Those bundling up and hitting the streets for December’s First Friday Artwalk will encounter a mix of fresh mind-expanding exhibits and multi-artist shows aimed at holiday shoppers. Here’s our list of art spots to get you started, but as always you’ll find more at Downtown Partnership and Old Colorado City and by cruising the streets of Manitou Springs.
45º Gallery, 2528 W. Colorado Ave., Suite B, 719-434-1214. The annual Holiday Mixer, featuring homemade pie (!) and a chance to mingle with the gallery’s artists. Friday, Dec. 1, 5-8 p.m.
Area high school students are submitting 4-by-4-foot artworks for Academy Art & Frame’s 16th Annual High School Students Ceiling Tile Competition.
Academy Art & Frame, 7560 N. Academy Blvd., 719-265-6694. 16th Annual High School Students Ceiling Tile Competition, judged by the public at the gallery or at tinyurl.com/student-tiles. Artists’ Reception, Friday, Dec. 15, 4-7 p.m. Joni Ware’s The Beauty of the Earth show continues through December.
Anita Marie Fine Art, 109 S. Corona St., 719-493-5623. Storied Places 3 — “a personal look at the inspiration of earth and water in a quiet moment” — oil paintings by Chuck Mardosz and Richard Dahlquist. Through Dec. 23.
Bosky Studio, 17B E. Bijou St. 14th Annual Small Works Show — “Hundreds of pieces of art created by talented local artists hung floor to ceiling for your viewing pleasure.” A buy and walk show opening Friday, Dec. 1, 5:30 p.m.
The Bridge invited some of its favorite artists to create smaller works for the December show.
The Bridge Gallery, 218 W. Colorado Ave., #104, 719-629-7055. Small works “in clay, photography, painting, fiber and mixed media. Invited artists are Darla Slee, Clyde Tullis, Nancy Burton, Alan Burton, Rui Haagen, Rob Watt, Karla Lee, Lori Nicholson, Peter Marchand, John Lawson, Dave Armstrong, Michael Cellan, Deena Bennett, Betty Atherton.” Opening reception Friday, Dec. 1, 5-8 p.m.; through Dec. 16.
The Colony, 2 S. Wahsatch Ave., #100. Works by “Creator. Painter. Illustrator. Traveler. Activist. Human.” Jeresneyka Rose. Opening reception Friday, Dec. 1, 5-8 p.m.
Commonwheel’s Holiday Market runs through Dec. 28.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, 30 W. Dale St., 719-634-5581. First Friday Art Party with free admission, music, a cash bar and snacks, plus work by Rocky Ford painter and printmaker John Odlin. Dec. 1, 5-8 p.m. Solo(s): Krista Franklin. Franklin “creates books, poetry, collages, handmade paper, installations, murals, performances, sound works, sculptures, and lectures.” Through Dec. 16. Mi Gente: Manifestations of Community in the Southwest, with works from the FAC collection; through Feb. 3. Museum free days, Dec. 9 and 15.
Commonwheel Artists Co-op, 102 Cañon Ave., Manitou Springs, 719-685-1008. Holiday Market with works by 32 Colorado artists — everything from original artwork/prints to glass and metal art to wearables to soaps and candles. Through Dec. 28.
“Contemporary gallery venues have begun to recognize thread, yarn, and fabric for their expressive power: as a medium for code writing in wartime, declaring personal history and autonomy in the face of slavery, ‘yarn bombing’ urban blight with a rainbow of knits, purls, and stitches.”
Cottonwood Center for the Arts, 427 E. Colorado Ave., 719-520-1899. Sew Subversive: A Textile and Fiber Installation answers the question “What can you say with fiber that you can’t say with other mediums?” Opening reception Friday, Dec. 1, 5-8 p.m.; through Dec. 22.
Disruptor Gallery, 2217 E. Platte Ave. What Kinda Brown Are You? “This question pulls apart the identity of the individual and forces them to be solely defined to the color of their skin and not who they are as a human.” Local “‘brown’ artists will have their portraits taken then overlap their culture or story of identity.” Includes a video and works by participating artists Jasmine Dillavou, Avery Chatmon, Ashley Cornelius, Christopher Beasley and Kevin Persaud. Friday, Dec. 1, 5-9 p.m., event starts at 5:15 p.m.; RSVP at tinyurl.com/Disrupt-dec.
You’re invited: “What Kinda Brown Are You is a reflection on other and same. A cathartic release of representation. Let us tell you about the hats we wear. Bring your kids. All are welcome.”
G44 Gallery, 121 E. Boulder St., 720-951-0573. The 12th Annual Holiday Show will feature works by more than 100 local artists and artisans. Soft opening Thursday, Nov. 30, 5-7 p.m.; opening reception Friday, Dec. 1, 5-9 p.m.; closing reception Jan. 5, 5-7 p.m.
Works by woodcut artist Jean Gumpper join those of more than 100 local creators at G44 Gallery.
Gallery 113, 125½ N. Tejon St., 719-634-5299. In the Spirit of the Season, artworks by 17 local member artists — wildlife and landscape photography, jewelry, pottery, hand-turned wood, hand-painted silk, leather creations. Opening reception Friday, Dec. 1, 5-8 p.m.
GOCA (Galleries of Contemporary Art, UCCS), Ent Center for the Arts, 5225 N. Nevada Ave. There are only a few days left to see Martha Russo’s Caesura — “her sculptural investigations appear at once fragile and potentially dangerous, cautioning one away while hypnotically drawing one in — ever closer — for intimate examination.” Through Dec. 2.
Gallery 113’s 17 artists will be represented in December’s show.
Hunter-Wolff Gallery, 2510 W. Colorado Ave., 719-520-9494. Jewelry and newly released bronze sculptures by Maria Battista. Opening reception Friday, Dec. 1, 5-8 p.m.
“In this new series, Atmospheres and Orbits, I am interested in exploring the simplicity of composition, along with the complexity of the painting surface. Intuition, promptitude, the visceral and the accidental offer an interesting contrast while working in oil and cold wax, which is inherently time-consuming with many, many layers of this medium.”
Kreuser Gallery, 125 E. Boulder St., 719-464-5880. Shifting Reality by Lori Goede: “paintings that capture the profound connection between individuals in classical literature.” Release of the Trammels by Don Goede: “a small fraction of neurotic and anxiety-riddled artwork and what I have deemed therapeutic manifestations of the Hypomanic variety.” Atmospheres and Orbits by Nancy Roach: “paintings done in oil and cold wax depicting an attitude of experimentation and play.” Opening reception Friday, Dec. 1, 5-9 p.m., with music by Dubfuscious; artist talks — Nancy Roach, Dec. 8, 5:30 p.m.; Don and Lori Goede, Dec. 20, 5:30 p.m.; closing reception Jan. 5, 5-8 p.m.
The Look Up Gallery, 11 E. Bijou St. (inside Yobel). Distortion, a collection of “new large-scale, abstract scenery works” by local artist Ben Bires. Opening reception Friday, Dec. 1, 5-9 p.m., with drinks, and music by DJ Rocky Ross.
There will be drinks, music by DJ Rocky Ross and a chance to chat with Ben Bires.
Manitou Art Center, 513/515 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs, 719-685-1861. Studio Artist and Makerspace Member End of Year Show, Friday, Dec. 1, 5-8 p.m.; through Dec. 30; tinyurl.com/MAC-dec23. Plus the Handmade Holiday Market, music by the Manitunes and the MAC’s signature cocktail for those who get there earliest!
Pikes Peak State College Fall Student Exhibition, Dec. 4 through Jan. 19; reception Friday, Dec. 8, 5-7 p.m.; awards 5:30-6 p.m.; Gallery at Studio West, 22 N. Sierra Madre St.; see website for gallery hours.
Platte Collections, 2331 E. Platte Place, 719-980-2715. Water Rites by Shannon Dunn, who explores “water in all its forms … From the tears in our eyes to the blood in our veins … Drought and flood. Freeze and thaw. …” Cocktail hour Friday, Dec. 1, 4-6 p.m.
Squash Blossom, 2531 W. Colorado Ave., 719-632-1899. Watercolors of Colorado’s back roads by Steve Castle. Friday, Dec. 1, 5-8 p.m.
Per Annum 2023 features works by 50-plus artists.
Surface Gallery, 2752 W. Colorado Ave., 719-359-6966. Per Annum 2023, a group holiday show featuring the work of 50-plus local artists — multiple media including painting, collage, sculptural and handmade jewelry. Opening reception, Friday, Dec. 1, 5-9 p.m. with live music by Luke Flowers; through Jan. 19.
True North Art Gallery, 31 E. Bijou St., 719-471-3809. December After Dark, with art from 20 creatives, wine and treats. Friday, Dec. 1, 5-10:30 p.m.
Universal Education Foundation, 301 E. Platte Ave. Just Art (and Gifts!), with work by Michelle Bracewell, Nicole Curtis, John Hagerty, Stephanie Lassen, Daniel Logan, Elizabeth Mackiewicz, Kristine Urban, Michael VanGalder and Frechelle Wilson. Friday, Dec. 1, 5-8 p.m.