On Friday, May 4th, The American Masters Exhibition and Sale opened at the Salmagundi Club on 5th Ave in New York and staff members of PleinAir and Fine Art Connoisseur magazines were there to celebrate. The annual event organized and curated by Tim Newton raises money for the renovation and expansion of the historic club.

The Chadds Ford, PA studio in which Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) created many of his most important works of art will open for tours this summer after careful restoration is completed. The structure was built as a schoolhouse in 1875 and used by Wyeth as a studio from 1940 until 2008. Tours will begin on July 3, 2012 and advanced, timed tickets will be required.

Here are a few upcoming plein air events in California, Wisconsin, Utah and New Jersey that are accepting applications from artists who want to participate. Some events require artists to first apply for membership, and others are open to non-members.

Stokes County Arts Council (SCAC) organized the “Painting North Carolina Plein Air Show,” a six-day event that culminated in a benefit for the SCAC Moon Lake Retreat. The annual event was started about nine years ago by David and Judy Simpson, owners of the Germanton Art Gallery & Winery.

On April 21st, 2012, more than 80 plein air painters participated in the Opus Paint-Out Challenge in Victoria BC, Canada. They were given five hours to create a plein air painting in a defined area of several city blocks surrounding the art store, and each artist was given a 16” x 20” panel on which to paint.

One of the most adventurous and influential plein air painters today is James Gurney, the artist who wrote and illustrated the wildly popular Dinotopia series of books, television programs, and video games. He recently sent us news of his plein air adventures and the sketches he created of artist Everett Raymond Kinstler during a presentation at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA.