First Friday Gallery Walk to showcase diverse art

Going out Friday?

The Downtown Bloomington Gallery Walk begins at 5 p.m. Friday at eight different galleries located within walking distance from one another. Galleries will remain open until 8 p.m.

From textiles to Cuban photography, and from Halloween-themed art to carved wood sculptures made from fallen trees, the first fall Downtown Gallery Walk has a little bit of everything.

Cuba Libre

pictura gallery, 122 W. Sixth St.

Local photographers Tyagan Miller and David Moore – gallery director for pictura – features pictures from their trip to Cuba. The gallery will also feature travel images in Cuba taken by Gerardo Gonzalez, dean of the IU School of Education.

 Gonzalez, who came to the U.S. from Cuba as a child, will also give a free talk about his Cuban experiences from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 17 at the gallery. The display will stay up until Nov. 30.

Autumn Fantasies

El Norteno, 206 N. Walnut St.

“Photographer of Joy” Yelena Yahontova specializes in portrait photography and prefers to photograph people in natural settings.

“The colors, yellow, reds and leaves are flowing, fall down,” she said. “I think it’s very, very creative.”

Show and Art

By Hand Gallery, 101 W. Kirkwood Ave.

The co-op will showcase microcosmic drawings and mono prints by Martha Kaplan. The reception will also include raffle giveaways, music and hors d’oeuvres. The drawings and prints will remain on display through Oct. 31.

Season Sampler

gallery406, 116 W. Sixth St.

The gallery reception will feature artists’ work from this past year in the Spectrum Studio of Photography & Design inside the Wicks Building, Suite 110. The work will be displayed from Friday to Nov. 30.

Dark & Ethereal

The Venue Fine Art & Gifts, 114 S. Grant St.

Mixed media artist Lydia Burris, whose exhibit is called “Dark & Ethereal, a Halloween Exhibition,” gets her inspiration from nature, the mind, dark themes, carnivals and art history, according to her artists’ statement.

Four artists on First Friday

Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut St. 

Gallery Director Julie Roberts said she prepares for shows with the same amount of care every first Friday of the month, when the arts center showcases four artists’ new exhibits.

“The artists lay out what they want, and then I hang it,” she said. “If it’s a really special show, the artists like to put the hardware in themselves.”

The exhibit “Ab Fab – Extreme Quilting,” by artist Sandy Hill, consists of silky-sheen fabrics and colorful metallic threads.

Author James Alexander Thom hand-carved and shined pieces from fall trees for his exhibit. Other exhibits include “Street View – Bloomington Scenes” by Thom Rea and “The Spaces in Between” by Ellen Starr Lyon, a conservation technician at the IU Art Museum. The exhibits will remain on display through Oct. 27.

Additional opening exhibits will take place at Blueline Creative Co-op and Gallery and the Gallery Group.

— Jaclyn Lansbery