What could be more fun than a gallery walk on a sweet spring evening? 

At Friday’s Gallery Cruise, there’s an exhibit that showcases dynamic duos at the Blue Heron, a melding of art and music at Vashon Island Music and a celebration of the written word at The Hardware Store Restaurant. 

There’s a benefit for two worthy causes at Café Luna and a chance to see 50 self-portraits by McMurray Middle School students at the Heron’s Nest.

For the romantically inclined, there’s an exhibition of vintage wedding gowns at Vashon Senior Center. 

And if all that weren’t enough, Islanders can cast their votes for a new Vashon flag at Two Wall Gallery. 

There’s even a rare chance to venture off the beaten path and see an artfully illuminated barn on Wax Orchard Road. 

Most receptions take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 1.

Barn Illumination Project  

Seattleite Ann Durant will debut a new work in her multi-site illumination project, which lights dilapidated barns and industrial buildings with high-wattage lights.  

On Vashon, Durant will illuminate a barn on the Geissinger Farm, which is located at Wax Orchard Road and Reddings Beach Road. There will be a reception on Friday from 6:30 to 10 p.m. 

A path to the barn, marked by luminaria, can be entered from Wax Orchard Road just south of Reddings Beach Road. 

Islanders will also be able to see the glowing barn on Saturday nights in April from dusk until 10 p.m., but they will have to do so from Wax Orchard Road — there is only public access to the farm on April 1. 

Blue Heron Art Center

Seventeen couples will participate in “Partners in Art,” a group show, and the reception will feature live music by another couple — Maggie Laird and Todd Zimberg.

Artists include Don Cole and Joan Wortis; Terry Donnelly and Mary Liz Austin; Penny Grist and Larry Muir; Eric Heffelfinger and Margaret Tylczak; Suzanne Moore and Don Glaister; Jean Emmons and Will Dacus; Kathleen Webster and Bob Horsley; David Erue and Bobbi Arnold; Jeffrey and Cynthia Zheutlin; Ilse and Hartmut Reimnitz; Ray Pfortner and Nancy Winge; Chris and Darsie Beck; John Lucas and Claudia Hollander; Brian and Tara Brenno; Mark Milroy and Mary McAleer; Mary Rothermel and Tom Northington, and Charlie Backus and Stephanie Harlan. 

Café Luna 

Exhibits will benefit Vashon Island Pet Protectors and Learn2Earn, an employment program for people with developmental disabilities. Artists will include Terri Fletcher, Elaine Summers, Jean Emmons, Kristen Reitz-Green, Clare Dohna, Francesca Fuller, Cindy Koch, Piro Kramar, Stephanie Harlan, Gabriel Smith and Bryson Hvatum. 

The Hardware Store Restaurant 

To mark National Poetry Month,  Vashon Poetry Fest 2011 will present “Broadsides: Poems on Paper,” a collection of poems presented in the style of posters. The broadsides have been created in all styles, from fine art letter press to calligraphy to computer generated. Contributors include Merna Hecht’s Young Write Sisters, Vashon fine art letter presses and design studios and Vashon’s Center for Sustainable Books Arts. A wealth of  Vashon and Northwest poets, book artists and calligraphers have work in the show. Some of the broadsides will be for sale. 

Vashon Island Music  

Tatsuhiko Sweet will exhibit black and white paintings that are simultaneously realistic and surreal. He will also show examples of his handmade musical instruments and spend part of the evening playing guitar as well. Sweet currently lives on Maury Island, but he was born and raised in Japan, where he attended Osaka International School. He graduated from  Evergreen State College, where he studied painting, aesthetic philosophy, woodworking (particularly solid body guitar building) and metal working.

Vashon Senior Center 

To commemorate the upcoming royal wedding on April 29, the Senior Center will display wedding gowns lent by many of the center’s members. 

One of the gowns was lent by Francis Cook Eikenberry, who is 99 years old and wore her dress 75 years ago. 

Many of the dresses will be modeled during the center’s annual Spring Tea and Style Show on April 28. 

Other shows enrich Friday night’s cruise

At Blooms & Things, a show by Island artist Andie Styner continues. 

Heron’s Nest will display work by McMurray Middle School students, called “The Energy Beneath the Surface,” featuring self-portraits by 50 students who worked with Jeffrey Zheutlin in a Vashon Artists in the Schools program. 

Silverwood Gallery is closed through April 10. Work by owners Margaret Tylczak and Eric Heffelfinger is on view at Blue Heron.  

Two Wall Gallery is hosting the second Vashon Flag Competition, and work by eight finalists in the competition will be on view throughout April at the gallery. Islanders can vote for their favorite flag throughout the month as well.  

VALISE will feature a two-person show, “Amalgamation,” showcasing works by longtime friends John Martin and Shelly Stefanko. VALISE describes the show as “a cocktail of visual expression, ideas and emotions through mixed media, including oil, wood, metal, charcoal, textiles, fiberglass and more.”

An exhibit featuring artwork created by residents, volunteers, staff and their families will be on view at Vashon Community Care from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Will van Spronson will perform his cowboy-trance love ballads beginning at 7 p.m. at the Vashon Bookshop.

Vashon Intuitive Arts will feature art by Islander Greg Davila, who will exhibit new works on ink and paper and encaustic. 

At Wings Birdseed Company, Arline Abrams will display acrylic paintings in her “Women with Attitude” series and watercolor paintings portraying the beauty found in nature and wildlife.