Check out a wealth of art openings during the First Friday Gallery Cruise taking place on the evening of Friday, July 6.
The evening will mark the second installment of Vashon Chamber of Commerce’s “Summer Nights” street closures on Vashon Highway — giving Vashon’s business district a festival-like feeling, with some restaurants offering outdoor seating.
Responding to feedback and production challenges from the debut of Summer Nights in June, the chamber has moved the time of the road closure to 6-9 p.m. The closure will be more condensed than in June, closing the highway only from Bank Road to Vashon Theatre. Bank Road will be open to traffic.
Here are some of the places to stop and ogle art in the town core and beyond.
Outstanding in its Field
“Buds & Bugs,” a new show at the Outstanding In Its Field Gallery, has an opening reception from 5-8 p.m. on Friday. The show, running throughout July, examines flora and fauna through the works of 12 Vashon artists.
A portion of the proceeds from sales will benefit the Vashon-Maury Island Garden Club. The Gallery is located at 10524 S.W. 188 St, just west of Sawbones, and is open from 12-5 p.m. Friday-Sunday, or by appointment by calling 206-419-0199.
Artwork in the show includes Gail Hapeman’s stained glass panels, garden stakes, and stepping stones; oil and acrylic paintings from Barbara Benedetti Newton; blown glass flowers from Brian Brenno; Christina Nichols’s prints and etchings; bug sculptures from Charlotte Masi; Peter Hapeman’s photography; Lisa Witherspoon’s jewelry; soft pastels by Janeen Bramwell; acrylics by Donna Caulton; origami flowers by Alice Larsen; ceramic vases from Gale Lurie; and bas relief bronze sculpture and etched glass from White Hart Art.
The First Friday celebration will include a performance by island musician Gus Reeves.
Gallery owners respectfully request that all visitors wear masks while inside the gallery.
Pop Pop Bottle Shop
This year at Chautauqua Elementary School, 72 third-grade students took part in a year-long project of exploring what life is like for elders, and how to connect and help seniors on Vashon. At the heart of the program was a direct cross-generational connection between the students and local seniors, through pen-pal relationships.
After finally meeting in person, participants took part in a photography residency, through Vashon Artists in Schools, with photographer Dawn Stief. A resulting exhibit will open from 5 to 7 p.m. at Pop Pop — and is also being shown before movies at the Vashon Theatre, celebrating the relationships formed by the students and elders who met through this remarkable curriculum and the efforts of teachers Margie Butcher, Erin Calhoun and Layla Tanner.
Penny Farcy Building
On July 7, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Penny Farcy Building, Peter Ray will have on display 360 photos of cigarette butts collected from his weekly walks along Vashon Highway.
Mike Lasecki, from King Conservation District, will be present to answer questions about wildfires and the work he does with homeowners and fire prevention assessment.
(For more information, see Happenings, page 1.)
Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union
The credit union will have a reception for two exhibits from 6-8 p.m. Friday, July 7. The exhibits — paintings of animals by Cynthia Powell and birdhouses by Philip Owens, can also be seen during the credit union’s regular hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Owens’ birdhouses are part of a four-month tour. Powell, a retired teacher who moved away from Vashon and now is back, is a newcomer to the Vashon art scene. Working predominantly in acrylics, she creates whimsical paintings that celebrate the unknowable and fantastical private lives of animals.
Starving Artists Works (SAW)
In July, SAW is featuring the driftwood art of Paul Dixon.
Dixon grew up in Burien and moved with his family to Vashon in 2015. His favorite way to spend time is walking the shores of the Salish Sea with his daughter, searching for magical shapes in wood. He uses found materials in his art — glass and feathers and shells, old ropes and fishing line, and whatever else the sea has to offer.
Vashon Senior Center
“Light Moments,” a summer show of work by 13 members of the Senior Center’s Photo Club, will have two meet-the-artist receptions, from 5-7 p.m. on July 7 and Aug. 4, at the Senior Center, at 10004 SW Bank Rd.
Photographers represented at this show are Mike Dillmann, Linda Fox, Bob Hallowell, Dennis Hess, Eliza Hitchcock, Lorra Hoffman, Charlotte Lubbert, Peter Milovsoroff, Keith Prior, Karlista Rickerson, Richard Rogers, Jeff Twersky and Wade Yip. Partial proceeds of sales benefit the Vashon Senior Center.
Visit VashonCenter.org or call 206-463-5173 for regular Senior Center hours and more information about the show.
VALISE Gallery
In July, VALISE Gallery will present “YELLO,” a show dedicated to the bright, potent, and sometimes gaudy color of summer.
Months ago, painters Rachel LordKenaga, Jiji Saunders, and Hita von Mende decided on the color yellow as the theme for their July show.
“We all liked the yellow theme,” said von Mende. “It immediately gives you the first direction. When you have constraints in your painting, it creates greater possibilities.”
The opening celebration for the show is from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, July 7, with the show open for preview on that day starting at 1 p.m. VALISE is open Fridays and Saturdays from 1 to 6 p.m. The show runs through Saturday, July 29, at the gallery, located at 17633 Vashon Highway SW.
Vashon Center for the Arts
The arts center will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. to celebrate the first of three installments of its Summer Arts Fest show. (See page 1.)
Vashon Heritage Museum
The Vashon Heritage Museum will officially open a mini-exhibit “The Fourth of July Hydroplanes: Circling Vashon since 1955,” during the gallery cruise. The show, running through Nov. 2023, celebrates the island tradition that began in 1955, when Roger Stanley went for a run around Vashon Island in his home-built hydro, leading to the annual 4th of July Hydro Run, a Vashon tradition that has endured for over 60 years.
The exhibit, curated by Brian Brenno and the VHM Special Exhibits committee, includes Stanley’s home-built hydroplane and interpretive displays.
Both exhibits can be viewed during Museum hours Wednesday through Sunday from 1-4 p.m. The shows will also be on view at the First Friday gallery cruise in August, and during the Museum’s Ice Cream Social, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, July 14, during Strawberry Festival.
