From Saturday, Aug. 6 through Sunday, Aug. 28, Northwind Arts Alliance and the Port Townsend Arts Commission present the 13th annual Art Port Townsend festival celebrating the visual arts.

Gary Faigin, a full-time art professional for more than 30 years with notable accomplishments as a painter, educator and art critic, is the juror for this year’s art exhibit. He has considered more than 370 entries submitted by artists from Alaska, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. From the entries, 86 pieces, representing 63 artists, were chosen for the show.

The juried exhibit, “Expressions Northwest,” is on display at Northwind Arts Center, 2409 Jefferson St. until Aug. 28. The center is open Thursday through Monday from noon to 5 p.m.

Also at the center, at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 6, Faigin speaks about the process of art selection. His 1991 book, The Artist’s Complete Guide to Facial Expression, is a recognized classic in its field and is the standard reference for digital animators, forensic artists and portrait painters.  In addition, he has been the art critic for National Public Radio station KUOW-FM since 2000, having broadcast almost 100 reviews of museum and gallery exhibitions. Faigin’s own artwork has been highlighted in several dozen newspaper and magazine articles. In 1989, he cofounded, with architect Pamela Belyea, the Gage Academy of Art, a school emphasizing a “back to basics” approach to art education, focused on painting, drawing and sculpture. The lecture is free of charge.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 27-28, the Art Port Townsend studio tour features 35 studios in the greater Port Townsend area. Professional artists working in oils, watercolors, acrylics, pastels, printmaking, sculpture, foundry pours, ceramics, woodworking, fabric arts, glass and a variety of mixed media open their studios for demonstrations and display of their work. Brochures with the art studio listings and maps are available at the center. Visitors and tour participants may also log on to artporttownsend.org to view tour listings and maps. There is no charge for the tour.

Lastly, this year’s festival also celebrates the written word and how it relates to art. Surrounded by the juried Art Port Townsend exhibit, writers are invited to respond to individual works in the show or to the show as a whole. At 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 25 at the center, writers may read their written responses to the exhibit. Listeners are also welcome; the event is free.