This year the Parrsboro International Plein Air Festival (PIPAF) is a go, albeit in a different format due to COVID-19.

For several years the PIPAF festival has drawn artists of all descriptions from around North America to the Parrsboro Shore (Nova Scotia, Canada), where they compete for prizes, share their work and sell their art. But this year the event has been changed to an online-only format, thanks to the pandemic lockdown which prevents travel and large gatherings of people.

Now in its fourth year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the festival is moving to an online format at www.parrsborocreative.com rather than drawing artists to the Parrsboro area on Nova Scotia’s Bay of Fundy. More than 30 artists have signed up to compete for more than $6,000 in cash and product awards via the internet in the June 20-21 juried festival. Interested viewers can go online to watch them work, vote for their favorite artwork, see the finished products, and even make purchases. The winners will be named in an online awards ceremony on June 28.

“We believe it is our responsibility as artists to uplift the spirits of the international community by celebrating our resilience and solidarity in times of adversity and through documenting this important moment in history,” said Parrsboro Creative executive director Jocelyn Li.

This year’s PIPAF in Isolation theme asks the artists to reflect ‘en plein air’ their world as they see it during this pandemic crisis. The artists will frame the world of isolation through their personal circumstance and location through their eyes as a plein air painter, in an isolated location outdoors or indoors, including subjects through doors and windows, and still life. It will offer a two-day record of an important time in world history, Li said.

“Presenting a virtual festival on short notice, we anticipated a steep learning curve of having to adapt the physical event into a live-streaming and video event,” Li said.
“With many of our artists residing in remote areas in isolation, we found them without access to a reliable wireless internet signal or even a phone with good sound or video quality, so we will be accommodating painters with recordings and photography for those unable to livestream.”

More information is available at www.parrsborocreative.com.


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