Submitted photoÏUmpqua,Ó photograph by Dave Kamperman.

September has to be one of the best months to attend a First Friday Gallery Walk. It’s not hot (probably), but it’s still warm (probably). Fall is in the air, but not so in the air that you can’t see any art for all the falling leaves.

For the newcomers flooding town who haven’t yet heard of the monthly event — much less attended one — Gallery Walk is HUGE in Bend.

From about 5:30-9 p.m. on the first Friday of each month, it’s more or less the place to be, whether you’re there for the stated purpose (walking around downtown Bend and the Old Mill District taking in art openings), the people watching, the live music playing, the wine imbibing or the appetizer gorging — or some combination of all of the above.

The galleries and other participating businesses have done their job. Tonight’s openings include shows of landscape photography, watercolor and impressionist paintings, mixed media, custom jewelry and more.

Landscape photographer Dave Kamperman will be on hand tonight at The Oxford Hotel, 10 NW Minnesota Ave. Kamperman’s been a professional photographer for more than 35 years, but it was his 1983 move to Bend that inspired him to transition into landscape shooting instead of weddings and portraits. He still favors large format film over digital, and builds his own hardwood frames. In fact, he enjoys matting and framing “almost as much as the photography itself,” according to the release for the show, which will remain on exhibit through Sept. 26.

An exhibit of the unique mixed-media works of an anonymous artist or artists going by the name “Salvador Rookery” will open tonight at Townshend’s Bend Teahouse, 835 NW Bond St. Try Googling the name “Salvador Rookery,” and the only thing you’re going to find are mentions of him or her in conjunction with this show and a biography that includes album and magazine covers for nonexistent bands and magazines. Hey, wait a minute! The press release for this show is full of made-up stuff. Nothing like a good art mystery, at least that’s what Mom always said after key episodes of “Murder She Wrote.” Hey, at least the art is real, as is what it has to say about modern society.

David Kinker’s oil and acrylic paintings, opening at Sage Custom Framing and Gallery, 834 NW Brooks St., also have a natural bent, focusing on rivers. According to a press release for the event, Kinker’s “years of river guiding and river interpretation have made river corridors his intimate council and muse.”

Over in the Old Mill District, Helen Brown’s watercolors of honey bees, Monarch butterflies, puffins and spotted frogs will open in a show titled “Struggling Species of the Northwest” tonight from 5-9 p.m. at Tumalo Art Co., 450 SW Powerhouse Drive. Using a process called watercolor batik, Brown paints on rice paper for added texture. She plans to donate 50 percent of sales profits for the month to the Nature Conservancy.

Also located in the Old Mill, Atelier 6000, 389 SW Scalehouse Court, is starting something new this month. While you’re checking out the show “Figure/Ground,” a juried exhibit featuring works by Central Oregon printmakers, you can also witness local artist Lynn Rothan at work pulling prints off the etching press in the back studio from 5-8 p.m.

There’s plenty more going on around town during First Friday, including art by local artist Matt Brown and live music from Familiar Souls at Deschutes Brewery and Public House, 1044 NW Bond St.

Nancy P’s, 1054 NW Milwaukee Ave., will hold its first-ever First Friday opening reception from 5-7 p.m., for an exhibit of artwork by students who attended Caldera art center’s camp near Sisters.

And don’t forget to stop in the Tower Theatre, 835 NW Wall St., where you can catch a “Les Miserables” preview of sorts.

Those who pop in between 5 and 7 p.m. can watch the cast in rehearsals for the show, which opens Sept. 12 at the Tower. Look for coverage of the famed musical in next week’s issue of GO! Magazine.

— Reporter: 541-383-0349, djasper@bendbulletin.com