something that I’ve never done before and think outside the box and that was what I came up with.”

With a fondness for painting animals, she also created a large oil pastel painting featuring a pigeon. This piece took her three days to paint, was inspired by a favorite book, “The Pigeon” by Mo Willems, and was intended to depict the bird looking happy and angry at the same time.

“Art is important to me because it expresses my feelings,” she said. “I think self expression is important for everybody.”

For Grandma Ruby, watching her grandchildren create art brings her a sense of pride and joy.

“Having them start so early in life to learn art as a life skill is good,” she said. “In this day and age, kids are often so not OK and I think art is a wonderful way to help them learn to understand themselves and get their feelings out.”

George Overpeck is a Ptarmigan member who has been working with wood for years, creating among other items bowls and, more recently, earrings. Ten-year-old Odin Onion and 7-year-old Rosie Mahowald are his partner Greta’s children. For the exhibit, Odin created watercolor cards and lathe-turned wooden wands, while Rosie made watercolor cards and paper flowers.

A student at Little Fireweed, Mahowald has been making art for the past few years, drawing, writing stories, painting with watercolors and doing block printing. Her contributions to the Pop Up included watercolor cards and bookmarks as well as paper flowers.

“My mom taught me how to make the flowers and did it with me the first two to three times,” she said. “Now I make them by myself. I like purple, blue and dark pink colors.”

Each flower takes the young artist about 20 to 30 minutes to make.

“Choosing the colors is fun, but folding the paper right can be hard and the paper sometimes rips,” she said.

For her cards and bookmarks, Rosie most enjoyed choosing the colors and thinking of what she wanted to paint. Some of her designs were simple splashes of colors and others had designs she imagined.

“I really like watercolor, but I’m impatient and I don’t like waiting for the paint to dry,” she said.

Surrounded by creative adults including Overpeck, her dad, Josh, who is a stone mason, her mom, who works in a variety of mediums, and her Grandma Sherry, who is a wood worker, the young Mahowald makes art at home on the kitchen table and in her classroom at school and often has her work hanging on the walls of Little Fireweed. This exhibit was her first time showing in a gallery.

“I hope people say that they like what I made and that seeing it made them happy,” she said.

Rosie’s mom said her kids were excited to participate in the exhibit.

“When we were thinking about what they might show, they decided they wanted to make items they’d enjoy working on and that they thought people might like to buy,” she said.

Grateful to live in a community where she sees children having many opportunities to engage in the arts, she believes that all kids are born artists and explorers and simply need to be nurtured and encouraged.

Other young artists who showed work during the Pop Up included Rileah Sims, 11, with her ceramics and beaded bracelets; her twin brother Colin with his resin cast trays, coasters, trivets and jewelry; Adah Decker, 15, showcasing acrylic and watercolor paintings; and Oliver Yeaton, 4, and his sister, Poppy, 3.

The Pop Up event was held April 5-8 and, according to Galbraith, was a tremendous success for everyone involved.

“This is the first year, but I suspect it will become annual going forward,” she said.

Advocating for youth arts, Ptarmigan Arts’ most notable contribution to young artists in the community is their annual scholarship, awarded to a graduating high school senior who is going to college to study visual arts.

It is the only visual arts scholarship given to a southern Kenai Peninsula high school student and funds are raised through the sale of member- and community member-donated items.

The gallery also raises funds for the scholarship through their annual fundraiser, Ready… Set… Art! During this event, 15 artists each have one hour to complete a piece of work that is then auctioned on-site. This year’s event is Saturday, April 13 at 5 p.m. at Grace Ridge Brewing. More details at ptarmiganarts.com.

Homer community members browse art by local youth at Ptarmigan Arts’ Youth Arts Pop Up on Friday, April 5, 2024 in Homer, Alaska. Photo by Christina Whiting

Ella Christman, 8, poses with her ceramic girl in a basket, shown during Ptarmigan Arts’ Youth Arts Pop Up on Friday, April 5, 2024 in Homer, Alaska. Photo by Christina Whiting

Rosie Mahowald, 7, poses with a watercolor card and paper flower that she made for Ptarmigan Arts’ Youth Art Pop Up on Friday, April 5, 2024 in Homer, Alaska. Photo by Christina Whiting

Timmy Christman, 8, shows his wire-wrapped rocks and copper swords during Ptarmigan Arts’ Youth Art Pop Up on Friday, April 5, 2024 in Homer, Alaska. Photo by Christina Whiting

Rileah and Colin Sims, both aged 11, pose with their artwork at Ptarmigan Arts during the gallery’s Youth Art Pop Up on Friday, April 5, 2024 in Homer, Alaska. Photo by Christina Whiting