Girdwood celebrates First Friday at local businesses
Katie Wright of Concoction Breads and Provisions at her First Friday pop-up at La Bodega. (Photo by Allison Sayer)
By Allison Sayer
TNews Staffwriter
Several Girdwood businesses celebrated First Friday on February 6, hosting guest artists, musicians and makers. Visual artists Justin DeWolf and Kelsey Kroon exhibited their work at Coast Pizza and Girdwood Center for Visual Art, respectively, and were on hand to meet and greet with patrons.
Kroon’s work reflects both her upbringing in an Alaska maritime family and her current work crewing films and TV, often on the open ocean or Alaska’s shores. Recent work for a TV show brought her to Unalaska. She found buoys that escaped from trawls on the beaches there, brought them back, and painted them with animals to represent bycatch from the trawl industry.
Other pieces in the show were painted on pieces of marine trashher brother Branden cleaned from a beach in Akun, Alaska, while working for a tug and barge company. Kroon said she often collects beach trash in her travels. Sometimes it finds its way into her artwork, and sometimes she just disposes of it.
Justin DeWolf with one of his new paintings hanging at Coast Pizza. (Photo by Allison Sayer)
“Everything feels negative and downtrodden,” reflected Kroon, “at least I can try. Maybe it can help others to try, too.”
Kroon’s next big project is to help with the Alaska Wildlife Alliance fundraiser at the Bear Tooth Theatrepub on March 30.She plans to help with publicity, donate art for the silent auction, and gather art from other donors. A short film Kroon directed about salmon, Silver Rush, will be screened at the event.
Justin DeWolf has had several shows in Alaska. The work displayed at Coast Pizza was a mix of new pieces and work dating back to 2016.
DeWolf shared that, while he is currently well, he had recently been through “a health scare.” This brought about a period of introspection and inspiration for him. The three new paintings exhibited all depict roads in some way, a reflecting a “mood of where I’ve been and where I’m going.”
The roads in DeWolf’s paintings are also scenes “normal Alaskans have seen.” One painting shows a blur of headlights and taillights on the Seward Highway in the foreground, with a subtle yet intricately painted background of the mountains at night. “Tourists may not be on the Seward Highway at 1:00a.m,” said DeWolf.
Justin DeWolf with one of his new paintings hanging at Coast Pizza. (Photo by Allison Sayer)
In the future, DeWolf, a graphic designer by trade, hopes to be part of expanding local art events and gallery shows. He stated that even a few years after COVID, he doesn’t feel the same level of energy behind live events as in pre-COVID years. He hopes to be part of making arts events in the Anchorage area bigger and more vibrant.
La Bodega participated in First Friday by hosting a pop-up byKatie Wright, the baker behind Concoction Breads and Provisions. The Ice Cream Shop featured violin and ukulele player Jamie Benigno and gave away posters and kids’ word games. The Girdwood Brewery and Alpenglow Coffeehouse hosted guest musicians.
The next first Friday will be March 6. Currently, the best way to learn what events are planned is to visit the “Girdwood” Facebook Page. Or, you could just spend the early evening visiting the commercial areas in Girdwood on the day and see what happens.
DeWolf and Kroon’s art will be exhibited for the rest of the month.
Marine debris art by Kelsey Kroon on display at Girdwood Center for Visual Art. (Photo by Allison Sayer)
A tiny sailboat painted by Kelsey Kroon on a piece of marine trash collected from Akun, Alaska. On display at Girdwood Center for Visual Art. Photo by Allison Sayer.