The First Friday Agenda: December 2010

December, 03, 2010

Mikio Watanabe at Adam Cave Fine Art

December usually brings a load of crafts for sale in place of visual art on First Friday, but this year is different. The galleries have rallied this month though and there are tons of new works to see. Click below to see the full list.

First Friday Map and Guide to the Art Exhibitions >

The first event of the night is the city’s Christmas tree lighting. The mayor will throw the switch at 6pm in front of the Progress Energy Performing Arts Center. Following the lighting there is much to see. Japanese artist Mikio Watanabe and other artists will be showing works on paper at Adam Cave Fine Art. Right down the street there is another exciting show on paper, Emily Cash presents her intricate inspired pen & ink works at Morning Times. Rebus Works will feature photography and sculpture from Penland Core Fellowship recipient Shane Darwent. Raleigh City Museum hosts its always popular- Portrait of Raleigh- a juried Raleigh photography show. The Common Seam Collective presents its second show: Fibrae Vitae - a show of fiber artists Gabrielle Duggan, Meghan Holliday, Amy Quinn, and Shelley Smith. The collective is working hard to build the scene behind textile arts in the area, work that we have a deep heritage in but little current day visibility.

Lump features the work of two Lump Veterans in Counterfeit/Counterpart from Harrison Haynes and Tory Wright, both of which are some of the most exciting young conceptual artists in the city. If you are in the mood Linoln Hancock did a bang up write up on Lump that features Mr. Haynes on the Art 21 Blog.

We also highly recommend the new crop of shows at ArtSpace. Alfred D. Ward jurors a show of craft and hosts one of his own- the work is high craft focused. Ward’s own work is fashion based- featuring handbags inspired: “This series of handbags and small purses characterize thirteen women familiar to Ward. They range over a period of fifty years and include a high school girlfriend, professional women, a famous rock and roll singer and pianist, and current friends. ”

Design box will open Brandfandango IX - the locally made shopping gala. Artists and crafts people from the area present their products in the gallery setting. DesignBox recently made this a year-round commitment with the opening of Gamila shop, but Brandfandango brings more work and a staple of the local Christmas shopping. Holly Aiken will also host an open house if you are in a shopping mood tonight.

Party wise there are plenty of options, but we wanted to specifically plug the last Blacklisted at Five Star tonight. The regular First Friday party is coming to an end after 3 years of great dance parties. Be sure to stop in to pay your respects. See their facebok event.

First Friday Map and Guide to the Art Exhibitions >