Take advantage of these art and plein air painting events and opportunities from our 2024 Ultimate Guide to Painting Events and Organizations. Bonus: Includes upcoming event deadlines!
(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
19th Annual Frank Bette Plein Air Paintout
Dates: July 29-August 3
Opening Reception: August 10
Sponsoring Organization: Frank Bette Center for the Arts
Venue: South Shore Center
City: Alameda
Format: Juried
Contact: Margaret Fago
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 510.523.6957
Website: www.frankbettecenter.org
Experience the Island of Alameda. In 2005 the Frank Bette Plein Air Paintout began hosting up to 40 juried artists for a week of painting tree-lined streets, stately Victorian homes and shops, picturesque marinas, historic naval ships, and a former naval air station, as well as beaches, lagoons, parks, and the island city of Alameda.
ART SHOW: Colors of Conservation
Dates: August 9-10
Venue: Octagon Barn Center, San Luis Obispo
Sponsoring Organizations: The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County and SLOPE (San Luis Outdoor Painters for the Environment)
“Colors of Conservation” is an annual exhibit of original landscape paintings of our precious open spaces, historic ranch lands, waterways, and coastal areas. Original paintings and prints will be available for sale. A portion of art sales will benefit The Land Conservancy. Live artist painting demonstrations on Saturday, August 10 with Jan French (watercolor) and Joe McFadden (oil).
Website: www.slope-painters.com
Massachusetts
Berkshire Plein Air
Dates: Through October 11
Sponsoring Organization: Guild of Berkshire Artists
City: West Stockbridge
Format: Open
Contact: Karen Carmean
Phone: 617.868.7082
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.berkshireartists.org/pleinair
Create art outdoors with Berkshire Plein Air of Western Massachusetts. Daily 10am-1pm except Sundays, weather permitting, June-October. Meet at a beautiful Berkshire location: Hancock Shaker Village, The Mount, the Berkshire Botanical Garden. Work until noon, then positive critique over lunch (bring or buy). Oil, acrylic, photography, watercolors, pastel, drawing, digital painting encouraged. Bring your own supplies. Open to all levels. Come for a day, a week. Join us for exhibits, quick draws, demonstrations, workshops, and competitions. We also go to The Clark, Mount Greylock, Oxbow on Housatonic, a horse farm, Tyringham Cobble, Lake Cheshire, Bartholomew’s Cobble, Stockbridge, Lenox, Great Barrington, and Sheffield.
Michigan
Paint Dexter Plein Air Festival
Dates: August 12-17
Contact: Josh Tanghe
Phone: 734.426.8303
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.paintdexter.com
Montana
Plein Air Montana 2024
Dates: July 28-August 3
Opening Reception: August 3
Sponsoring Organization & Venue: Bozeman Art Museum
Format: Invitational & limited Open, Juried
Contact: Linda Williams
Phone: 406.570.1419
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: bozemanartmuseum.org
With a hybrid of returning and juried artists and locations from downtown to the mountains just outside of Bozeman, artists have the opportunity to create some remarkable work, which will be eligible for awards and sales. The artwork will remain on display and available for purchase throughout the month of August. Opening night will be August 3 after a morning Quick Draw paint-out. Enjoy social gatherings, buyers’ events, and workshops.
Plein Air Glacier
Dates: August 26-31
Opening Reception: August 31
Sponsoring Organization: Hockaday Museum of Art, Kalispell
Format: Juried
Award Total: $250 x 2
Contact: Alyssa Cordova
Phone: 406.755.5268
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.hockadaymuseum.com
Paint in beautiful Northwest Montana and Glacier National Park! Join us for the 17th year of this fun juried painting event, exhibition, and sale. Paint-out, hikes, party, and sale: August 26-31. Party and sale: Saturday, August 31, 4-7 pm. Exhibition and online sale: September 3-October 5.
New Mexico
EXHIBITION: Plein Air Painters of New Mexico 16th Annual National Juried Members Exhibition
Dates: August 31 – September 31
Venue: Legends of the West Fine Art Gallery, Santa Fe
Website: www.papnm.org
The show will consist of 74 paintings by 46 PAPNM members, including signature and master signature artists, who were juried into the show by Bruce Gómez, Richard Guzmán, and Jeff Otis. The judge is Kathleen Hudson.
New York
16th Annual Adirondack Plein Air Festival
Dates: August 12-17
Opening Reception: August 16
Sponsoring Organization: Saranac Lake ArtWorks
Venue: Town Hall, Saranac Lake
Format: Juried
Juror of Awards: Valerie Craig
Award Total: $6,000+
Contact: Sandra Hildreth
Phone: 518.832.0081
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.saranaclakeartworks.org
Come paint the landscapes that inspired the Hudson River School painters — the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York. Forty artists; 5 1/2 days of painting; a Special Preview Party on August 16 and a Show & Sale on August 17.
North Carolina
2024 Blowing Rock Plein Air Festival
Dates: August 20-24
Sponsoring Organization: Blowing Rock Art & History Museum
Format: Open
Contact: Jennifer Garonzik
Phone: 828.295.9099
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.blowingrockpleinair.org
The Blowing Rock Plein Air Festival takes place in the beautiful mountainous area surrounding the town of Blowing Rock in western North Carolina. The festival aims to bring painters together from around the world to paint outside in the fresh air while getting to know each other and sharing their work. The event prompts applicants to explore the unique Blowing Rock architecture, spectacular Blue Ridge Mountain views, and overall Appalachian feel of one of the most scenic areas in the country.
South Dakota
De Smet South Dakota Harvey Dunn Plein Air
Dates: August 8-11
Sponsoring Organization: Harvey Dunn Society
Venue: Ingalls Homestead & De Smet Event Center
Format: Open
Award Total: $500 & prizes
Contact: Janae Bell
Phone: 320.894.7540
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.facebook.com/harveydunnsociety
Paint the prairies of South Dakota and the “Little Town on the Prairie” where Harvey Dunn painted and Laura Ingalls Wilder homesteaded. 15th Annual … is the longest-running plein air in South Dakota. Everything is free, including registration, workshops, children’s workshop, receptions, and “wet sale.” Beginners & pros welcome. Many residents attend to buy artwork on Sunday.
Wisconsin
11th Annual Paint the Point
Dates: August 7-10
Sponsoring Organization: Arts Mineral Point, Inc.
Venue: Historic Masonic Lodge #1, Mineral Point
Format: Open
Award Total: Over $8,000
Contact: Ried Knapp
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 608.285.2958
Website: www.artsmp.org
The 11th Annual Paint the Point will feature 45 artists competing in Main Event, Nocturne, Quick Paint, and Postcard events. Main Event paintings may be painted throughout Mineral Point and neighboring Dodgeville townships. Mineral Point, a frontier mining town, was founded in 1826 and holds the slogan “Where Wisconsin Began.” It is located in the heart of the Driftless Region — an area noted for beautiful vistas unscathed by the last glacial period. Historic limestone vernacular architecture and the surrounding idyllic countryside offer artists tremendous creative options.
August Deadlines:
- 7th Annual Black Hills Plein Air Paint Out (South Dakota)
Deadline: August 1
www.hillcityarts.org/plein-air - Two Rivers Plein Air (Texas)
Deadline: August 1
www.thenewbraunfelsartleague.com - Farm to Forest Plein Air Festival (Louisiana)
Deadline: August 28
www.themuseum.org - Alla Prima Westcliffe (Colorado)
Deadline: August 31
www.sangresartguild.org - PleinAir® Salon Art Competition
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!
Deadline: July 31
PleinAirSalon.com
Looking Ahead, Online Painting Events
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.
Stay tuned for more painting events coming online or near your hometown! We’ll post next month’s painting events soon!
