Featured artist: Guitar-maker George Gress
Amalga Distillery
134 N. Franklin St.
Reception: 4-7:30 p.m.
Amalga Distillery isn’t yet open, but they’ll be offering an early look at their tasting room, and at luthier George Gress’ newest creations, on First Friday.
Gress will have seven or eight guitars he created over the winter on display, he said. As is usual for his work, they’ll be made mostly from Southeast Alaskan woods. He’s also been trying to use more salvaged woods “in an effort to keep a world-sustaining facet to my work,” he wrote. Some of the guitars in the show will be made from spruce and hemlock rescued from Auke Recreation Area and Lena Loop construction-cut tress, pallet wood from a Mexican pallet, salvaged old-growth redwood, and part of a spruce cut from his own front yard for a street project, he said.
He’ll be playing the guitars throughout the event.
“I think it (First Friday) will be a great way for people to come and see the space,” said Amalga Distillery co-owner Brandon Howard.
Howard thinks Amalga Distillery’s doors will likely be open for the weekend; they may also be offering hats, T-shirts and other items.
Featured artists: Home-schooled kids
Bartlett Regional Hospital Gallery
3260 Hospital Drive
Reception: 6 – 7 p.m.
Bartlett Foundation in partnership with Juneau Home Schools is hosting artwork made by students in the WHERE. After First Friday, artwork will be placed throughout the hospital for patients and staff to enjoy.
The hospital gallery is in the hospital lobby, just off the main lobby.
Alaska Native Masks exhibit, jewelry by Renee Culp, spring inventory preview
Walter Soboleff Building
105 S. Seward St.
Reception: 4:30-8 pm
Free First Friday admission includes access to the Nathan Jackson Gallery exhibit, Alaska Native Masks: Art & Ceremony. Three new masks have been added since March. In the lobby, Tlingit jeweler Renee Culp will be selling her original designs, and in the Sealaska Heritage Store, locals will have a chance to preview new spring and summer inventory. Everyone is welcome.
Featured artist: Arnie Weimer
Coppa
917 Glacier Ave.
Reception: 4-6 p.m.
Coppa will show recent contemporary oil and acrylic paintings by Arnie Weimer. The paintings are both of landscapes and local people.
Featured artist: Charles Rohrbacher
Reuben Willis State Farm office
720 W. Willoughby Ave.
Reception: 4-6:30 p.m.
Iconographer Charles Rohrbacher has lived in Juneau almost 35 years and serves as the deacon for the Church of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Paintings, woodcuts and the stained glass windows he’s designed can be found in the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, the Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary, and St. Paul’s Catholic Church in the Mendenhall Valley. His work is also in churches all along the West Coast, from Anaheim, Calif., to Kwethluk, on the Kuskokwin River. He’s completed hundreds of pieces for Catholic, Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches.
Charles studied abroad on three separate occasions with the great iconic artist Egon Sendler, a Byzantine Catholic priest. He also studied with about 25 other iconographers in Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva.
APAA Spring show
KTOO
360 Egan Drive
Reception: 4:30-6:30 p.m.
The Alaska Photo Arts Association will have its spring show. Around 20 local photographers will exhibit, including Juneau Empire photographer Michael Penn, his wife Iris Korhonen-Penn and their son, Liam Penn.
The full list of artists who have RSVPed as participating are Jeff Brown, Shar Fox, Jim Simard, Alyssa Enriquez, Brad Cure, Betsy Fischer, Scott Fischer, Marilyn Holmes, Kerry Howard, Libby Sterling, Doug Sturm, Linda Shaw, Joe McCabe, Steve Winker, Wayne Owen, Laveda Loose, David Riccio, Iris Korhonen-Penn, Liam Penn, Michael Penn and Merrill Jensen.
Featured artist: Tom Meyer
Juneau Artists Gallery
175 S. Franklin St.
Reception: 4:30-7 p.m.
The Juneau Artists Gallery will feature Tom Meyer and his mugs and bowls for the month of April. Meyer has been a famous fixture in the pottery art world in Juneau for many years. Since this year is the 150th anniversary of Alaska’s purchase from Russia, he will feature his “check mug” with the $7.2 million dollar check that sealed the deal. Treats will be provided.
Student art fundraiser
Juneau Charter School
430 Fourth St.
4:30-6 p.m.
This is Juneau Community Charter School’s third annual First Friday in April event for a display of student artwork, artist statements, and musical performances by students in grades four through eight. Students and parents of students at JCCS and all community members are invited. Items for sale at the event include homemade soap and JCCS t-shirts to benefit school field trips. The school will also have a table with information about enrolling in JCCS for the 2017-2018 school year. Use the entrance on Gold Street, between 4th and 5th Streets.
Featured performer: The Juneau Jambusters
Kindred Post
145 S. Franklin St.
Reception: 4:30-7 p.m.
Kindred Host will host live music by the Juneau Jambusters, snacks, and neighborhood vibes. Bring an instrument (or just yourself – they’ll have extras!) to join in on the jam.
The Juneau Jambusters are ukulele players and learners from all walks of Juneau. They meet every Sunday at TK McGuire’s restaurant in the Prospector Hotel. The group is open to all ages and abilities (and even instruments). Whimsy is encouraged. Complete beginners and those without instruments are welcome.
Featured author: Kate Troll
Hearthside Books downtown
First Friday booksigning: 5-7 p.m.
Kate Troll will be signing copies of her memoir and newest book, “The Great Uncomformity: Reflections on Hope in an Imperiled World.”
Spring UAS art show
JAHC Gallery
Juneau Arts & Culture Center
Reception: 4:30–7 p.m.
The JAHC will host pieces in multiple media from students at the University of Alaska Southeast.
The Working Models: Sculptures by Robert Murray
Alaska State Museum
395 Whittier Street
4:30-7 p.m.
Robert Murray is the creator of “Nimbus,” the large abstract sculpture outside in front of the Alaska State Museum. Large abstract sculptures like Nimbus begin with a model. Murray builds the models in his workshop before creating the larger works, which require an industrial process involving welders, metal fabricators and painters. The exhibit highlights eight working models, including the one Murray made for Nimbus in 1977. Author Jonathan Lippincott, whose book “Large Scale: Fabricating Sculpture in the 1960s and 1970s” explores the history of sculptures made at Lippincott, Inc., where Nimbus was fabricated, will discuss Murray’s relationship with Lippincott metal fabrication company. Sponsored in part by Friends of the Alaska State Libraries, Archives, and Museum and Alaska Airlines.
One of luthier George Gress’ winter creations, which will be on display at Amalga Distillery this First Friday. Photo courtesy of George Gress.
The Juneau Jambusters. Photo courtesy of Amy O’Neill Houck.
This guitar created by luthier George Gress was built to match the decor of Amalga Distillery. It’s made from the same Boeing Airlines mahogany shipping crates that are throughout the distillery, he said. Photo courtesy of George Gress.
