Celebrate a new year for Vashon’s thriving visual arts community with a First Friday gallery walk to art spots, local businesses and eateries in the late afternoon and early evening of Friday, Jan 5.
Vashon Center for the Arts
“Landscape & Desire: Homage to John Anderson,” will have an opening reception from 5-8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 5, at Vashon Center for the Arts. The show will run through Jan. 28.
The exhibit, presented in cooperation with Carolyn Anderson, is a photographic homage to the late island photographer, celebrating how Anderson’s work and character inspired fellow island landscape photographers. Several of John’s large prints will be exhibited and prints will be for sale. In addition, Vashon photographers contributing landscape photographic artwork and their personal stories in honor of Anderson’s spirit are Mary Liz Austin, Harvey Bergman, Jim Burke, Terry Donnelly, Michael Elenko, Ed Holmes, and Dawn Stief.
John Anderson photographed wilderness areas since his early teens. He began under the tutelage of master photographers Arthur Bacon and Bob Kolbrenner, and later studied with Ansel Adams in his home in the Carmel Highlands. After graduating from Bennington College in 1981, John wrote, produced, and directed films that debuted at the Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals. He died in 2023, at the age of 65.
Regular gallery hours at VCA are 12-5 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday.
VALISE
VALISE Gallery will present, “Bigger than the Last Show,” a sly reference to the gallery’s presentation of small, gift-sized works by its member collective for the past two months.
In this show, members will share large artworks along with a smattering of assemblages and small sculptures.
Participating artists will be George Wright, Robert Passig, Lenard Yen, Hita VonMende, Pascale Judet, Manuel Alvarez, Rachel LordKenaga, Jiji Saunders, Sharon Shaver, Bill Jarcho, Dot Cherch and Gregory Burnham.
An opening reception will take place from 6-9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 5. A soft opening will take place from 1-6 p.m. on Jan. 5. The show will run through Jan. 27. Gallery hours are 1-6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and the occasional Sunday.
Swiftwater Gallery
Swiftwater Gallery, a nonprofit artists’ collective located in the town center of Vashon, will unveil new works by its members in a variety of genres and price points. The gallery’s collective includes both long-time island artists as well as some artists who have moved to Vashon more recently.
A reception will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday. Find out more, including regular gallery hours, at swiftwatergallery.com.
Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union
The credit union will host its third annual Heart Art Show, filled with work by members of the credit union. Works are still coming into the show, but as of press time, artists including Sally Fox, Carole Meriam, Barbara Dusty Gustafson, Diane Carr, Karen Biondo, Anne Gordon, Mark Pease, Richard Rogers, Jim Burke, and Jeaneen Bauer.
The opening reception, during the First Friday gallery cruise, will include music by Catbird — the old-time music duo of Mary Shackelford and Jim Burke. With Mary playing the lead on the mandolin and Jim holding down great guitar rhythms or switching off to add banjo accents, the pair have performed together for four decades — at festivals, parties, back porches, and other places where folks gather to have a good time.
Vashon Heritage Museum
Join the Vashon Maury Island Heritage Museum during the First Friday Gallery Cruise, from 5-7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 5 to celebrate with food and drinks before the museum closes for six months for a major renovation/remodel project. Visitors will get a sneak peek of the new museum.
