By Jacqueline McDonough

Special to the Homer Independent Press

Summer may have started cold and slow, but Mother Nature seems to be making up for lost time with a burgeoning bloom of colorful flowers. From lilacs and Himalayan blue poppies in the gardens to lupines and nagoonberry blossoms in the fields, there are petals aplenty to take in. The galleries have no shortage of eye candy either: check out these new and continuing exhibits for the latest bursts of color in our thriving art scene.


Art Shop Gallery

202 West Pioneer Ave

“The Power of Flower,” stained glass art by Lisa Carlon

Opening Reception 5 to 7 p.m.

The Art Shop Gallery presents new three-dimensional stained glass creations by artist Lisa Carlon. This Soldotna artist has been making three-dimensional stained glass with traditional techniques for more than 25 years. Each piece is an original design. Featured images include fireweed, lupine, pansies and tulips, along with a beautiful sandhill crane.

Bunnell Street Arts Center

106 W. Bunnell Ave.

“Kindred Spirits” by Linda Infante Lyons and “Re-matriate: Home / Land / Security” by Rika Mouw

Opening Reception 5 to 7 p.m., artist talks 6 p.m.

This month Bunnell presents a simultaneous exhibition of two iconic Alaska artists. Linda Infante Lyons (Alutiiq/Sugpiaq) is a painter and multimedia artist whose work engages themes of Indigenous sovereignty, cultural resilience and environmental sustainability. Raised in Anchorage, Alaska, she earned her bachelor of arts degreefrom Whitman College before spending 18 years in Chile, where she studied at the Viña del Mar Escuela de Bellas Artes. 

Her maternal family is from Kodiak Island — her mother was born in the village of Karluk, and her grandparents were commercial salmon fishers. Lyons’ history and ancestry inform her work, which has been exhibited nationally and internationally over the last 25 years.

Lyons is joined by Homer artist Rika Mouw, who has a long history in design and environmental advocacy, beginning with the study of landscape architecture in college. Later she apprenticed in metalsmithing/jewelry making, before establishing and maintaining her own studio for many years, showing and selling work in galleries across the country.

Mouw’s opposition to the development of Pebble Mine prompted her to stop working with materials extracted from the earth. She pivoted to making statement pieces from gathered natural materials, to advocate for the rights of nature. This exhibition is the culmination of eight years of work.

Artist Statement by Linda Infante Lyons:

“Alutiiq cosmology is built on the belief that all things, living and inanimate, are sentient, and that people are equal members of a system that is built on reciprocity and kinship. My ancestors understood there is but a thin veil between the natural world and the spiritual world and deeply valued their relationship with other living beings. In my paintings, both landscape and portrait, I take a deeper look at the spiritual and sentient nature of our world, representing landscape, plant, animal and human life as brethren and worthy of our reverence and care.”

Artist Statement by Rika Mouw:

“Salmon are iconic. They are sacred. They are keystone beings. Salmon are the thread that stitches together land and ocean, forests, wetlands and rivers of clean cold water, whales, bears, marine mammals, birds and other fish, peoples and cultures, customs and traditions, identity, and ways of life. The culture of patriarchy, capitalism, commodification and religious ideology has transformed a once sustaining living system on Earth to one that is breaking down.

“All life is sacred and exceptional in its infinite and wondrous sentient forms. It is all stitched together in kinship that is the living, breathing, precious tapestry that wraps the Earth. As salmon are endangered, I feel the threads fraying, unraveling.”

The Dean Gallery

40374 Waterman Road

New art by the Dean family

Opening Reception 5 to 7 p.m.

Along with original artwork and prints by Jeff, Ranja and M’fanwy Dean, you can visit the studio to see Jeff’s recently completed wood and steel sculpture, a commission for the newly remodeled SVT Health and Wellness clinic in Homer. 

A commission recently completed by Jeff Dean for the SVT Health and Wellness Clinic is on display at The Dean Gallery for First Friday, July 3, 2026, in Homer, Alaska. Photo provided


Grace Ridge Brewing

870 Smoky Bay Way

“Flowers of Alaska,” new oil paintings by Jen DePesa

Opening Reception 5-7 p.m.

“Flowers of Alaska” showcases new works of some of your favorite blooms in the state by Jen DePesa . This show celebrates summer through oil paintings of forget-me-nots, daisies, lupine, cottongrass and more. One special piece will be on this year’s annual peony beer label release for the brewery. 

Homer Council on the Arts
355 W. Pioneer Ave.

“Summertide,” new works by Kathleen McCarthy 

Opening Reception 5 to 7 p.m., artist talk at 5:30 p.m.

Artist Statement:

“My work is the exploration of light and shadow and their transient nature in the world. I try to capture that feeling when you see the sun filtering through the trees, momentarily changing the color we see all around us. Looking for hidden overlooked hues in the shadows. The unexpected pop of bright red, the deep purples, the golden glow on the horizon. That’s how I’d like my art to feel — transient, vibrant and a little overwhelming.

“Using acrylics, and watercolor with pastel, my goal is to bring the peace of the outdoors and all its beauty inside, to splash the walls with color and fill them up. To showcase the little fleeting moments of the world around us as a reminder to take time to pause and enjoy it.”

HCOA at South Peninsula Hospital

4300 Bartlett St.

“The Shape of Silence,” paintings by Musallam Youngblood

No opening reception, on display in SPH Gallery through Aug. 3

Artist Statement:

“This show explores the intersection of surrealism and material presence, where memory becomes tangible and emotion is embedded in oil on canvas. Emerging from a personal journey from the Middle East to Homer, Alaska, the paintings reflect an encounter with a landscape that is not merely seen, but deeply felt.

“In Homer, both nature and community unfold quietly — through silence, distance and subtle connection. This duality shapes the work, where forms exist between belonging and observation, and where the boundary between human and environment begins to dissolve.

“These paintings are not representations, but transformations — of place, memory, and inner experience — inviting the viewer into a space where the visible and the unseen coexist.” 

“The Purple Brain” by Musallam Youngblood is on display in the South Peninsula Hospital Gallery through Aug. 3, 2026, in Homer, Alaska. Photo provided


Homer Public Library

500 Hazel Ave.

“Kachemak 180˚: The View From My Deck,” landscape photography by local photographer Jim Lavrakas

Library hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday.

No opening reception.

Over the span of about 10 years, the view from Jim Lavrakas’s deck on Mountain View Drive in Homer has provided an ever-changing panorama, allowing him to capture the many moods of Kachemak Bay and the surrounding mountains.

This exhibit includes landscape photos printed on metal of stunning vistas ranging from a brooding Grewingk Glacier to a rainbow over the Homer Spit.

A Homer resident since 2010, Lavrakas has operated an eco-tour business on the bay and served as executive director for the Homer Chamber of Commerce. Previously he was an award-winning photographer for the Anchorage Daily News, covering a wide variety of stories for three decades. In 2012 he published his first book, a retrospective on the amazing people and places he came to know through his photojournalism assignments, “Snap Decisions: My 30 Years as an Alaska News Photographer.”

This Art in the Library exhibition is sponsored by the Friends of the Homer Public Library. The public is invited to view this exhibit during open hours at the Homer Public Library in the fireside reading lounge through Sept. 20.

Pratt Museum

3779 Bartlett St.

“In a Time of Change: Boreal Echoes,” a multimedia exhibit developed through arts-humanities-science collaborative program ITOC

Reception 4 to 6 p.m.

“Boreal Echoes” is a touring exhibit on display in the Main Gallery through September 20. Produced by the Alaska-based collaborative environmental arts-humanities-science program In a Time of Change (ITOC), it is the result of three years of learning, conversation and experimentation by a cohort of artists inspired and informed by the boreal forest, the scientists who study it and each other. Artists built relationships to the boreal biome and to one another through outdoor field trips, scientific presentations, artist craft talks and monthly group activities. The cohort then created original artworks to share its collaborative and individual investigations, inspirations and care about the boreal biome. The exhibition builds on ITOC’s former project, “Boreal Forest Stories,” which was mounted at the Pratt Museum in 2023. 

“Boreal Echoes” is directed by Mary Beth Leigh and includes artwork by Susan Campbell, Alyssa Enriquez, Nancy Hausle-Johnson, Mary Bee Kaufman, Margo Klass, Jennifer Moss, Ree Nancarrow, Oralee Nudson, Teresa Shannon, Todd Sherman, Marianne Stolz, Connie Stricks and Sara Tabbert. The artwork in the exhibit embraces many art media, from ceramics, moving sculptures, textiles, bookmaking and much more. 

The ITOC program was founded in 2007 by the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) in Fairbanks, Alaska. It facilitates and produces collaborative arts-humanities-science exhibits and events focused on ecological themes important to Alaska.

Ptarmigan Arts

471 E. Pioneer Ave.

Wildlife and landscape photography by Pam Roseveare

Opening Reception 5 to 7 p.m.

Ptarmigan Arts will showcase the work of local photographer Pam Roseveare during a three-day event running July 3 to 5. Of her journey into photography, Pam says, “My dad cultivated a love for wildlife and nature in me at a very young age through the many road trips he would take my family on. Some were very long trips around the entire state of Alaska, while others didn’t take us far from home, but all of them focused on the beauty of Alaska and the amazing wildlife found within our great state.”

Find Pam’s work and meet the artist on Friday July 3 from 10 a.m. through 7 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. through 6 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. 

A photograph of a bear family by Pam Roseveare is on display at Ptarmigan Arts, July 3-5, 2026, in Homer, Alaska. Photo provided