Take advantage of these art and plein air painting events and opportunities from our 2024 Ultimate Guide to Painting Events and Organizations.
(We want to include your plein air painting events! Don’t see your group listed here? Contact our marketing team to learn how to advertise your plein air painting events and more with Plein Air Today.)
California
EXHIBITION: From Field to Frame: The PAC6 Show How It’s Done
Dates: Through July 7
Venue: Santa Paula Art Museum
PAC6 is a group of six women artists from Southern California who travel and paint together across the country. The artists are Linda Brown, Marian Fortunati, Nita Harper, Debra Holladay, Laura Wambsgans, and Sharon Weaver. For PAC6, “From Field to Frame” marks ten years of collaboration, and is their third major exhibition for the Santa Paula Art Museum. The show features over 70 new landscape paintings, including scenes from the group’s most recent “bucket list” trips to the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley in Arizona, and Hope Valley and the Monterey Peninsula in California. In other paintings, the artists have revisited some of their favorite destinations from the past decade, including Yosemite, Ediza Lake, and Lake Tahoe.
Website: www.santapaulaartmuseum.org
PERFORMANCE: Plein-Air en Plein Air + Beyond the Frame: Impressions of California
Date: April 13
UCI Social Sciences Lab, University of California, Irvine
Website: https://imca.uci.edu/
Please join us for a one-time site-specific performance at the site of ‘Plein-Air en Plein Air’ with Itamar Kubovny and Stefanie Sobelle of the design team Imaginary Places. They will bring their digital exhibition ‘Beyond the Frame’ to life through sound, music, and literary readings in the architectural context of the ‘Plein-Air en Plein Air’ installation. This unique and dynamic experience will spark dialogue and shed new light on late 19th- and early 20th-century California landscape paintings.
Florida
16th Annual Winter Park Paint Out
Dates: April 21-27
Venue: Paint at the Museum and locations nearby
Host: The Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens
Contact: Kaley Craig
Phone: 407.960.4718
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: winterparkpaintout.org
The gallery and sculpture gardens will be free to the public during the weeklong event. Professionally acclaimed plein air artists will paint at the museum and locations nearby. All are invited to observe the artists at work, view completed paintings in the gallery, and attend free painting demonstrations. Artwork created during the Paint Out will be available for purchase. The Winter Park Paint Out will culminate with a Garden Party on April 27.
8th Annual St. Augustine Plein Air Paint Out
Dates: April 24-28
Entry Deadline: April 19
Sponsoring Organization: The St. Augustine Art Association
Venue: 22 Marine Street
Format: Open
Award Total: $3,000
Contact: Jennifer Flynt
Phone: 904.824.2310
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.staaa.org/plein-air-paint-out
You’re invited to the 8th Annual St. Augustine Plein Air Paint Out in the nation’s oldest city. This event, a nod to St. Augustine’s art history, celebrates the town’s architectural and coastal beauty through the time-honored tradition of painting en plein air. Artists will be painting in and around St. Augustine at notable locations. Observers can visit the St. Augustine Art Association’s gallery to view and buy works-in-progress and finished paintings.
Venice Plein Air M.A.P. (Meet And Paint)
Dates: Twice monthly, through April
Venue: Caspersen Beach, Centennial Park, Venice Urban Forest
Format: Open
Contact: Karen Ann Hitt
Phone: 941.586.0207
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.venicepleinair.com
Mission: “Preserving Venice One Plein Air Painting at a Time — since 2003. No Fees, Just Outdoor Painting Camaraderie!” November-April 2023-2024, MAP two times each month. 1st Monday, Caspersen Beach (along boardwalk and shoreline); 3rd Saturday, Historic Downtown Venice & Farmers Market (meet at Gazebo). Follow our Facebook and Instagram pages for updates.
Georgia
10th Annual Olmsted Plein Air Invitational
Dates: April 13-21
Opening Reception: April 16
Sponsoring Organization: Olmsted Arts, Inc.
City: Atlanta
Format: Invitational
Award Total: $40K+
Contact: Phil Cuthbertson
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 404.282.8283
Website: www.olmstedpleinair.com
Enjoy springtime in Atlanta with some of the most esteemed contemporary Impressionist painters, with over 400 original works in our Exhibition Gallery and also in our Virtual Gallery.
Indiana
25th Annual First Brush of Spring
Dates: April 18-20
Venue: Hoosier Salon
City: New Harmony
Format: Open
Juror(s) of Awards: Kelly Kane
Award Total: $15,000+
Contact: Sara Kamman
Phone: 812.682.3970
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.inpainters.org
The 25th FBOS is a 3-day art event. The paint-out kicks off with a reception at the Hoosier Salon on Wednesday, April 18; Field to Finish exhibit and awards. April 18-20. The paint-out competition features a quick draw, professional and non-professional, and youth divisions totaling over $15,000 in awards. Saturday, April 20; there’s an art sale.
South Carolina
EXHIBITION: Burst of Colors: An Artist’s Odyssey in Provence
Dates: April 5-20
Venue: Helena Fox Fine Art
City: Charleston
This plein air art exhibition showcases the vision of Mary Erickson and guest artists D. Elienne Basa, John Caggiano, and Susan Lynn.
Website: www.helenafoxfineart.com
Tennessee
Artists on Location
Dates: April 15-20
Opening Reception: April 20
Sponsoring Organization and Venue: Knoxville Museum of Art
Format: Juried
Juror(s) of Awards: Anne Blair Brown
Award Total: $2,000
Contact: Julia Connor
Phone: 865.254.8257
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.knoxart.org
Artists have an opportunity to paint outdoors over several days at sites in and around scenic Knoxville. Well-known landmarks will be perfect for interactions with the public, from the Smokies to downtown Market Square. On Saturday, April 20, artists’ works will be judged for awards and paintings will be available for sale during the Art Show and Sale from 5 until 9 pm at the Knoxville Museum of Art.
Texas
Paint the Town
Dates: April 21-27
Opening Reception: April 21
Sponsoring Organization: Highland Lakes Creative Arts
Venue: Lakeside Pavilion in Marble Falls
Format: Juried
Juror(s) of Awards: Charlie Hunter
Award Total: $12,000
Contact: Erin Hinzmann
Phone: 512.970.8087
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.hlcarts.com/paint-the-town-festival
Experience a week of celebrating the arts in Texas! Renowned artist Charlie Hunter returns as the juried judge for Paint the Town 2024 in the beautiful lakeside community of Marble Falls. Thirty plein air artists from around the region will compete to capture the outdoor beauty of the Texas Hill Country. With a pop-up sales gallery, a live demonstration by Charlie Hunter, and parties throughout the week, there is so much to do to get fully immersed in Marble Falls’ Paint the Town!
En Plein Air Frisco 2024
Dates: April 24-27
Opening Reception: April 27
Sponsoring Organization: Visual Arts Guild of Frisco
Venue: The Grove at the Commons
Format: Open and Juried
Award Total: $2,000
Contact: Jennifer Luney
Phone: 214.770.6154
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.vagf.org
In collaboration with Play Frisco – City of Frisco Parks and Recreation Department, Visual Arts Guild of Frisco presents En Plein Air Frisco 2024. Juried onsite for cash prizes. Paint/draw for three days in the parks of Frisco with optional wet paint/quick draw competition. Submission open to the public, $55; VAGF members $10 discount.
Coming Soon in Person
Plein Air Convention & Expo
Dates: May 20-24
Sponsoring Organization: PleinAir Magazine
Location: The Great Smoky Mountains and Biltmore Estate, North Carolina
Website: PleinAirConvention.com
Over 80 expert artists and 5 days of teaching and painting! All training sessions are indoors on giant high-definition screens. Beginners and Pros feel right at home. Every year, the Plein Air Convention brings the foremost artists in their fields to share their best practices and techniques with you for five days of high-impact art instruction. It’s your chance to be part of a family of artists and to learn from the very top painters in the world.
Looking Ahead, Online
4th Annual Pastel Live
Dates: September 18-20, with Essential Techniques Day on September 17
Sponsoring Organization: PleinAir Magazine
Venue: Online
Website: PastelLive.com
If you’re looking for a way to accelerate your painting skills and an alternative to expensive travel, Pastel Live features some of the finest pastel painters on Earth, over three days, plus an optional Essential Techniques Day before the main event starts. Essentials Day is a great opportunity for those who need a refresher before the main event, or those just starting out. Join us for demonstrations, lectures, painting critiques, discussions, group painting, and more … all online from the comfort of your own home.
PleinAir Salon Art Competition
Date: Monthly
Sponsoring Organization: Streamline Publishing / PleinAir Magazine
Website: PleinAirSalon.com
Enter the PleinAir Salon $50,000 Art Competition. This is open to all artists and not just for plein air painters. You could win $15,000 and be on the cover of PleinAir Magazine!
Stay tuned for more painting events coming online or near your hometown! We’ll post next month’s painting events soon!
