Monthly Whitefish Gallery Night on tap today

The monthly Whitefish Gallery Night returns tonight from 6 to 9 p.m., with featured art exhibitions, entertainment and refreshments at 11 downtown galleries. All events are free and open to the public and continue on the first Thursday of each month through Oct. 5. More information and a complete listing of supporting galleries is available at www.whitefishgallerynights.org.

Here’s a look at some of this week’s highlights:

AT THE Walking Man Frame Shop and Gallery (305 Baker Ave.), en plein air painter Jeff Troupe’s work will be highlighted. Troupe moved from California to the Flathead Valley in 2014 and recently concluded a show at Kalispell’s Hockaday Museum of Art. The show at Walking Man features paintings of Glacier Naitonal Park and Whitefish. Live acoustic music will be provided by Taven Edland.

WHITEFISH POTTERY and Stillwater Gallery (240 Central Ave.) will feature Montana City ceramic artist Tara Wilson and Whitefish watercolor painter Jack Dykstra. Wilson has been shown internationally and creates woodfire work reminiscent of figures and bodies. Dykstra has been part of the Montana Painter’s Alliance and Montana Watercolor Society, and frequently paints en plein air. His wide range of subjects include industrial scenes, railroad scenes, florals, abstract works and landscapes.

JOHN WOJCIK, a woodworking artist from Billings, will be featured at The Purple Pomegranate (238 Central Ave.). Wojcik is originally from Massachusetts and graduated college with an engineering degree before moving to Montana. He has created unique silver and wood inlays in his career through his company, Drop Point. His work can be seen primarily on knives, money clips and wine openers, although he has also produced custom signs, wood ornaments, hand-cut sterling silver pendants and cuff links.

THE WHITE Apple Gallery (19 Baker Ave.) will highlight new works from John Rawlings in an exhibition called “Fiskardo Shadows.” Rawlings, a Montanan, will work outside the 3D medium where he normally works and instead show some of his abstract paintings.

“Every morning I would sit on a balcony overlooking the tiny harbor and draw the fishing boats,” Rawlings said in a press release. “But one morning I realized that the shadows cast by chairs, tables, plants and railings were much more interesting.

“I’m particularly taken by the ease that these actual images move into abstraction.”

CO-EDITOR OF the new book “Montana’s Pioneer Botanists,” Rachel Potter will be on hand signing copies of the book at Stumptown Art Studio (145 Central Ave.). The gallery is showcasing more than 25 artists’ interpretations of wildflowers in this month’s exhibit.

“Pioneer Botanists” follows the discovery of botanical secrets, from indigenous people to early explorers, geographers, scientists, teachers and many others.

Thursday’s opening will also include a drawing demonstration by artists Nancy Seiler, who is known for her botanical drawings.