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
18th Borrego Springs Plein Air Invitational
Borrego Art Institute
Dates: March 4-8
Opening Reception: March 9
Juror(s) of Awards: Rick J. Delanty
Contact: Kay Levie
Phone: 619.701.8132
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.borregoartinstitute.org
Fourteen invited artists will compete in a paint-out March 4-8. A Quick Draw will be held March 6. Juror of Awards for 2024 is Rick J. Delanty. The awards presentation and reception will be held at the Borrego Art Institute Gallery on March 9, 3-5 pm. Paintings will hang in the Gallery through April 14, 2024.
EXHIBITION: Canopy, The Sheltering Trees
Dates: Through March 24
Venue: Sanchez Art Center
City: Pacifica
Featuring: Burlingame Plein Air Painters
Website: www.sanchezartcenter.org
Group and exhibition coordinator Bart Charlow notes, “Though we’ve left the trees, they never left us. They shelter us, they provide food, and they feed our souls!” Trees are nobly honored in pigments with an expansive show of paintings in oil, watercolor, pastel, acrylic, gauche, and ink on silk.
EXHIBITION: From Field to Frame: The PAC6 Show How It’s Done
Dates: March 9 – 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
Florida
Lighthouse ArtCenter Annual Plein Air Festival
Dates: March 3-9
City: Tequesta
Format: Juried
Juror(s) of Awards: Michele Usibelli
Award Total: $15,000+
Contact: Laura Zele
Phone: 561.746.3101
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.lighthousearts.org
Nestled in the charming seaside town of Tequesta, Lighthouse ArtCenter welcomes over 20,000 visitors annually to its vibrant galleries and art school. On March 3, the 11th Annual Plein Air Festival unites award-winning artists nationwide to capture local scenes in the open air. This weeklong festival includes artist demonstrations, events, and a variety of fresh art available for purchase.
Forgotten Coast en Plein Air
Dates: March 15-24
Opening Reception: March 15
Sponsoring Organization: Forgotten Coast Cultural Coalition
Venue: The Joe Center for the Arts
City: Port St. Joe
Format: Invitational
Contact: Leslie Wentzell
Phone: 800.378.8419
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.forgottencoastenpleinair.com
Now in its 19th year of documenting authentic “Old Florida,” Forgotten Coast en Plein Air is among the world’s most prestigious plein air events. Artistic excellence and production of investment-quality art continues to be the trademark of this 10-day festival, which features 17 of the most accomplished international artists. Additionally, four “Florida’s Finest en Plein Air” painters are honored Plein Air Ambassadors, providing painting stations that are available to the public. The Quick Draw competition is open to all artists, professional and amateur. Enjoy plein air exhibits, an expansive Wet Room, demonstrations, receptions, and “Lunch and Learn” artist talks.
Louisiana
10th Annual Shadows-on-the-Teche Plein Air
Dates: March 9-16
Sponsoring Organization: National Trust for Historic Preservation
Venue: Shadows-on-the-Teche Visitor Center
City: New Iberia
Format: Juried
Award Total: $10,000
Contact: Jayd Buteaux (she/her)
Phone: 337.369.6446
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.shadowsontheteche.org
The selected jury panel will award cash prizes at the closing reception and auction. Enjoy a region enhanced by architecture, moss-draped live oaks, and sugar fields watered by the Bayou Teche. Home of the oldest operating rice mill in America, exotic gardens, and Avery Island, birthplace of Tabasco, excellent food, original music, and hospitable residents.
Online and Coming Soon
5th Annual Plein Air Live
Dates: March 6-8, with Essential Techniques Day on March 5
Sponsoring Organization: PleinAir Magazine
Venue: Online
Website: PleinAirLive.com
If you’re looking for a way to accelerate your painting skills and an alternative to expensive travel, PleinAir Live features 30 of the finest landscape painters on Earth, over
3 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.
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.
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!
