May brings new art shows to galleries and shops around Baker City for the First Friday art walk on May 2. Although most venues start receptions at 5:30 p.m., a few have varying hours.

Baker Food Co-op

2008 Broadway St.

The co-op starts First Friday a bit early, at 4 p.m., with tie-dye and batik wearable fabric art created by Ramona Webb. The store will be open until 7 p.m.

Royal Artisan

1912 Main St.

Tom Novak will display his latest works at Royal Artisan this month, beginning with an opening on May 2. He’ll give an artist talk at 6:45 p.m., and the evening features live music by D’Club L’Eveque.

Novak attended the Art Institute of Chicago and moved to the Baker City area in 1975. He opened an art studio in 1979.

“Baker has supported me all these years — allowed me to be what I wanted to be,” he said in an earlier interview. “It brings me tremendous joy.”

Novak was voted as best artist in Eastern Oregon in the recent Go! Readers’ Choice awards.

Anders Gallery

1802 Main St.

Anders Gallery will host “Watercolor Illusions” by R.L. Sandknop and new works in bronze by Robert Anders.

Churchill Hall Pass Gallery

3451 Broadway St.

For May, Marla Harman will showcase her mosaic works, featuring frames made by her husband, Wayland. She started this type of art about a year ago, after gaining inspiration at the Little Big Show. She’ll have 19 mosaics on exhibit, made with beads and buttons.

Also, Barbara Meyer will have paintings on display, and Wayland will play live music.

Crossroads Carnegie Art Center

2020 Auburn Ave.

Crossroads opens “Refugia of the Blue Mountains” with a reception from 5-8 p.m. Friday. Music will be provided by flutist John Bear.

At 6 p.m., David Mildrexler, systems ecologist of the Wallowology Discovery Center in Joseph, will give a 20-minute slide show presentation titled “Refugia and Why the Blue Mountains Really Matter.”

This show is inspired by the natural landscape of Hells Canyon and the Blue Mountains, and features watercolors by Robin Coen and poetry by Marina Richie.

“Refugia” are habitats within a landscape that are naturally protected from extreme variation in environmental conditions, like glaciation or climate change, according to the art center’s press release.

Coen grew up on a cattle ranch in the Elkhorn Mountains of Eastern Oregon, shadowing her father through days of fence mending, irrigating fields, doctoring calves, and the occasional early morning horseback ride up the mountain to watch the sunrise. She continued her interest in the natural world, earning a bachelor’s from the University of Washington in forest engineering. She now lives in Boise and manages the family’s Good Bear Ranch near Baker City. She is on the board for the Greater Hells Canyon Council and is active in several other conservation organizations.

Richie grew up in the National Park Service and a family of camping, hiking, paddling and exploring. She knew from a young age that she wanted to “speak” for wildlife and wildlands, which led to her career as a journalist, environmental advocate and nature writer. She lives in Bend and is the author of “Halcyon Journey: In Search of the Belted Kingfisher.” She has a bachelor’s in biology from the University of Oregon and a master’s in journalism from the University of Montana, where she wrote an investigative thesis on environmental issues in Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. She has written numerous nature articles and essays for publication, and is the president of the board for the Greater Hells Canyon Council.