Homer’s galleries and public art spaces celebrate the increasing daylight hours and quick approach towards spring and summer with Kenai Peninsula artists showcasing new work. Stroll the galleries, meet the artists and enjoy the variety of mediums on display.

Art Shop Gallery

202 W. Pioneer Ave.

Gallery hours, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Sundays. No exhibit.

Art Shop Gallery will be open their normal winter hours, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Sundays. Watch for their next First Friday exhibit in April. Visit the gallery online at artshopgallery.com.

Bunnell Street Arts Center

106 W. Bunnell Ave.

“From Always Until Now,” freestanding assemblages by Sean Derry

Opening Reception, 5-p.m. Artist’s talk, 6 p.m.

Bunnell Street Arts Center presents “From Always Until Now,” an exhibit of freestanding assemblages by Sean Derry of a domestic space erased from a Kachemak Bay homesteading cabin. The artist spent the past two summers on the southside of Kachemak Bay deconstructing a homesteading cabin dating from Alaska’s statehood. Transforming the artifacts and materials from the cabin into a new collection of artworks, Derry intends for his project to promote a form of migration. In his artist statement, Derry said, “Key to this ideal is accepting the knowledge already present in a location and remaining mindful of how one’s presence alters the identity of a place. I hope that erasure of the cabin can exist as both an open investigation and an apology.” The exhibit is open during regular gallery hours, Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. Visit the gallery at bunnellarts.org.

Fireweed Gallery

475 E. Pioneer Ave.

“Layered Landscapes,” a two-day pop-up of paper collages by Meriam Linder

Friday, March 7, 5-7 p.m. and Saturday, March 8, noon to 4 p.m.

Fireweed Gallery hosts “Layered Landscapes,” a pop-up exhibit of small-scale landscape collages by Meriam Linder. Depicting the ocean, mountains, sun and moon, Linder’s torn-paper compositions combine diverse selections of her original art into assemblages that include art, pins, gift cards and note cards. Also on display will be her antler and bone hair pieces, for which the artist is well known. Community members are invited to stop by and meet the artist during her pop-up event. A selection of her work will remain in the gallery through March. Visit the gallery online at fireweedgallery.com.

Grace Ridge Brewing

870 Smoky Bay Way

Acrylic paintings by John Winters

Opening Reception, 5-7 p.m.

Grace Ridge Brewing showcases acrylic paintings by Soldotna artist John Winters. A self-taught artist, his work and creativity are inspired by four decades spent working in Alaska’s forests and the Alaskan landscape in general. Winters began painting in the early 1990s, focusing primarily on showcasing the wildlife he witnessed. Painting on stretched canvas or hard panels, he often paints in the field where landscapes surround him and he is on the go, revisiting both longtime favorite, and new places around the Kenai Peninsula and across the state. In recent years, he has been working on pieces that retell his experiences during his career in forestry, an homage to a profession that enabled him to see more of the state than he might have otherwise. Winters displays and sells his work in cafes and coffee shops in the Soldotna area. This is his first time exhibiting in Homer.

Homer Council on the Arts

355 W. Pioneer Ave.

“Still,” oil paintings by Abbey Ulen

Opening Reception, 5-7 p.m.

Homer Council on the Arts presents “Still,” an exhibit of oil paintings by Kenai artist Abbey Ulen. With this body of work, the artist strives to capture the still moments of peace, contemplation and melancholy that drew her to the media that inspired her individual pieces, including 8mm home movies, old magazine articles, her family photo albums and personal snapshots. Using techniques like thin, flat paint passages contrasted with highly rendered areas, Ulen layered additional elements into her work to help convey emotion. Ulen is inspired by the styles of artists like Mary Cassatt and Andrew Wyeth, as well as the imagery and storytelling of European medieval paintings. Her family’s long Alaskan lineage also informs her creativity, including people and place.

Pratt Museum

3779 Bartlett St.

“Bering Sea Storms: Past to Present”

Exhibit free to view on Friday, March 7, 4-6 p.m.

Pratt Museum hosts “Bering Sea Storms: Past to Present,” an exhibit that highlights the research collected in 2022 by a group of scientists, local youth, elders and stakeholders who participated in a research trip transiting the Aleutian Islands to study Bering Sea storminess, gathering data to help further understand the historic record of extreme storm events. The goal of the project was to help communities plan for future storm scenarios that may result from rapid climate change. “Bering Sea Storms: Past to Present” highlights the research collected and the way that scientists and Indigenous Alaskans worked together. All three galleries of the museum will be open, as well as the museum store. Visit the museum online at prattmuseum.org.

Ptarmigan Arts

471 E. Pioneer Ave.

Member work

Gallery hours, Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Ptarmigan Arts presents new work by the co-op gallery members in time for spring and the upcoming summer season. Visit the gallery online at ptarmiganarts.com.

The Dean Gallery

40374 Waterman Rd.

Open by appointment

The Dean Gallery is family-owned and features contemporary art by M’fanwy, Ranja and Jeff Dean. In the gallery are also intricately carved wood panels, bronze sculptures, metal and wood wall art, seed bead jewelry and specialty prints on metal, wood and paper. The gallery will be open through March by appointment. Visit them online at deangallery.com.

“Musk Ox with Calf” is an acrylic oil painting by John Winters, on display in his exhibit through March 2025 at Grace Ridge Brewing in Homer, Alaska. Photo provided by John Winters

“Mirror2” is a mixed media piece by Sean Derry in his exhibit, “From Always Until Now,” free-standing assemblages from a homesteadng cabin, on display through March 2025 at Bunnell Street Arts Center in Homer, Alaska. Photo provided by Bunnell Street Arts Center

An untitled oil painting by Kenai artist Abbey Ulen is on display in her solo exhibit at Homer Council on the Arts through March 2025 in Homer, Alaska. Photo provided by Homer Council on the Arts