Visual Arts Calendar

Send listings two weeks in advance to visualarts@seattleweekly.com.

Lectures and Events

Anacortes Arts Festival A potpourri of artisan booths plus a juried realist art show with work by Ramona Hammerly, Gary Faigin, David Kroll, and many others. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Fri. Aug. 6 and Sat. Aug. 7, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun. Aug. 8. Commercial Ave. between 4th and 10th St. (Anacortes), free, 360-293-6211.

Architecture Tour: Cascade Neighborhood Take an architecture tour of this neighborhood south of Lake Union that's a collision of residential, industrial, hi-tech, and retail interests. 9 a.m.-noon Sat. Aug. 7. Seattle Architectural Foundation, 1333 Fifth Ave., Suite 300, $20 (advance reservation required), 206-667-9184.

Artist Lecture: Martha Mayer Erlebacher The allegorical-realist painter gives a talk on the power of contemporary figurative painting to express emotion. 7 p.m. Thurs. Aug. 5. Seattle Academy of Fine Art, 1501 10th Ave. E. (second floor), free, 206-526-2787.

Artist Talk: Laurie Toby Edison The author of Familiar Men and Women En Large gives a slide show and talk on her photography of nude bodies in all shapes and sizes. 4 p.m. Sat. Aug. 7. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S. Main St., free, 206-624-6600.

Evening Under the Stars Volunteer Park Conservatory's second annual fund-raiser features a "virtual garden tour" by local garden photographer David McDonald plus a wine and hors d'oeuvres reception with music provided by Pearl Django. 6:30 p.m. Thurs. Aug. 5. Seattle Asian Art Museum, Volunteer Park, 1400 E. Prospect Ave., $25-$30, 206-322-4112.

Family Art Activity Seattle painter Aaliyah Gupta instructs families in the traditional Bengali artform known as alpana, which makes use of flour paste and flower petals. 11 a.m.-1:45 p.m. Sat. Aug. 7. Seattle Art Museum, 100 University St., free with admission, 206-654-3100.

On the Edge Sculpture Invitational Scores of sculptures will inhabit the Harbor Steps during the month of August, including work by Randy Bolander, Mark Calderon, Gerry Tsutakawa, Debbie Young, and others. Opens Thurs. Aug. 5. Harbor Steps (University St. between First and Western), free, 206-334-5040.

First Thursday

Ace Studios In "Plastic Fantastic," Matthew Porter paints cute portraits of Japanese toy characters. 6-9 p.m. 619 Western Ave., 206-623-1288, 1-5 p.m. Sat., or by appointment.

Bryan Ohno A group show of gallery artists including Ben Darby, Dean Eliasen, and Rae Mahaffey. Reception: 6-8 p.m. 155 S. Main St., 206-667-9572. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Capitol Hill Arts Center "Furnish" is a group show on the existential questions of domestic space by artists including Erk Run, Anne Mathern, and Megan Szczecko. Reception: 8-10 p.m. 1621 12th Ave.

Carolyn Staley "Modern Women" features a series of Japanese prints depicting strong, lovely, and sensible women from the 19th and 20th centuries. Reception: 5-8 p.m. 314 Occidental Ave., 206-621-1888. 10:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. Tue.-Sat.

Consciousness in Action An evening of live painting, performance, and assorted hipster antics. Featured will be art by Michele Barkley and performances by Felicia Loud and the Soul, Dread I, Goodybag, and DJ Sean Malik. 8 p.m.-2 a.m. Bohemian Backstage, 107 Occidental, $10 (Art Walk artists $5), 206-447-1514.

D'Adamo/Woltz In "Untold Story," Iranian-born artist Parvin paints figurative canvases that beat you over the head with their clumsy symbolism: a war widow cradling the skull of her beloved, for instance. Reception: 5-8:30 p.m. 303/307 Occidental S., 206-652-4414. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun.

Gallery 4 Culture Sculpture inspired by Neal Bashor's day job as a construction worker. Reception: 6-9 p.m. 506 Second Ave., Suite 200 (Smith Tower), 206-296-7580. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

Gallery 110 Hallucinatory oil paintings of life run amok comprise Linda Horsley's "Party Time," while in John Martinotti's "Relics of the Past," luminous black-and-white photos document a dreamlike world of rural decay. Reception: 6-8 p.m. 110 S. Washington St., 206-624-9336. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat.

Greg Kucera For better or worse, Spider-Man creator Stan Lee and stacks of D.C. Comics have done more to define American manhood than any group of drum-beating, chest-thumping "masculinity" writers. In "Superhero Pantheon," Arizona-based artist Mark Newport creates warm and fuzzy knit superhero costumes in an attempt to deconstruct the myths of manhood locked within Batman, the Fantastic Four, and other manly comics. Also on display, photographs by Tim Roda. Reception: 6-8 p.m. Artist talk: noon, Sat. Aug. 7. 212 Third Ave., 206-624-0770. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat.

Foster/White A gerund-free zone, please! Titles like "The Leaving" and "The Changing" are like pins under the fingernails to me, and from what I've seen of Sandra Zeiset Richardson's sentimental sculptures, this show is apt to give me "The Heaving." 123 S. Jackson, 206-622-2833. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun.

Foster/White Rainier Square Oy, again with "Mille Fiori." The Dale Chihuly flower exhibit that flummoxed millions at the Tacoma Art Museum goes up for sale in Seattle. "Imaginations will be filled with wonderment and surprise," the gallery promises. I wonder, When will it ever end? 1331 Fifth Ave., 206-583-0100. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

Mnemonic Forgotten Works no longer, the rechristened gallery (surely, you can remember this name) offers up a group show, "Tyrannical Norm," on misfits and conformity with art by Allison Agostinelli, Kelly Spivey, and others. Reception: 6-9 p.m. 619 Western Ave., 206-343-7212. noon-3 p.m. Sat.-Sun.