Several special events take place at Northwind Arts Center throughout August as part of the 18th annual Art Port Townsend Festival. A juried show, "Expressions Northwest" features 85 pieces by Northwest artists, showing at the gallery Aug. 4-28. Northwind is located at 701 Water St.

A second special monthlong exhibit, "Seeing Red," opens with an artists' reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 12. All of Northwind's "Artists Showcase" artists have been challenged to create a unique perspective on the theme of "Seeing Red." Both two-dimensional and three-dimensional pieces are included.

At 1 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 13, Art Walk–featured photographer James Ascher delivers an illustrated lecture titled "My Photography as Creative Expression," explaining both the intent and the process used to create his black-and-white photographs.

This year's festival also celebrates the written word and how it relates to art. Poets are invited to respond to individual works in the show or to the show as a whole, and then read their responses at an event at 7 p.m., Aug. 25.

The final Art Port Townsend event is a free studio tour Aug. 27-28, featuring 32 artists in the greater Port Townsend area. Professional artists working in oil, watercolor, acrylic, sculpture, pastel, printmaking, woodworking, fabric art, glass and a variety of mixed media open their studios for demonstrations and displays of their work. Brochures with studio listings and maps are available at Northwind and the Port Townsend Visitor Center, as well as online at artporttownsend.org.