(Above: Guy Weese’s whimsical photograph, “Legroom SF,” shot in San Francisco, is one of dozens of artworks on display in the February members’ exhibit at the Emerald Art Center)

By Randi Bjornstad

Official guided tour

There’s a wealth of art to see on Feb. 9 during the Second Friday Art Walk in downtown Springfield, with the first official stop at the Willamalane Adult Activity Center at 215 West C St., next to Island Park.

The official art walk begins at 5:30 p.m. and ends with a poetry open mic at Cascade Center for Spiritual Living at 741 Main St. Free shuttles run from Willamalane to downtown Springfield from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Most of the galleries and shops participating in the walk are open to 8 p.m.

At Willamalane, the two-part show is called “Aprons and Albums,” one portion by Marissa Solini, who celebrates the strength and contributions of women of previous decades, in the form of an installation of real vintage aprons as well as paintings of aprons with women’s names that she has painted in oil and watercolor.

The album half of the exhibit is work by Kevin Dale Stacey, who grew up drawing favorite

Detail from Ellen Furstner’s “Peace Choir,” an installation made of decorated PEZ candy containers, is part of a large and eclectic exhibit at the Emerald Art Center

characters from comic books and Mad and Heavy Metal magazines. In adulthood, he turned to airbrush art and then screenprinting of his favorite album-related subjects.

The Emerald Art Center at 500 Main St. has three shows on display: the monthly show of dozens of impressive works by member artists that; a featured artist show by Merrilea Jones showing her mastery of Notan, an eye-boggling form of Japanese paper-cutting that repeats the same patterns in mirror-image

Jo Dunnick’s watercolor, “Connecting Hearts,” is a sweetly sentimental piece in the members’ exhibit at the Emerald Art Center

form using contrasting shades of paper; and an upstairs show of photography by Harry Longstreet and Al Harden, who both won awards at last year’s Autumn Exhibition at the gallery.

Additional shows are up at the City Hall Gallery at 225 A St., featuring paintings by Diane Farquhar and solo piano entertainment by Torrey Newhart. Memento Ink at 525 Main St. has audio-visual art by Matthew Olmos, and A3 Academy of Arts and Academics at 615 Main St. is showing student work from a welding sculpture class taught by Jared Mills.

Also on the tour, the Tronson Gallery of Contemporary Art at 740 Main St. opens a show called “Classical Antiquities Revisited: Altered States,” with antique heliogravure prints of architectural details and designs from classical ruins as interpreted by gallery owner Jim Tronson.

Just across the street, at 741 Main St., Cascade Center for Spiritual Living has “February Delights,” with mixed-media creations by Patricia Montoya Donohue, textiles by Gayle Macy and pine-needle works by Sheri Smith, as well as the poetry open mic that will begin about 8 p.m.

More arts and culture

Several additional galleries and businesses also will be open during the art walk:

  • Springfield Museum (590 Main St.) — “Come Into This World,” a show of paintings by Benjamin Terrell.
  • US Bank (437 Main St.) — Oil paintings by Kris Stewart.
  • Hearts for Hospice (444 Main St.) — Paintings from naive to pictorial to representational by Isabel Lopez-Dotroncy, with music by Annie O’Shay, wine and beer, and cookies by Paco.
  • 331 Mosaic (331 Main St.) — Works by 10-12 artists, plus a celebration of Mosaic’s first anniversary with cake and other goodies.
  • Celeste Watch Company (335 Main St.) — Features hand-crafted watch dials and straps by Celeste, plus refreshments.

100 Mile Bakery (418 A St.) — Stop by and see what’s on offer.

Marissa Solini’s vintage aprons bring back memories of cookie baking, meal preparation, housekeeping and the women of past decades and generations who used them. Solini’s show of real and painted aprons is on display at the Willamalane Adult Activity Center at 215 West C St.