View public sculpture, work by local students, artists at San Juan Islands Museum of Art

Submitted by San Juan Islands Museum of Art

View a public sculpture, art from island students and paintings by local artists Mary Ann Rock and Sam Connery.

A free reception for the shows will be held from 4:30-7:30 p.m., Dec. 20 at the San Juan Islands Museum of Art, featuring musician David Bayley.

The Town of Friday Harbor and the museum have partnered to bring sculptor Gareth Curtiss to the museum’s atrium. Curtiss will create a portion of the town’s commissioned sculpture of Edward Warbass and his dog, Bob. The atrium will be open to the public from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Dec. 17-21, for these demonstrations. Visitors can meet Curtiss and learn about the lost wax bronze casting process.

In the North Gallery, the students of the Spring Street International School will exhibit selected works in their show “Creative Diversity.” The students will demonstrate the awe-inspiring results of this year’s art education classes with an instructor Taylor Bruce.

The museum will also celebrate the art of Rock and Connery in a retrospective. Friends, family, neighbors and institutions are loaning their work by these two for this community show. As all the works are from private collections, this will be a rare opportunity to view the scope of their works. Friends of Rock and Connery will be encouraged to tell of some of their personal experiences with the artists to lend a sense of their personalities to the event. The stories should increase the understanding of their unique contributions to the community over the years.

SJIMA is located at 540 Spring St. in Friday Harbor. The hours starting Dec. 21 are Friday-Monday for 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission for these events and shows is free. For more information, call 360-370-5050 or visit www.sjima.org. SJIMA has workshops and classes for families and beginning painters.