The year’s last First Friday is set to draw a festive crowd
Published 2:34 pm Friday, December 5, 2014
The cornerstone of the vibrant Bainbridge Island artistic community is almost inarguably the monthly First Friday art walk event.
It is the milestone around which nearly every downtown gallery and boutique rotates their shows and exhibitions, it draws a crowd of loyal regulars and locals as well as visitors from around the county and Seattle, and it highlights exceptional regional talent that may otherwise go uncelebrated.
This Friday marks the last First Friday event of 2014, and yet another great chance for art lovers to check out the latest treasures on display around the island.
The action kicks off at 5 and runs until 8 p.m., with many venues hosting special receptions and meet-the-artist events throughout the evening.
“First Fridays art walks spotlight our regional artists and galleries,” said Greg Robinson, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art’s executive director. “First Fridays are the official opening of many new exhibitions. It’s a wonderful event for locals and visitors to preview new works, enjoy an evening out, shop, eat and support our local arts community.”
The museum is currently displaying several exhibitions of works by different artists in several mediums including a Rachel Fefferman retrospective, the sculpture work of Larry “Ulaaq” Ahvakana, documentary photography by Harry Longstreet, the “Watershed” painting series by Karen Hackenberg and more.
BIMA has quickly become a staple stop in the monthly event since its grand opening last summer, and many more venues base their exhibition calendars around the art walk as well. All around the island, though most predominantly in downtown Winslow, galleries, studios and boutiques offer up new works for the event and introduce aesthetes to new artisans.
Though the First Friday events of today are only the latest incarnation in a history of celebratory artistic endeavors, it is easily one of the best things to happen to the community in some time, said Andrea Roby-King of the downtown Winslow Roby-King Galleries
“It’s a great art event,” Roby-King said. “In our 25 years there had been a lot of different attempts before Bainbridge achieved the very successful artistic and community event we have now.”
“There had been a popular quarterly ‘Arts Walk’ spearheaded by Kathleen Thorne in the mid ‘90s,” she explained. “It was a multi-arts event on Sunday afternoons, including musical events [and] Chautauqua-style plays. That set the stage for people going from one place to the next and attending all the galleries, and we all changed from a private invitation opening to our current ‘open door’ event.”
More so than the wine and the music, though, it is the art itself that draws in the crowd, Roby-King said.
“The high quality of art on the island is the real reason people turn out. We have a small but solid core of galleries displaying very, very good artists from the Northwest region,” she said.
In addition to returning their annual “Small Works Invitational” exhibition, Roby-King Galleries will also be displaying images from the recent Governor’s Mansion photography show, which they curated, next door inside Bainbridge Homes Real Estate (166 Winslow Way East) beginning Friday.
“We love the First Friday art walk,” agreed Lindsay Masters of Bainbridge Arts & Crafts, another downtown event staple venue.
“And our big crowds each month indicate that the community loves it, too,” she said. “It’s an anchor event that gives BAC and all the Winslow galleries an opportunity to kick off our monthly exhibitions and shine a spotlight on talented artists. It’s also fun, sophisticated, and no matter what the season, festive.”
BAC will display, beginning Friday, two new collections entitled “Super Bowl” and “Reflections” featuring works by Nick Ashman, Lori Bernstein, Diana Cronin, John Ellefson, Gina Freuen, David Gray, Larry Halvorsen, Annie Hancock, Solia Hermes, Bob Hickernell, Hank Holzer, Linda Jarvis, Birgit Josenhans, Nana Kuo, Aaron Levine, Lowell Martin, Shane Miller, Merrilee Moore, Reid Ozaki, Edlee Quesnell, Ann Reynolds-Pearl, Jason Russell, Carianna Schreitz, Terry Siebert, Donna Snow, Bob Spangler, Maria Spies, Don Sprague, Rick Stafford, Raquel Stanek, Lee Stollar, Sherry Underwood, Anna VonRosenstiel, Helga Winter and Dale Zimmerman.
For an official listing of all the First Friday venues, visit the Bainbridge Island Downtown Association’s website at www.bainbridgedowntown.org or call 206-842-2982.
First Friday
What: The year’s final First Friday Art Walk.
When: 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5.
Where: Numerous venues, see list at www.bainbridgedowntown.org.
Admission: Free.
