Take advantage of these art and plein air painting events and opportunities from our 2023 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.)
Alaska
Plein Air Painters of Alaska
Dates: July 29-30, 2023
Contact: Don Kolstad
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: 907.333.0793
Website: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064878570509
California
SOCALPAPA BackBay Plein Air Art Festival
Date: July 7-16, 2023
Sponsoring Organization: OC Parks and Newport Bay Conservancy
City: Newport Beach
Contact: Diane Prendergast
E-Mail: [email protected]
Website: www.socalpapa.com
The 18th Annual “Just Plein Fun”
Date: July 31, 2023-August 4, 2023
Sponsoring Organization: Huse Skelly Fine Art Gallery
City: Balboa Island
Contact: Lisa Skelly
E-Mail: [email protected]
Website: www.huseskellygallery.com/just-plein-fun-2023
Frank Bette Plein Air Paintout
Dates: July 31-August 5, 2023
Opening Reception: August 11, 2023
Sponsoring Organization: Frank Bette Center for the Arts
Venue: South Shore Center/Frank Bette Center for the Arts
City: Alameda
Contact: Margaret Fago
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: 510.332.6922
Website: www.frankbettecenter.org
The Frank Bette Plein Air Paintout hosts up to 40 juried artists for a week of painting tree-lined streets; stately Victorian homes and shops; picturesque marinas; historic naval ships and naval air station; as well as beaches, lagoons, parks, and San Francisco and Oakland skylines in the island city of Alameda, California. The week includes a welcome reception, a quick draw, and an outdoor exhibit and sale of all the paintings on Saturday.
Colorado
20th Annual Telluride Plein Air
Dates: June 28-July 4, 2023
Sponsoring Organization: Sheridan Arts Foundation
Venue: Sheridan Opera House, Telluride
Format: Juried
Award Total: $15,000
Contact: Ronnie Palamar
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: 970.728.6363
Website: www.telluridepleinair.com
The Sheridan Arts Foundation hosts 20-25 nationally renowned plein air artists in beautiful Telluride, Colorado, for the 20th year in 2023 to paint the stunning landscape and historic architecture. The Telluride Plein Air Festival has become an indispensable part of Telluride’s Independence Day festivities, allowing locals and tourists alike to observe some of the nation’s top plein air artists at work. The festival culminates in a three-day sale in the center of the historic downtown.
6th Annual Broadmoor Art Experience
Dates: Saturdays and Sundays in July
Sponsoring Organization: Broadmoor Galleries
Venue: Broadmoor Hotel property, Colorado Springs
Website: www.Broadmoorgalleries.com
Opening the 1st weekend of July, the show takes place over five weekends, with 15-20 artists setting up each Saturday and Sunday 10am-4pm across the Broadmoor Property. Visit with artists while they create new pieces on-site, ask questions, or inquire about acquisitions.
Georgetown Plein Air
Dates: July 28-29, 2023
Opening Reception: July 29, 2023
Sponsoring Organization: Georgetown Trust for Conservation and Preservation, Inc.
Venue: Georgetown Heritage Center
Format: Qualified plein air artists
Award Total: $900
Contact: Ruth Rosenfeld
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: 303.569.0289
Website: www.georgetowntrust.org
Sixth annual plein air event in vintage, picturesque Georgetown, Colorado, 45 minutes west of Denver at 8,500-ft. elevation, in the Georgetown-Silver Plume National Landmark Historic District. A charming town of colorful Victorian buildings ringed by mountain views, Georgetown has long been a favorite of artists. Includes Quick Draw in historic downtown. Exhibit and sale through August 13. Registration and exhibition at the Old School (formerly Heritage Center), restored 1874 schoolhouse, 809 Taos Street. Join us for this painting event in the summer mountain air!
Snowmass Plein Air Fest
Date: July 31-August 6, 2023
Sponsoring Organization: Snowmass Arts Advisory Board (SAAB)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/SnowmassPLEINAIR
Idaho
Driggs Plein Air Festival
Date: July 19-28, 2023
Opening Reception: July 23, 2023
Sponsoring Organization: Downtown Driggs Association
Venue: Driggs City Gallery
Format: Open
Juror of Awards: Ken Spencer and Julie Davis
Award Total: $3,200
Contact: Lisa Simmons
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: 216.235.7532
Website: www.driggspleinair.org
Please join us for the 12th Annual Driggs Plein Air Art Festival, held on the west side of the Teton mountain range. Plein air workshops offered by Ken Spencer and Julie Davis. Check-in from July 19-22. Artists and collectors enjoy many activities like the extended Exhibition & Sale, Opening Reception, Quick Draw Competitions, Workshops, Paint-Outs, Competition Award Ceremony, and Closing Reception.
Plein Air Coeur d’Alene
Dates: July 21-August 6, 2023
Sponsoring Organization: Kootenai Environmental Alliance and Art on the Green
Contact: Jessica Bryant
E-Mail: [email protected]
Website: www.kealliance.org/plein-air-competition
Maryland
Plein Air Easton
Date: July 14-23, 2023
Opening Reception: July 15, 2023
Sponsoring Organization: The Avalon Foundation
Format: Juried
Award Total: $30,000+
Contact: Marie Nuthall
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: 410.924.7279
Website: www.pleinaireaston.com
Plein Air Easton is celebrating its 19th year in 2023. Fifty-eight artists are juried into the competition by a unique juror each year. Quick Draw is July 22 (open registration for all).
Montana
Plein Air Montana
Dates: July 24-29, 2023
Sponsoring Organization: Bozeman Art Museum
Website: bozemanartmuseum.org
Includes a Quick Draw and workshops taught by George Van Hook.
North Carolina
Exhibition: En Plein Mountain Air
Dates: Through July 15, 2023
Venue: The Art Cellar Gallery, in Banner Elk
Website: artcellargallery.com
Featuring two impressionists, who after travels and studies throughout the world, have returned to the Blue Ridge inspired by its natural beauty. Richard Oversmith credits the region’s ability to “evoke the artist’s muse” as a reason for settling near Asheville following his studies at the Royal College of Art in London, England. Trey Finney lives and works from studios in Tennessee and South Carolina. He frequents the High Country to soak in the landscape and agricultural setting to apply to his work what he refers to as “natural impressions.”
Utah
Wasatch Plein Air Paradise
Dates: June 23-July 4, 2023
Sponsoring Organization: Midway Art Association
Contact: Jerry Watterworth
E-Mail: [email protected]
Website: www.midwayartassociation.org
Wisconsin
Door County Plein Air Festival
Date: July 23-29, 2023
Opening Reception: July 28, 2023
Sponsoring Organization: Peninsula School of Art
City: Fish Creek
Format: Invitational
Juror of Awards: Lori Putnam
Award Total: $18,000
Contact: Crystal Chesnik
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: 920.868.3455
Website: www.peninsulaschoolofart.org
The Door County Plein Air Festival features 35 invited plein air masters and takes place among the diverse natural beauty and quaint harbor towns of the Door Peninsula. Listen and learn from daily artist demonstrations. Tour local partner galleries as artists paint on site. View and purchase fresh paintings at our Collector’s Preview Gala Auction. Online exhibition and sale through August 13, 2023.
Nova Scotia, Canada
Lunenburg Arts Fest 2023
Dates: July 22-23, 2023
Sponsoring Organization: Lunenburg Art Society/Paint Lunenburg
City: Lunenburg
Contact: Sharon Wadsworth-Smith
E-Mail: [email protected]
Website: www.lunenburgartgallery.com
Ireland
Art in the Open Plein Air Festival
Dates: July 30-August 7, 2023
Opening Reception: July 6, 2023
Venue: Greenacres Gallery, Wexford
Format: Open
Contact: Anthony Robinson
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: 086.237.2470
Website: www.artintheopen.org
Join us for the 16th Art in the Open, a plein air painting week in southeast Ireland, each day visiting different locations including Wexford Town, coastal scenes, fishing villages, historic buildings, and rural countryside. Bus transport is available daily. Optional workshops with outstanding professional artists, volunteer stewards, social events, artist talks, costume dinner, charity quick draw event, and 2-day exhibition with awards. Make Europe’s largest plein air painting festival the focal point of your Irish holiday.
Painting Events Coming Soon
Online
Pastel Live presented by PleinAir™ Magazine
Dates: August 17-19, 2023 (Beginner’s Day August 16)
Contact: PleinAir Magazine
Phone: 561.655.8778 or 800.610.5771
Website: pastellive.com
Sometimes we want to try new mediums, or seek ways to enhance our creativity. For decades, artists have turned to pastel for brilliant, vibrant colors. Today, pastel painting is a huge worldwide trend, and PastelLive is an online event consisting of 3 days of demonstrations from 30 of the world’s leading pastel artists, along with lectures, painting critiques, discussions, and more. There’s even an optional Beginner’s Day for those who need a refresher before the main event. Join a worldwide audience of passionate pastel painters and those who want to discover more about it. This event is held online, so you can enjoy it from the comfort of your own home.
New York
Fall Color Week
Dates: September 29-October 5, 2023
Sponsoring Organization: PleinAir Magazine
Venue: Saranac Village City, in Saranac Lake
Contact: PleinAir Magazine, 561.655.8778 or 800.610.5771
Website: fallcolorweek.com
PleinAir Magazine’s Eric Rhoads lives in a place where fall color isn’t great, so he created the Fall Color Week retreat, held in various locations during peak color season annually. It’s a week of painting with old friends and new ones. We have our meals together, and we stay on the same property … all for one price. Join Eric this fall in Saranac Lake in New York during peak fall color season. Come enjoy the beautiful fall scenery with no competition, just painting alongside your friends. No meals to cook, no one to care for, just roll out of bed, get fed, and paint all day. It’s glorious.
Stay tuned for more painting events coming online or near your hometown! We’ll post the August painting events soon!
