Gallery-hop, dance, dine, and hobnob in town on First Friday

Islanders, are you ready to take to the streets?

June’s edition of the First Friday gallery cruise — a monthly chance to hobnob and see new art —will take place from approximately 5-8 p.m. on Friday, June 6, with an added bonus: Vashon Chamber of Commerce will launch its annual tradition of “Vashon Summer Nights” that evening, too.

That means that Vashon Highway will be closed from Subway restaurant to Vashon Theatre, allowing islanders to roam the town center, dine, shop, and see friends and neighbors. A Pride Dance and related activities, sponsored by Vashon’s DOVE Project and other partners, will start at 5:30 p.m. in front of Vashon Theatre, to spice up the night even more.

A more somber demonstration by island activists will also take place in the four-way intersection of Vashon Highway at 6 p.m., when members of Vashon Creative Resistance Art Brigade (CRAB) and friends will facilitate a community “Theatre of Grief.” According to organizers, all are welcome to participate and/or to bear witness to this action to bring awareness to the death of more than 15,000 Palestinian children in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.

To participate, meet at the Village Green at 5 p.m. and wear black.

Mind + Set Apothecary + Restoreum

The shop, with an outdoor garden, in the annex of 17917 Vashon Highway SW, will host an evening featuring artist Jessica Plesko and music by The Don Marco Trio, from 5-8 p.m. Friday, June 6.

Pop Pop Bottle Shop

“Spark,” a show of photographic portraits showing the intergenerational connection between third-graders at Chautauqua Elementary School and island elders, will be on display at Pop Pop Bottle Shop during the First Friday gallery cruise. The portraits, by Linda Crayton, document the relationships that developed during this year’s installment of an innovative pen pal program that pairs the students and elders to learn from each other and become friends.

The photography show and program were made by the donation of time by Crayton and her assistant, Callie Deegan, and funding from Beth de Groen.

Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union

PSCCU will continue to display a collaborative art project by Vashon High School students working in photography and other artistic mediums in June, with an artists’ reception set for 6-8 p.m. Friday, June 6.

Island photographer and film instructor Jasper Merrill and art teacher Harper Howard have worked with the students to create photos for other art students to manipulate and remix.

PSCCU’s reception will include music from the band Tim Couldn’t Make It, with Rick Dahms and Doug Pine. Weather permitting, the party will spill out into the parking lot.

Regular hours to view the exhibit are 9 a.m to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. The credit union is located at 9928 SW Bank Rd.

VALISE Gallery

For June, VALISE Gallery will presents a show by Rachel LordKenaga and Steve Jensen. LordKenaga has been painting seascapes in response to current events. Her intention is to create a meditation about the strength of water, using water as a symbol of our resilience.

Seattle artist Steve Jensen has been working on his “Voyager” series of boats inspired by his Norwegian ancestors and death. Part vessel, part urn, these mixed media ships pair nicely with the seascapes.

Expect to be transported into a space that celebrates life, death, and the pliancy of resilience. The show opens from 1-9 p.m. Friday, June 6 and runs through June 28. The gallery is regularly open from 1-6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Swiftwater Gallery

Swiftwater Gallery will host a reception for the “Island 2 Island Gallery Exchange,” exhibiting art from seven artist members of MIVAL Gallery, on Mercer Island, through June 22. Similarly, MIVAL Gallery will display work from seven Swiftwater artists throughout the month of June. Both 2-D and 3-D pieces will be shown.

Vashon Center for the Arts

Vashon Center for the Arts will hold an opening reception for its exhibit, “The Secret Garden” on from 5-8 p.m. Friday, June 6.

The show boasts an array of works by island artists that will provide a backdrop for VCA’s upcoming Garden Tour, a beloved annual event that will be held this year from 10-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 21 and 22.

This year tour features six exquisite growing spaces tended by islanders Mary Liz Austin, Dustin Shulte and Alan Rose, Sue and Scott DeNies, Mike and Brigitte Brown, and the owners of Littlest Bird Farms and Aeggy’s Farm.

Find out more about the tour and get tickets at vashongardentour.org.

At the heart of VCA’s exhibition accompanying the tour are Jean Emmons’ exquisite botanical watercolors, capturing the delicate intricacies of plant life. The exhibition marks one of the most comprehensive regional presentations of Emmons’s art to date, including 17 original pieces.

Renowned for her mastery of layering up to 50 translucent washes of watercolor on calfskin vellum, Emmons’ paintings combine scientific accuracy with deep artistic intuition.

“Botanical painting is obsessional,” Emmons said. “I spend many hours staring at a plant from two inches away. Watching light shift on a transforming plant is so restorative.”

The exhibition also includes a wide array of outdoor sculptures and functional art meant to inspire visitors to discover new ways to bring creativity into their own green spaces.

Running from June 4 through June 29, the show features mosaic works by Elaine Summers and Christina Dubois, bronze and found-object Viking vessels by Steve Jensen, found object metal sculptures by David Erue, and bird wood carvings by Mike Leavitt.

Brian Fisher has contributed mythological metal figures designed to crown fence posts, while potters Sara Barry, Tara Brenno, Christian Pearson, and Cynthia Peter are displaying distinctive outdoor sculptures. Alex Echevarria’s concrete sculptures are meant to bring whimsy and durability to the Pacific Northwest climate. Also on display will be Barbara Gustafson’s woven garden baskets and Rachel Osborn’s standing glass sculptures.

Enhancing the exhibition, a specially designed immersive garden environment by John Coghlan of HomeGrown Organics will showcase a living installation, “Fernadette, the Cultivator” — a figure created by local artists Melissa Feveyear (Terra Bella Flowers), Aimee Demarest (Agnes & Chloe Vintage Clothing), and Emily Burns (independent creator/project manager).

“The Secret Garden” is part of VCA’s June fundraising month. All of VCA’s net art sale proceeds, after artists’ commissions, will be dedicated to VCA programming and education. As such, all purchases are tax free.

In addition to the exhibition, Jean Emmons will offer a free, informal painting demonstration from 12 to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 22, at VCA. Visitors are welcome to drop in anytime to observe her process and ask questions.

Regular gallery hours are 12-5 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday.

Vashon Heritage Museum

The Vashon Heritage Museum will open a new special exhibit entitled “An Island Revered: Honor and Friendship, the sx̌wəbabš and Sherman Family Collection.”

Correction: This article, as published in the June 5 print edition of The Beachcomber contained incorrect information and accompanying photos about the exhibit running in June at VALISE Gallery. The gallery will not show an exhibition of work called “Bridging the Gap,” with work by Steven Schildback, Sara Bracken, Zac Corum and Casey Keeler; that exhibition took place in June 2024. We regret the mistake, caused by human error and haste. This online version of the story is corrected here to include information about VALISE’s June exhibit featuring the work of Rachel LordKenaga and Steve Jensen.

A foliage-filled garden installation by John Coghlan is graced by “Fernadette,” created by Emily Burns, Aimee Demarest and Melissa Feveyear, in VCA’s exhibition of garden art. (Courtesy photo)