>> With $14,000 in cash prizes, the inaugural Bethesda Painting Awards includes one of the top painting prizes in the nation. On Friday the winning artists will be announced by the three jurors during an opening reception (6-9 p.m.) for a show of work by the eight finalists, at Fraser Gallery Bethesda. The three jurors looked at the work of several hundred painters from the D.C., Maryland and Virginia before selecting eight painters as finalists.

>> While you’re in Bethesda, don’t miss “This Side of Sanity: A Printmaker’s Retrospective” at Ozmosis Gallery. The exhibit features handmade paper works from Alice Sorkowitz’s 30-year printmaking career. Also worth the trip is Gallery Neptune’s two-person exhibit, “Definition of a Line: Elizabeth Zeisler and Mark Coburn.”