2019 Plein Air Grand Marais Winners

The Outdoor Painters of Minnesota recently announced their 2019 awards in the 16th annual Plein Air Grand Marais competition.

From the organizers:

Painters converged on the North Shore of Lake Superior for Plein Air Grand Marais, an outdoor painting festival and competition organized by Outdoor Painters of Minnesota and hosted by the Cook County Historical Society’s Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery. The event, which took place in mid-September, is marked by spectacular scenery, sudden weather changes, unpredictable temperatures, and talented plein air painters.

Artists braved high winds and raging surf on Lake Superior for the Quick Paint as a Nor’easter blew in on Thursday of Competition Week. The culminating exhibit at Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery is a visual diary of world-class paintings displaying the week’s rugged scenery, capricious weather, outdoor activities, and everyday life in one of small-town America’s most beloved arts destinations. The exhibit runs through Sunday, October 6, 2019.

This year’s competition juror was oil painter Joshua Cunningham from Saint Paul, Minnesota. A total of 75 painters competed in the juried competition. Thirty-two painters registered for the Open Class, and many more arrived just to paint and attend mini-workshops.

Bob Upton, “Root Beer Water,” oil, plein air

Top awards went to:
1st place: Bob Upton,“Root Beer Water,” oil
2nd Place: Brock Larson, “Birch Trees,” oil
3rd Place: Richard Abraham, “On the Corner,” oil
4th Place: Christopher Copeland, “Cascade River Falls,” oil
Honorable Mention: Dan Mondloch, “Iconic Artist Point,” watercolor
Honorable Mention: Dan Mackerman, “Marine Nocturne,” oil
Honorable Mention: Cheryl LeClair-Sommer, “Clear Water,” oil

Night Paint 1st place: Carl Bretzke, “Campground Lights,” oil
Night Paint 2nd place: Neil Sherman, “Lawn Riders,” oil
Night Paint 3rd place: Tom McGregor, “Harbor Moon,” oil

Quick Paint 1st place: Hannah C. Heyer, “Wind and Waves,” oil
Quick Paint 2nd place: David Gilsvik, “Sound ’n Fury,” oil
Quick Paint 3rd place: Krystal Brown, “Up,” oil

Hannah C. Heyer, “Wind and Waves,” oil, 7 x 10 in., plein air

Best Historic Place award sponsored and selected by Cook County Historical Society: Mickey Cunningham, “Guarding the Coast,” oil

Best Sense of Place award sponsored by Outdoor Painters of Minnesota: Krystal Brown, “Far Light,” oil

Best Atmospheric Perspective sponsored by Raphael Oil Colors: Philip Alexander Carlton, “Lost in the Mist,” oil

Best Gunflint Trail sponsored by Big Bear Lodge: Scott Lloyd Anderson, “Montreal Canoe,” oil

Art of Golf award sponsored by Gunflint Hills Golf Course: Diane Foster, “Gunflint Hills Golf Course,” oil

Beauty of Pastel award sponsored by Lake Country Pastel Society: Laura Frykman, “Northern Garden,” pastel

Beauty of Oil award sponsored by Lakeside Studio: Kelly Schamberger, “Consequence of Rain,” oil

Beauty of Watercolor award sponsored by Outdoor Painters of Minnesota: James Turner, “Artist Point View,” watercolor

Open Class Best in Show: Connie Riedman, “Dry Dock,” oil

Open Class Honorable Mention: Patricia Undis, “Artist Point,” oil

Art on the Rocks people’s choice award for Open Class division of the Quick Paint: Connie Riedman, “View from Coast Guard Station,” oil

Allison Eklund, “Temperance River,” plein air painting in progress

Plein Air Grand Marais is organized by Outdoor Painters of Minnesota together with the Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery. Beginning in 2018, the competition has expanded in scope to include activities for painters of all experience levels, including daily mini-workshops with professional-level competition painters and a daily public art activity where visitors may try plein air painting at Joy & Co., a local gift and art supply store in Grand Marais. Participating artists enjoy daily organized opportunities to socialize in the thriving village of Grand Marais and along the scenic North Shore of Lake Superior as well as up the Gunflint Trail to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. A traditional Thursday night hootenanny inspires some to bring instruments, and painters gather after the Quick Paint to play and sing around a fire at the local campground.

Dates for 2020 Plein Air Grand Marais are now set: September 11–18, 2020 is Competition Week, and the exhibit will run through October 11, 2020. Registration information will be posted on OPM’s webpage for the event: http://www.outdoorpaintersofminnesota.org/plein-air-grand-marais.html

Upcoming travel and art events with Streamline Publishing:

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