Not only does this evening bring another First Friday Art Walk, but the day also signals the beginning of Portland kicking its holiday diy craft season into high gear. You have three big double-sized art/craft sales this weekend, with The Society For East End Arts Holiday sale (Fri 6pm-9pm, Sat 10am-6pm, East End community School), Shop-A-Do (Fri 4pm-10pm, Sat 10am-4pm, SPACE Gallery), and the MECA Holiday Sale (Fri 5pm-10pm – LLTB performs at 8pm, Sat 10am-8pm) taking place on Friday and Saturday.

As for First Friday-only events (tonight, December 4, 5pm-8pm), here are some hilights:

We have the Artist Studio’s (536 Congress) annual open studio. I got a chance to check out some of the work being hung for it the other night, and it’s not to be missed. It’s rare that this group of (some of Portland’s best) artists invites the public in to their studios to get a look at work both finished and in progress.

At the Meg Perry Center (644 Congress), Local Sprouts presents Food : Art : Community, a show featuring art made inspired by food and community.

Geno’s Rock Club (625 Congress) gets in the Art Walk mood with new paintings by Avery Shaughnessy on the walls of their front lobby.

Over at the Arm Factory (200 Anderson Street #8), there’s another annual holiday sale and party. A Feast of Friends III features screen prints and other media by Ratio, Team Space Pirate, Pat Palmer, Zack Howard + friends.

Also of note, though not exclusive to the art walk, is that the popular local coffee chain, Coffee By Design, is currently showing the annual CBD Holiday Art Show, featuring work in various formats by Virginia Anderson, Charles Brandt, Paul Chiles, Alex Helfen, Audrey Hotchkiss & Morgan Martell. A good way to kick off (and caffeinate yourself for) the art walk.

For a full listing of officially-sanctioned Art Walk events, check out the listings here. If you find yourself with energy left after all there is to see (and buy) then I highly suggest you catch a ride to Biddeford for the Brown Bird cd release show at the Hogfarm Studio Annex. The rest of your musical weekend is potentially packed, with options ranging from MMW to South China to The Accident That Led Me To The World to Benjamin Burgess (and his cd release dual-show celebration) to OLAS. Have fun out there, whatever you choose to do.

For those planning ahead, next weekend will be a busy one as well, with the PICNIC Holiday Sale happening on Saturday, December 12 and then the [dog] and [pony] DVD release show at SPACE Gallery that same night. I’ll be at PICNIC selling some photo prints and Portland Pins (I’ll have free HillyTown pins as well), then playing at SPACE with my band, Marie Stella, later that night.

Sure, there are lots of galleries and art spaces in Portland, but for tonight’s First Friday Art Walk, why not head off the Congress Street path a bit and check out a couple less-conventional spots?

The DoorYard (108 High Street, at Spring) will be celebrating its first Open Studio/Art Walk exhibit in way too long. It’s a multimedia installation and from what I’ve heard from a few of the artists/collective members, it sounds pretty interesting. Plus, there will apparently be cookies.

Down at The Apohadion (107 Hanover Street), Your Future Landlords (Justin Woollard, Doug Milliken, and SK Green) will be showing “nearly 200 drunken, obscene, often offensive but always ridiculous cartoons.” There will also be some sort of musical/art/ridiculous performance.

For more wine-and-cheese types of art happenings tonight (and everything in between), peruse the FFAW listings. Bundle up.

The weekend is full of great events around town (and outside Portland as well) so find something fun. For Saturday night, I highly recommend helping our friend Knaughty Sarah celebrate her birthday at Geno’s (though the other options for the night are really awesome as well)!

The weekly roundups have gone out of style, but don’t think I’m going to leave you hanging when it comes to First Fridays.

Tonight, the big party is definitely down at Corduroy, where local international man of geometric shapes Matt W. Moore (along with Kate Cleaves) has been prepping 5 large windows for your eyeballs to enjoy as part of a show called Convergence. Inside you’ll find 4 custom-designed surfboards, music, and Allagash beer to drink. Things get going at 6pm and go into the night. I’d wager that you’ll probably find a few of these folks milling about over there.

Another local artist with the initials M.M. has a show opening tonight: Martha Miller’s paintings will be on display at Two Point Gallery. That’ll be a crowded one, but likely worth it, her work is really unique and definitely needs to be seen in person.

Sylvia Kania Gallery continues their one year anniversary celebration, though if what you’re looking for is another one of their naked gallery parties, you’ll have to wait until September 19.

The ICA at MECA has Aggregate, their 2009 Alumni Biennial, with a performance by Vasilios Gletsos at 6pm.

Anna Low brings her fascinating cyanotypes to (appropriately enough) Blue. I’m a big fan of her work and definitely recommend getting out to take a look at it.

Word is the MENSK truck will be out causing some sort of mayhem once again. Keep an eye out for it.

Check out the complete listing of art events and exhibits here.

What’s up for the rest of the weekend? Well, SPACE Homecoming, of course! Hope you’ve got a hot date.

Next week is the big KAHBANG Music Fest in Bangor, Maine. Thanks to one of the bands playing, The Gay Blades, I have two passes to give away to the day-long festival (also featuring Matt & Kim, Ra Ra Riot, Ida Maria, Sex, Royal Bangs, and more)! All you have to do to enter is email hello@hillytown.com (with the subject TGB4N!) and tell me why you want to see The Gay Blades. I’ve provided the photo of the duo (the handsome Clark Westfield and Puppy Mills make up the band) at right for inspiration. The lucky winner will be announced next Wednesday here on HillyTown.com. More about The Gay Blades (video, tour dates, and a new mp3) at the end of this post, after the jump.

On to the roundup! Being First Friday, there’s a lot of art to be seen around town. Get out early if you actually want to get to see some of the great work debuting tonight, or if you’re just in it for the free wine and cheese. If it’s really the work you’re interested in, it may be better to let the crowds do their thing tonight and stop by the galleries next week some time, when you don’t have to throw elbows to get a good look at that hot new exhibit.

Word is that Tower Of Song IS happening tonight, though maybe not from the usual window. Close though, perhaps. I’d bet that some flyers with details will pop up around town today.

On Sunday night, the 48 Hour Music Fest returns to SPACE Gallery in the form of the documentary directed by Dave Camlin. It’s really funny to play “spot your friends” in the concert portion of the film.

In concert-announcement news, it looks like a Sufjan Stevens show crept up while nobody was looking (or, rather, just hasn’t been officially announced yet), and the LL Bean free concert series in Freeport is still going, with Dar Williams this weekend, the Wallflowers next week, and more acts through September 6. The HillyTown OFFStage @SPACE free, all ages, weekly concert series kicked off this week with Haru Bangs, Theodore Treehouse, and BOXY. Thanks to all the bands, the people who came out, and Otto for the pizza! A few photos:

OFFStage continues >next week with Panda Bandits, Dan Wholey [Earth People Orchestra], and Jesse Pilgrim. The free concert series runs every Wednesday in August at SPACE Gallery. Doors at 7pm, music starting between 7:30 and 8. All ages welcome!

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Jump right into it!

• It’s nomination time for the Second Annual Portland Buy Local Indie Biz Awards!
• Forbes named Portland, Maine as one of the country’s ten most livable cities (maybe the most livable?) They must like lighthouses and boats. Perhaps the most re-blogged national mention of Portland’s awesomeness since last week’s Washington Post mention!
• Books Etc. will be leaving Exchange Street, though they hope to find a new Portland location soon. (thanks OP)
• In better book news, the Festival Of The Book is on! Most of the events are this Saturday.
• Peter PortCity tell us about some friends who took the SkiMaine Peak to Peak Challenge.
• The Pine Haven Collective really wants to get Vetiver back to Portland. Maybe we should keep that band wishlist conversation going.
• Hello weekly farmers’ market in Monument Square!
• Some First Friday openings and happenings to hit tonight: Strange Maine @ Sanctuary, Carving The Floors @ SPACE, Considerable Thinking @ Whitney Art Works, Zombies on Exchange, Dan Hicks @ Bull Moose, and of course much more. Post-Art Walk head to the Station for Dinosaur Jr. and Awesome Color or to Arm Factory for Brenda, Harubangs, live painting, and more.
• The 2009 Portland Museum Of Art Biennial opens on Wednesday, April 8th. Some people are already really into the exhibit – and you can check that out tonight. Literally.
• In case you missed it, Dilly Dilly reviewed the New Kids On The Block concert for us.
• Most awesome random item of the week = CHUCK NORRIS MOUTHGARD!

Want more than just Portland music news? I’m back to blogging at Subinev.