First Street Gallery kicks off its fall season with the annual HSU Art Department Faculty and Staff Exhibition. The show is all around good and affords an opportunity for students returning to classes this month, as well as the general public, to get an overview of the quality and diversity of instruction offered at Humboldt State. All the major disciplines are represented with outstanding works by Lien Truong, Teresa Stanley, M. Sanderson Morgan, Jim Moore, and Joan Rosko, to name a few. All of these artists are to be praised for creating room in their professional careers to teach and encourage the development of fellow artists. The show epitomizes the function that First Street Gallery has performed for 14 years in bringing the ever-renewing energy of the university's presence to our art scene. Also included in the show are paintings by former instructor Larry Gray. The proceeds from the sale of his paintings will be donated to the Martin Wong Foundation, which awards scholarships to HSU art students. The exhibit runs from Aug. 23, to Sept. 18, with a reception for the artists during Arts Alive! Sept. 3.

Midwesterner Amy E. Arnstson, with an impressive résumé of international exhibits, brings her paintings and more to the Piante Gallery for September (with the requisite Arts Alive! opening). The works featured developed out of her travels and her ardent involvement with many different bodies of water and their shores. Her concerns for this most precious element is evidenced by the quotes from Emerson, Rachel Carson and John Muir along with actual water and rocks from five lakes that accompany the paintings.

Ken Jarvela has new watercolor and acrylic works on paper of western scenery from his recent camping trip in the Yolla Bolly Wilderness at the Sewell Gallery this month. The gallery has a designated area to show featured artists, such as Jarvela. Jack Sewell continues to refine the gallery and rotate the artworks of his large stable of artists. A reception will be held for the artists, during Arts Alive!

The Humboldt Photography Exhibition, a collaboration with the Eureka Photoshop Users Group and the Redwood Camera Club, runs until Sept. 17, at the Redwood Art Association's temporary home at 603 F St. across from the Eureka Theater. Award winners selected by exhibition judge Godfrey DiGiorgi are to be presented at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 3, just before Arts Alive!

Many of the paintings executed at last month's Art in the Garden event will be on display at Studio S (717 Third St.) during the month of September.

Places that you might miss in Old Town mount shows by artists, craftsmen and photographers. Amigas Burritos (317 5th St.) has a long-running exhibit of photographs by the Fortuna Camera Club as well as a show this month of a fascinating photo documentation of  Humboldt County barns by Ageana Brett (a third-generation native). The series, when completed, will be donated to the Humboldt County Historical Society.

Over in Arcata "Underwater Archaeology" is the fascinating title of the show by Ellen Land-Weber at the Umpqua Upstairs Gallery (1063 G St. Land-Weber combines her love of snorkeling and underwater photography with her abiding interest in ancient cultures. Here she fuses images of beautiful sea life and the Cycladic figures of ancient Greece in a new series of photo collages. An Arts! Arcata opening reception on Friday, Sept. 9, will be followed a week later by a gallery talk, "Secrets of Photo Collage," on Friday, Sept. 16, at 5 p.m.

Libby George's pastels, so evocative of our coastal fogs and indirect sunlight, are featured at Soul to Soul. (854 Tenth St. Arcata).

Humboldt Arts Project has Arts! Arcata openings at several venues, all centered around 9th and I in downtown Arcata. The Ironside Gallery and Humboldt Brews showcase a selection of HAP artists of many media and styles, while the Robert Goodman Wines tasting room features the work of landscape photographer Kevin Cunliffe, and oil paintings by Yuma Lynch and Angeline Pittenger, and Jambalaya has works by Roman Villagrana. The highlight of the evening is a 7 p.m. performance by circus street performer Perico from the Circus Express, early enough for the kids to enjoy.

Jennifer McKibbin is the featured artist at Hunter Plaid Gallery in Sunny Brae Center. Her show, "Life is a Series of Images that Change as They Repeat Themselves," is descriptive of her process of staging photographs, then drawing and painting them several times over in several media. Reception at "The Plaid" Arts! Arcata night.

College of the Redwoods Art Department hosts a traveling exhibit "Then and Now" at the CR Art Gallery, featuring approximately 50 ceramic works from alumni of the University of North Texas ceramics program exploring various ceramic traditions with a strong focus on vessel making and functional pottery. In tandem with the exhibit, guest artist/potter Karen Hamilton offers two public lectures, Sept. 28 and 29. For more info go to the "News and Events" page on CR's website. 

Finally, the Humboldt Arts Council is accepting entries for the 17th Annual Junque Arte Competition and Exhibition Tuesday, Sept. 27, from noon to 5 pm at the Morris Graves Museum. Note that there's a youth-artist category (17 and under) with cash prizes. The show runs from Oct. 1 to Nov. 27.