High & Low Art Auction
PSU hosts its third annual High & Low auction to raise money for art student scholarships, but fails to mention a single artist whose work will be on the block. PSU, Smith Memorial Ballroom, 1825 SW Broadway, 3rd floor, 645-7587, Fri, Silent auction at 5:30 pm, live auction at 7, Free; raffle tickets $5-10

Drawings From the Confluence Project
Maya Lin, one of the most pigeonholed artists working today, is an excellent installation artist and a fairly sublime earth artist, whose earthworks are decidedly less confrontational than her generational predecessors. Lin is currently working on a monumental project in our own hood, based on the Lewis and Clark expedition. See drawings and designs for the Confluence Project before the big unveilings later this year. Archer Gallery, Clark College, 1800 E McLoughlin, Vancouver, (360) 992-2200, Through Dec 2

Nucleo
Nucleo, part two in TJ Norris' trilogy of collaborative exhibitions, finds the artist creating abstract, circular photographs in response to experimental sound artists from Germany, the UK, and Ireland. The composers were given samples of Norris' previous work, and then created a sound piece in response. From their compositions, Norris has interpreted their work through drawings, sculptures, and now—photography. The images in Nucleo focus on the surface of decaying signage and weathered buildings. Moving in close to isolate the evidence of aging and weathering, Norris' photographs are highly abstract, and coming just after the artist's 40th birthday, likely a lot more personal than he'd lead you to believe. Chambers, 207 SW Pine #102, Through Nov 26

The F Word
George Carlin once observed that despite all the words in the English language that start with the letter F, "fuck" is the only one known as "the F word." If only that were still true, Georgie. A feel-good project masquerading as a fine art exhibition redefines the "F word" as "forgiveness," and presents high-production lightbox photos of people who have learned the value of forgiveness. Please give me a F-wording break! Philip Feldman Gallery, PNCA, 1241 NW Johnson, 226-4391, Through Jan 7