First Friday openings include several debuts

"Synergy," paintings by Avery Skaggs

The Canvas Community Art Studio & Gallery

223 Seward St.

Reception: 4:30-7:30 p.m.

The title of this show comes from the interaction between Skaggs, a young artist who experiences cerebal palsy and is quadriplegic, and Canvas staff, who prepare his materials and work with him to fulfill his creative vision. Skaggs' media include watercolor, acrylic and glass, and his brushes include his hands, frayed rope and yarn. This is his first solo show.

Watercolor paintings by Kerry Kirkpatrick

Heritage 2nd Street Cafe

216 2nd Street

Reception: 4:30-7 p.m.

Kirkpatrick's landscapes are inspired by several locations the artist knows well: the Juneau area, where she lives; Bristol Bay, where she fishes in the summers; and Mexico, where she spends a couple of months in the winters. In her watercolor paintings she works to capture the ethereal qualities of light, clouds, water and shadows. This is her first exhibit in Juneau.

"Sketches for Okie Pie," paintings and drawings on wood by Sarah Maria Conarro

The Ruby Room

174 S. Franklin St, in the Emporium Mall (behind Heritage Coffee)

Reception: 4:30-7 p.m.

"Sketches for Okie Pie" is a series of smaller pieces reflecting and honoring the nine-month process of childbearing. Mediums include ink, acrylic and photo transfers.

"Okie Pie" is the name the artist's 3-year-old daughter, Margo, has given to her soon-to-be-born brother (due next month). If you have an alternate name suggestion for the artist and her family to consider, you are encouraged to drop in and share it.

Booksignging with Aldona Jonaitis, co-author of "The Totem Pole: An Intercultural History"

Hearthside Books downtown

First Friday booksigning: 4:30-7 p.m.

Jonaitis, former director of the University of Alaska Museum of the North in Fairbanks, is one of the foremost scholars of Northwest Coast art. Her book, co-written with Aaron Glass, examines the totem pole in different contexts and explores its evolution over time.

For more details, visit www.hearthsidebooks.com or see last week's Arts section of the Empire.

Art of Recovery

Silverbow Backroom

120 Second St.

Reception: 4-8 p.m.

The "Art of Recovery" is a showing of art inspired by recovery from alcoholism, drug addiction and/or mental illness. Contributors include artists from Polaris House, JAMHI and others.

Abstract Acrylics by Henri Wells

JAHC Gallery

Juneau Arts & Culture Center

Reception: 4:30-7 p.m.

Wells, a local artist who has been active for over 45 years, cites abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock among her influences, and says the most important aspect of her paintings is color. She finds inspiration in nature, structures and live forms.

Children and the Red Thread

Juneau Arts & Culture Center

Reception: 4:30-7 p.m.

This show celebrates' the first anniversary of thread, a statewide child care resource and referral network. It will feature children's artwork collected from child care programs throughout Juneau, all of which incorporate red yarn.

New ceramic works by potter Colette Oliver

Juneau Artists Gallery

175 S. Franklin St.

Reception: 4:30-7 p.m.

Oliver's newest work includes a "lichen" glaze design she has developed. The artist, who moved to Juneau five years ago from Nevada, says this glaze visually describes both the dry, cracked desert landscape of her former home and the cracking, breaking ice on the waters of Alaska. Most of her work is thrown on a potter's wheel, and all the glazes are made by hand.

New work by paper artist Karen Beason

Annie Kaill's

244 Front St.

Reception: 4:30-7 p.m.

Beason's work includes original linoleum block carvings of Southeast Alaska creatures such as bears, whales and otters made on handmade paper, as well as paper-mache fish, peace ravens, hanging fabric fish and mixed media artworks.

New ceramic works by James Voelckers

Franklin Street Gallery

Baranof Hotel, 127 N. Franklin St.

Reception: 4:30-6:30 p.m.

Voleckers, an active member of Alaska Blue Clay studios, will show ceramics that have been bisque-fired in an electric kiln and glaze-fired in a gas reduction kiln. The work of an additional five local artists - Constance Baltuck, Barbara Craver, Cristine Crooks, Pua Maunu and Jane Stokes - will also remain on display during the month of September.

Pianist Tom Locher will play during the opening.

For more information, contact FranklinStreetGallery@gmail.com.

A new work by David Woodie

Paradise Cafe

245 Marine Way

Reception: 5-8 p.m.

Woodie will show a new painting, "Artemis & Actaeon," during this First Friday reception.

Alaska Positive 2010

Familiar Places, paintings by Sue Kraft

Alaska State Museum

395 Whittier St.

Reception: 4:30-7 p.m.

Friday's event will focus on the recent acquisition of a bust of Vitus Bering, the Danish explorer credited with exploring and mapping much of what is now the Bering Sea coast.

Three other exhibits are continuing: The New Acquisitions exhibit is on display through Oct. 16.

Juneau painter Sue Kraft's show is on display through Oct. 16.

Alaska Positive 2010 is on display through Oct. 23.

All Things Eagle and Raven

Juneau-Douglas City Museum

Fourth and Main streets

The museum's summer show features a variety of exhibits celebrating these two birds and their connections to Southeast life, including Tlingit phrases, Northwest Coast art, a video of Yees Ku Oo dance troupe performing Eagle and Raven songs, local eagle and raven photographs, and illustrated stories submitted by members of the community.

The exhibit will be on diplay through Nov. 21.

Aunt Claudia's Dolls exhibit

Aunt Claudia's Dolls museum

114 S Franklin St., Suite 105, above Hearthside Books

Open hours: 2-7 p.m. Friday, 12-4 p.m. Saturday

Aunt Claudia's Dolls, a museum housing the collection Claudia Kelsey, features more than 500 dolls and miniatures collected from all over the world, some from the 18th and 19th centuries. The collection curator, Douglas doll artist Mary Ellen Frank, will be present with the collection's owner, Bea Shepard.