It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and Gallery Walk — the biggest, most popular First Friday of the year — is a festive way to usher in the season.
One of the biggest arts events of the year, this year’s Gallery Walk downtown will feature events new and old.
Among those in the “new” category is a free preview of a mask exhibit at Sealaska Heritage Institute. If you don’t catch it this weekend, you’ll have to wait until May to see it again. Sealaska will also host multiple dance groups.
The Downtown Business Association is hosting a party on Front Street and a sweater contest — wear yours, fill out a ticket at a participating store (see the full list of participating businesses below), and be entered in a chance to win the grand prize in an 8 p.m. drawing, when there is also a group holiday sweater photo.
The Juneau Symphony will be at Alaskan Brewing Co. Depot, there’s an organ concert in the State Office Building, Juneau photographer Chris Miller will have photos up at The Rookery, and many galleries and shops, like MK MacNaughton’s Sketch Studio, will have sales.
Daniel Buck Gallery will be closing, and several other venues will host a First Friday for the first time — A Little Bazaar will host Laurel Araki, Reuben Willis State Farm will host Juneau-Douglas High School art students, and Rainbow Foods will feature painters Heather Tremblay-Parsien, Jestoni Feliciano and Rochelle Smallwood. And then there are the regular supporters of the arts — Juneau-Douglas City Museum, The Canvas, the state museum, Kindred Post, and others all have something going on.
Santa will show up at the Senate Building and the Baranof Hotel from 4-8 p.m., and there is an official afterparty at the Hangar Ballroom with Juneau Soul playing from 8-11 p.m.
Here’s a listing of all the events, plus a note on parking (it’s free!) at the end:
Exhibit opening, book debut, featured artists and dance performances
Sealaska Heritage Institute
Walter Soboleff Building
105 S. Seward St.
Reception: 4:30-8 p.m.
Sealaska Heritage and the Sealaska Heritage Store will host the following free events for the community during Gallery Walk. In the foyer, SHI will celebrate the release of its new book, “Colors,” with illustrator David Lang. The book, part of the Baby Raven Reads series, is written in Tlingit and in English. Also in the foyer, Tlingit artists Héendei and Renee Culp will demonstrate and sell their jewelry. In Shuká Hít (the clan house) there will be half-hour dance performances every hour as follows: Woosh.ji.een (5-5:30 p.m.), Ldakát Naax Satí Yátx’i (6-6:30 p.m.) and Has Du Eetix’ Xw’aakeidix Haa Sitee (7-7:30 p.m.). And in the Nathan Jackson Gallery, SHI will offer a special free preview of its new exhibit, “Alaska Native Masks: Art & Ceremony,” featuring more than 50 traditional and contemporary masks from around the state. The Sealaska Heritage Store will offer 10 percent off silver, copper and ivory (some exclusions apply). All store proceeds help fund SHI programs. Everyone is welcome.
Margo Connolly-Masson (paintings) and Katie Craney (mixed media)
JAHC Gallery
Juneau Arts & Culture Center
Reception: 4:30–7 p.m.
Katie Craney and Margo Connolly-Mason will exhibit their respective shows “Surface / Layer.” Katie hails from Haines and her work is a dedication to place — the ice-carved mountains, as well as the rivers, forests and ocean that make up her home. Her series is a reflection on survival, community and her role as an artist to embrace and decipher the complicated nature of a changing climate. Margo is from Juneau and is inspired by the coastal communities where she has lived and worked. Her subjects are typically things she has used or sees daily, after a life of exploring salt marshes, forests and beaches along both the East and West coasts. These subjects lose their anonymity while she paints, and are no longer lumps of wood, metal, leather or calcium carbonate, but old friends that have perhaps had lives and adventures of their own.
Alaska Positive
Father Andrew P. Kashevaroff Building
Alaska State Museum
395 Whittier Street
Reception: 4:30-7 p.m.
Alaska Positive is a biennial statewide juried photo exhibit; see the Capital City Weekly’s Nov. 16 photography issue for more information. The Capital Brass Players will perform from 5-7 p.m. in the APK Atrium. They are Kristin Mabry on trumpet, Ken Guiher on trumpet, Amy Bibb on french horn, Jack Hodges on trombone and David Grove on tuba.
Bauer/Clifton Interiors
119A Second Street
Reception: 4:30–8 p.m.
Bauer/Clifton’s Holiday Open House will feature the Nest Fragrance collection and the Jonathan Adler home accessory line.
Discovering Your Mark
The Canvas Community Art Studio & Gallery
223 Seward St.
Reception: 4:30-7 p.m.
The Canvas closes out its 2016 gallery series with Discovering Your Mark, a group show of artists exploring the fiber arts. Over the past year, visiting artist Emma Davidson has been working with artists at The Canvas, teaching creative ways to use silk, wool and felt, while also encouraging the development of artists’ personal styles and artistic messaging. The exhibit showcases pieces created over the course of Emma’s 2016 teaching residency in Juneau, featuring pieces by several local artists, including Joanne Sam, Karen Willey and Niall Johnson, among others.
Karen Beason, John and Sharon Svenson featured artists
Annie Kaill’s
244 Front St.
Reception: 4-9 p.m.
Karen Beason is a Juneau artist who creates block prints on handmade paper, fabric ravens, and so much more. John is an internationally collected artist and adventurer from Haines. John’s paintings and prints display classic watercolor technique and feature mountain landscapes as well as local wildlife and culture. For Gallery Walk, John will offer a collection of paintings, wood cut prints and fused glass pieces. Sharon creates colorful mosaics of out glass. She has created installations for Auke Bay and Gastineau elementary schools in Juneau. For Gallery Walk, Sharon will offer a collection of mosaic artwork and mirrors, including several raven pieces.
Featured artist: Devita Stipek Writer
Juneau Artists Gallery
175 S. Franklin St.
Reception: 4:30 p.m.-8 p.m.
The Juneau Artists Gallery will feature Devita Stipek Writer for the month of December. Using oil paints and her characteristic thick, rich colors, Devita most often paints outdoors working directly from the scene. Her original oil and enhanced giclée pieces have been gallery favorites. Her popular vibrant cards are suitable for framing.
Tom Meyer of Tom’s Pots has just joined the gallery and will have his “Douglas Passport” mugs for sale as well his other “pots.” The Juneau Artists Gallery’s treats will be provided.
Annual Holiday Kimball Organ Concert
State Office Building
8th Floor Atrium
4:30-6:30 p.m.
The historic Kimball Organ helps to kick off Gallery Walk again this year with special holiday music. The concert will feature J. Allan MacKinnon and T.J. Duffy providing entertainment with the music, chimes, drums and sleigh bells of the Museum’s treasured organ. Sweet treats, fun and entertainment for music lovers of all ages will be provided. The holiday concert is sponsored by the Friends of the Alaska State Library, Archives and Museum. Call 586-1714 for more information.
Live music, photo booth, coffee cocktails
Kindred Post
145 S. Franklin St.
Reception: 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Enjoy live music from Alaskapella, photography by Glacier Photo Booth, and nonalcoholic coffee cocktails from Sentinel Coffee.
Closing Night
Daniel Buck Gallery
263 S. Franklin St.
Reception: 4:30-8 p.m.
This is the final night of the Daniel Buck Gallery, which is closing its doors after seven years. Daniel Buck will be showcasing some of his favorite works, as well as new releases that cover his explorations to the Alaskan wilderness over the past decade. They need to clear out the entire inventory that night, a press release said.
They’ll also be showcasing local lifestyle photographer and videographer Sydney Akagi. Akagi will show photos from a recent trip to Yakutat, part of a larger project, a fly fishing film called “Reel Happiness”, which she is producing with local angler Kayla Roys. The trailer for their upcoming film will be screened throughout the evening. Sydney will also be showcasing shirts and stickers featuring her “Messy Hair, Stubborn Spirit” design.
Buck’s work can also be seen at www.WildernessPhotos.com, and Akagi’s at SydneyAkagiPhotography.com.
Pat Race featured art
Alaska Robotics Gallery
220 Front Street
Reception: 4:30-7 p.m.
Co-owner Pat Race will feature postcards designed with “your favorite Juneau things.”
Juneau Symphony music
Alaskan Brewing Co. Depot
219 S. Franklin St.
Reception: 4:30-7 p.m.
The Juneau Symphony will be at the Alaskan Brewing Co. Depot for “Juneau’s most festive First Friday of the year.” Enjoy live brass music, snacks and Alaskan beer.
Caribou Crossings
387 S. Franklin St.
Reception: 4-8 p.m.
Come in for a visit, peek at Lisa McCormick’s winter showcase, and get that Christmas list taken care of.
Yadaa.at Kalé, Beautiful Face: artwork by Barbara Craver
Juneau-Douglas City Museum
Fourth and Main streets
Reception: 4:30-7 p.m.
During the month of December, local artist Barbara Craver will be exhibiting a selection of landscape paintings entitled Yadaa.at Kalé, Beautiful Face. Yadaa.at Kalé is the Tlingit place name for the face of Mount Juneau. It means “beautifully adorned face.” It was a revelation for Craver to learn that her favorite mountain has a Tlingit name that celebrates its beauty, and this name is the inspiration for the show. Her primary reference for naming the paintings was Haa Leelk’w Has Aani Saax’u / Our Grandparents’ Names on the Land, edited by Thomas F. Thornton.
This event is free, and Craver will be available to talk about her work. Many of the paintings in the show will be for sale, and there will also be calendars with her work available in the museum’s gift shop.
Craver has been in Juneau since college, several decades ago. “I feel grounded and connected to this place and its people,” she said. “I paint the landscape as one way to ‘know’ the land. Once I learned that Tlingit place names existed for places that I love, I wanted to share. I hope to share some place names, and encourage us all to learn and use more Tlingit names and words.”
More information is at http://www.juneau.org/library/museum/. The exhibit is on display through Dec. 31.
Gallery Walk with Heather Lende
Hearthside Books downtown
Booksigning: 5-7 p.m.
Haines author Heather Lende, author of “Find the Good: Unexpected Life Lessons from a Small-Town Obituary Writer,” will be present.
Featured artists: JDHS Art Students
Reuben Willis State Farm
720 W. Willoughby Ave
Reception: 4-6 p.m.
Juneau’s downtown State Farm office (agent Reuben Willis) would like to announce its first-ever First Friday. Reuben and his staff will be kicking off this event with various pieces of work created by Juneau-Douglas High School art students. Works will include ceramics, drawings and paintings. Photos with “Santa” by the Christmas tree will be available for children of all ages, as well as refreshments.
Huge Studio Sale
Sketch Studio
122 Front Street
Reception: noon-8 p.m.
Huge Studio Sale. Oil paintings, prints on paper and aluminum, classes, hand painted T-shirts, earrings, ornaments and other unique gifts small and large will be available.
Featured artist: Jim Fowler
Coppa
917 Glacier Ave. #102
Reception: 4-6 p.m.
A new exhibit of plein-air landscape paintings by Jim Fowler will be at Coppa.
Featuring painters Heather Tremblay-Parsien, Jestoni Feliciano, Rochelle Smallwood
Rainbow Foods
224 Fourth Street
Reception: 9 a.m.-8 p.m.
Rainbow Foods is hosting its First Friday art show, featuring artwork by three Alaskan locals. Heather Tremblay-Parsien and Jestoni Feliciano, for whom this is their first show, will display colorful surrealist/abstract paintings titled “Trip Notion.” Smallwood will showcase “Shades of Life,” a portfolio of photographs shot between her life in Juneau, Washington and California.
Any money raised from the show will help contribute to Smallwood’s study abroad in London where she will be attending Central Saint Martins, pursuing her dream of becoming a fashion designer. The store will be open one hour past its normal closing time.
Foggy Mountain discounts for Discovery Southeast members
134 North Franklin Street
Reception: 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Discovery Southeast members get 20 percent off their purchases during First Friday at Foggy Mountain Shop. It’s a reward for supporting Discovery Southeast’s hands-on nature education and helping Juneau children develop a relationship with nature at a formative age. Become a new member or renew your membership at the event.
Featured artist: Laurel Araki
A Little Bazaar
1117 W. Ninth Street, close to the new whale sculpture
Reception: 4:30-7 p.m.
A Little Bazaar is a new little shop full of household items, (vintage & new), gifts, art, antiques and holiday decor. Find vintage and new Christmas/holiday decor and gifts, and at First Friday see feature artist Laurel Araki’s paper bag puppets. Steve Tada friends will be performing violin and viola music.
Featured photographer: Joe McCabe
Barnaby Brewing Company
206-1 N. Franklin St.
Reception: 4:30-8 p.m.
Barnaby Brewing Company will be featuring local photographer Joe McCabe. McCabe will be releasing seven never-before-seen aurora prints made from Juneau’s most recent aurora showing. Barnaby Brewing will have a seasonal cranberry spruce tip soda on tap as well.
Featured artist: Deb Clements
Bustin’ Out Boutique
Senate Mall, second floor
Reception: 4-8 p.m.
Bustin’ Out Boutique will feature Deb Clements of Martha’s Flowers, who makes exquisite floral designs. Come see the amazing living artwork of a lifelong Alaskan and florist extraordinaire. Snacks and beverages will be available as well as live floral treats for the little ones! As this is a living, breathing, water-drinking display it will be up for a limited time only.
Juneau Wearable Arts Association
Salon Cedar
Senate Mall
Reception: 5-8 p.m.
Featured artists are Michelle Morris, Jessica Hood, Amy Romme, Jesse Reisenberger, Bobbi McCutcheon and Amy Dressel. Come see wearable art pieces from past events shown on live models, and meet and greet the artists.
Free Yoga Class
Rainforest Yoga
174 South Franklin St., Suite 202B
5-6 p.m.
Chris Miller’s photography featured
The Rookery
174 South Franklin St., Suite 202B
Chris Miller, a longtime local, will have his photography on display: a mixture of commercial fishing and ski and snowboard and winter images.
Live music: Brian Gale
The Red Dog
278 S. Franklin St.
4-9 p.m.
Brian Gale will play live music from 6-9 p.m., Tracy and Tristan will offer locally-made jewelry and hand knits, and Red Dog Mercantile will be open and selling Christmas ornaments in addition to its regular offerings.
Jewelry sale
Trove
497 S. Franklin
Trove will be selling all jewelry at 50 percent off throughout Gallery Walk weekend, and offering treats and refreshments.
Parking
Front Street will be closed to traffic from 3-10 p.m. for shoppers, and street parking will be free starting at 3 p.m. as well. According to a city press release, “Parking downtown will not be enforced during the 2016 Gallery Walk. Enforcement will end at 3 p.m., on Friday, Dec. 2. Free on-street parking will not be limited to two hours, and free parking will be offered at the Shopper’s Lot, the North Franklin Lot, the Downtown Transportation Center Garage and the Marine Parking Garage.” For more information on parking, call Parks and Recreation at 586-5226.
The Downtown Business Association also specified the following free parking options in a release: Archipelago parking lot behind the public library, cruise ship terminal parking lot across from Alaska Shirt Company, the parking lot at Taku Smokeries/Twisted Fish (city-owned side only), Centennial Hall parking lot (free after 4:30 p.m.), the public library parking garage, and the parking garage behind the bus terminal.
Holiday Sweater Walk participating businesses:
Alaskan Brewing Co. Depot
Annie Kaill’s Gallery
Boheme
Coppa stand on Front Street
Hearthside Books
Treetop Tees
Heritage Coffee
The Bear’s Lair
Bustin’ Out Boutique
Downtown Dames
Glacier Salt Cave
Hickok Trading Post
Juneau’s Imagination Station
Pretty Please Juneau
Shoefly
Trove
Invisible World
