February’s art walk serves as the perfect opportunity for an early Valentine’s Day celebration with your loved ones. The Norman Arts Council’s art event is scheduled from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12, at art galleries throughout Norman.

This month’s event features members of the Norman Studio Artists Association displaying artwork in studios along Main Street, live musicians and exhibit openings.  Jazz in June will also be decorating the trolley with a great Mardi Gras inspired theme.

Several local galleries will be open throughout the evening, with most featuring free admission, live entertainment and other activities.

• Bring your sweetheart and experience the romance of the train station at the historic Santa Fe Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., home of The Performing Arts Studio.  Artist Nick Wu, whose work is on exhibit at the Depot through March 28, will conduct a painting demonstration.  Valentine’s Day themed refreshments and live music also will be provided.

• The School of Art and Art History is hosting a public closing reception for the 2010 Faculty Exhibition on display in the Lightwell Gallery from 6-8pm.  This exhibition is designed to showcase the results of recent creative activity by members of the School of Art & Art History faculty. The work in this exhibition will represent a wide range of media and practices; viewers can expect to see both traditional and experimental works of art.

• Ivan Peña Trio and Off Boyd Jazz will perform at Sonder Music, Dance & Art .  The Ivan Peña Trio features a constellation of traditional gypsy pieces, chansons françaises, and timeless american jazz standards as part of Django Reinhardt’s legacy. In order to recreate the atmosphere of small jazz clubs of the 30’s, the classics are interpreted acoustically through two guitars and a stand-up bass. They endeavor to unite melodic soul of jazz improvisation with the technical virtuosity of gypsy swing.

• Dreamer Concepts Studio presents Dreamer 24: Artists After Hours, focusing on artists in our community that are business professionals by day and artists in their free time.  Dreamer 24 will feature photography, paintings, jewelry and sculptures by Don Cies, Joyce Green, Ken Hoving, Nicole Kraisky, Beth Pepper, Mo Shellist, Don Sherman and Mark Williams.

• Jahruba, a professional musician and storyteller, will perform a unique blend of blues, jazz, worldbeat, reggae, and traditional African rhythms mixed with the red dirt culture of Oklahoma at the Norman Public Library beginning at 6:30. The library will also display works by artist Eric Humphries, depicting the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.  Oklahoma City based artist Eric Humphries will open a new exhibit in February at the Norman Public Library.  The series entitled “Is the Whole World on Fire?” traces the events of the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot.  This thoroughly researched exhibit, over a year in the making, was funded through the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition and the Puffin Foundation of New Jersey.  The artist says that he hopes to bring new attention to this historic tragedy by constructing bright modern paintings that make this little known story relevant to today’s audiences.  Humphries hopes to show the exhibit in a different Oklahoma town each month through 2011.

• The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art celebrates Valentine’s Day Weekend with hands-on Valentine’s card making, live music by the OU School of Music, short film by deadCENTER Film Festival and a beautiful sculpture by 19th century artist Auguste Rodin. Cast between 1887 and 1901, the famous embrace of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta is captured eternally in Rodin’s “The Kiss,” on display only through March. 15. Visitors also can create Valentine cards while enjoying live flute and marimba duets, instrumental guitar and 20th century compositions. All events are free and part of the monthly Art “à la CART” program on Feb. 12.

• The Firehouse Art Center Gallery will host a reception for our current exhibit, which is the work of Sharon Burchett and Stuart Asprey.  Sharon Burchett is a local mixed media artist specializing in abstract painting.  She has had solo exhibits at the Gingko Tree Studio and Gallery in Norman, the University of Oklahoma’s Graduate College, the OU School of Art and Art History’s Lightwell Gallery, the Norman Public Library, and at the OU Federal Credit Union.  “My art is my personal expression and I work in a manner based on inspiration. My art is about passion and the world,” Burchett said of her work.  Stuart Asprey is a ceramic artist who was born in Leicester, England and now lives in Norman.  He earned his undergraduate degree in studio art from Humboldt State University in California and his MFA from the University of Oklahoma.  Asprey has been invited to participate in over 40 national and international exhibitions over the past seven years, including Feats of Clay (2009 Second Place), History In The Making (2007 First Place), Red Heat: Contemporary Work in Clay (2005 Honorable Mention) and the Orton Cone Box Show.  His current artwork is a reaction to the overabundance of media-driven information and its role in the social and historical transformation of specific people, places, and events into cultural myths and legends.

Of course, these are just a few of the events taking place during the Second Friday Circuit of Art.  Other free activities and openings are scheduled by members of the Norman Gallery Association and its supporting organizations throughout the night.