First Friday lights up downtown

Strap on a pair of comfortable shoes and take advantage of the extra hour of daylight by touring Spokane’s First Friday Art Walk.

Wherever you start on this self-guided tour there are a number of new art shows to visit throughout downtown Spokane.

The Chase Gallery in City Hall is showing works by four accomplished representational painters: Stephen Rue, Elnour Hamad, Ante Svircic and Linda Besse.

Spokane artist Rue “creates surrealistic images of people in complicated situations,” says Spokane City Arts Director Karen Mobley.

Hamad, who was born in Sudan and lives in New York state, is showing street scenes and landscapes, many of which he painted while teaching at Eastern Washington University.

Svircic, a Croatian artist working in Mukilteo, Wash., paints with pastel to create impressionistic images of Pacific Northwest landscapes.

Besse, a wildlife artist from Mead, travels the world in search of subjects in their natural habitat.

“Night Patrol,” a 3-by-4-foot oil painting, is of a solitary bull elephant.

“While in Africa,” says Besse, “I saw a lot of elephants – sand bathing, crossing streams and in the open savanna.”

But one that she did not see may have been one of the biggest.

“I got up at just before sunrise one morning and right behind my tent were huge elephant footprints. He must have come by on night patrol,” she said.

Over at the Kolva/Sullivan Gallery on Adams Street, Hungarian-born ceramist Agnes Husz Wakabayashi is showing her spiral clay pieces in “Eastern Infusions: East Europe-East Asia.”

“All my work begins as strips or ribbons of clay,” said Wakabayashi, who lives in Japan but is in town for the opening. “I roll and join the strips together like a spiral to make different shapes and forms.

“To me the spiral is the symbol of the cycle of life,” she sa. “I try to capture this life force in my work.”

First Friday receptions

Walk from gallery to gallery to view all of the new exhibits or linger at just a few. All receptions are on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. (unless otherwise indicated):

• Arbor Crest Wine Cellars, River Park Square, 808 W. Main Ave. – Stained glass by Susan Kim.

• Artisans’ Wares, 1009 W. First Ave., reception 5 to 9 p.m. – work by Seattle potter Paddy McNeely and “Small Works,” pastels by Sheila Evans

• Artist’s Tree Gallery, 828 W. Sprague Ave. – Floral compositions by watercolorist S. Phyllis Taufen and jewelry by Barb E.

• Avenue West Gallery, 1021 W. First Ave., reception 5 to 9 p.m. – “Flowers of Passion,” watermedia paintings by Elizabeth Scott.

• Chase Gallery, Spokane City Hall, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. – Representational artists Linda Besse, Elnour Hamad, Stephen Rue and Ante Svircic.

• Far West Billiards, 1001 W. First Ave. – Contemporary art by Laurentia Colhoff.

• Galleria De Felice, Davenport Hotel, 10 S. Post St. – Oil paintings by romantic impressionist Stephen C. Shortridge of Coeur d’Alene.

• GoodWorks Gallery, 1019 W. First Ave., reception 5 to 9 p.m. – “Old Cultures, New Pottery,” clay art by Kristy McCoy.

• Grande Ronde Cellars, 906 W. Second Ave. – Wood carvings by Bali artist Dewa Ayu Susilawati and works by Louise Saylor, Betty Eaton-Rhea, Marsha Marcuson, Sheila Evans, Susie Snider, Dave Henke, Shirley Hackett and Carlene Goffinet Schwab.

• Huneke Gallery, Spokane Art School, 920 N. Howard St. – Works by Tom Dukich.

• Lorinda Knight Gallery, 523 W. Sprague Ave., reception 6 to 8 p.m. – Kim Powers, “Earth Dimensions,” wood and metal sculptures, and contemporary quilts.

• Kolva/Sullivan Gallery, 115 S. Adams St. – “Eastern Inflections,” ceramics by Agnes Husz Wakabayashi.

• Kress Gallery, River Park Square, third level, 808 W. Main Ave. –Ed Tsutakawa’s watercolors and woodblock prints depicting traditional Japanese images.

• New Dawn Books and Shanti Gallery, 509 W. Sprague Ave., reception 6 to 8 p.m. – Portraits, landscapes, indigenous motifs, political images and fantasies by Kathleen Russell.

• Montvale Hotel, 1005 W. First Ave. – Urban landscape photography by Amy Sinisterra. Live music by Bill Parsons

• Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. – Free admission between 5 and 8 p.m.

• On Sacred Grounds: Coffee Shoppe, Steam Plant Square, 163 S. Lincoln St. – A photo essay honoring Inland Northwest veterans since World War I.

•Peters and Sons Flowers, Gifts and Gallery, 170 S. Lincoln St. – “The Everlasting Plastic Man,” works by Randy McCrea.

• The Pigeon Hole Gallery, Holy Threads, 20 S. Washington St. – Work by local artists.

• Pottery Place Plus, 402 W. Main Ave., reception 5 to 9 p.m. – Works by Whitworth College ceramics students.

• Red Sky Studio and Gallery, 115 S. Adams St. – Pots by Rosemary Coffman and Chris Kelsey.

• Rock Coffee, 920 W. First Ave. – Paintings by local artists. Live music.

• Tinman Gallery, 822 W. Garland Ave. – “Contrary Elements,” mixed media with natural and Native American themes by Jo Fyfe and altered photographic art by Gay Waldman.

Other Friday activities

• Brews Bros. Espresso Lounge, 734 W. Sprague Ave. – “Dumpster Art,” acrylic paintings on recycled cardboard by Jim Battell, and “Surreal Digital Art” by Savannah Ward.

• ComedySportz, 227 W. Riverside Ave. – “Interactive Improv Experience,” 8 p.m.; free admission to the first 15 people who stop by between 5 and 6 p.m.

• Global Credit Union, 726 W. Riverside Ave. – Look through the windows and take in paintings by local artists.

• Mootsy’s, 9 N. Washington St. – Works by local artists.

• Spokane Transit Authority Plaza, 701 W. Riverside Ave. – “Remembering Natatorium Park” display.

Sculpture at SFCC

Seattle contemporary sculptor Allan Packer is known for his wry, politically charged, cast plastic sculptures.

A sampling of his work since 1992 will be on view at the Spokane Falls Community College Fine Arts Gallery beginning Monday.

Packer will be on the SFCC campus Tuesday to give a free lecture at 11:30 a.m. in the Student Union Building, Rooms A/B. A reception will follow in the gallery in Building 6, 3410 W. Fort George Wright Drive.

The show can be seen through May 12, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

NIC art students

North Idaho College art students are showing their work Monday through May 4 in the Boswell Hall Corner Gallery on the Coeur d’Alene campus.

An opening reception is Monday from 5 to 7 p.m. The free Corner Gallery is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

UI BFA shows

The annual University of Idaho Bachelor of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition is under way in the Ridenbaugh Hall Gallery on the Moscow campus.

This year the show was divided into two exhibits. The first group of artists included Brittany Budil, Gian Ghigleri, Ineke Grounds, Gayle Janzow, Kurtis King, Kevin Lewis, Heidi Longmire, Bo Moulton and Holli Zenner.

The second show, “Group of Nine,” opens Friday with the work of Chris Anglin, Amanda Bonner, Judith Marvin, Tina Carlson, Lindsey Frei, Juliette Pepperell, D.J. Scallorn, Jesse Simpson and Josh Weinberg.

A free reception is Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. The show runs through April 14.

The gallery is in Ridenbaugh Hall, 601 Campus Drive, Moscow. It is open weekdays; hours vary.

Munkittrick paintings

Realistic nature paintings by Dianne Munkittrick are lining the walls of the Parlor Gallery at Paulsen House, Episcopal Diocese of Spokane, 245 E. 13th Ave.

Meet the artist on Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. For information call 455-6661.