Take advantage of these art and plein air painting opportunities from our 2022 Ultimate Guide to Painting Events and Organizations.
(Don’t see your event listed here? Contact our marketing team to learn how to advertise with Plein Air Today.)
May 2022 Art / Plein Air Painting Events
Arkansas
Art and the Park: Creative Roots
Dates: April 29-May 8, 2022
City: Hot Springs
Sponsoring Organization: The Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance
Website: hotsprings.org
The 10-day spring festival will again combine in-person and virtual activities that showcase the talents of local and guest artists. The theme for the 2022 festival will be “Creative Roots” with many elements of the festival celebrating the varied cultural backgrounds from which Arkansans come.
California
Lost Sierra Plein Air Festival
Dates: May 31–June 4, 2022
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.lostsierrapleinair.com
Florida
6th Annual St. Augustine Plein Air Paint Out
Dates: April 27–May 1, 2022
Sponsoring Organization and Venue: St. Augustine Art Association
Format: Open
Award Total: $2,000
Contact: Jennifer Flynt
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 904.824.2310
Website: www.staaa.org/pleinair
The annual St. Augustine Plein Air Paint Out in historic St. Augustine, Florida, is a nod to the city’s art history and celebrates the time-honored tradition of painting en plein air. Artists will be inspired by the Spanish architecture, coastal environment, small-town streets, and Old World charm of the nation’s oldest city. Highlights of the event include: artist demos, quick draw competition, public and online gallery of plein air paintings, and juried exhibit. The St. Augustine Plein Air Paint Out is sponsored in part by a grant from the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council.
Illinois
11th Prairie Plein Air Competition and Show
Dates: April 29–May 13, 2022
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.prairiecenter.org
Maryland
EXHIBITION: Color of Light
May 5 – July 30
Washington Society of Landscape Painters / Crystal Moll Gallery
Included in this show are artists: Barbara Nuss, Bernard Dellario, Bill Schmidt, Crystal Moll, David Diaz, Hai-Ou Hou, Jacalyn Beam, Jean Schwartz, Jill Banks, Jill Basham, Lynn Mehta, Mary Kokoski, Meg Walsh & Pattee Hipschen.
In addition to the opening and closing receptions, we will be hosting a paint out which will be open to all members.
Website: www.crystalmoll.com
New Mexico
9th Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo
Dates: May 17-21
Sponsored by: Streamline Publishing / PleinAir Magazine
City: Santa Fe
Website: https://pleinairconvention.com
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. Each action-packed day includes indoor demonstrations on four stages by the world’s leading artists, including specialty sessions for oil, watercolor, pastel, and acrylic. A chance to sample the techniques of a faculty of over 60 painters. ALL of the Plein Air Convention expert artists and speakers are highly vetted and hand-selected by PleinAir Magazine. Some of these artists are impossible to get and have flown in from across the world.
Fechin Invitational Exhibition
Dates: April 5–May 15
Sponsoring Organization: Plein Air Painters of New Mexico
Venue: Taos Art Museum at Fechin House
Website: papnm.org
Every year the nonprofit organization Plein Air Painters of New Mexico (PAPNM) invites its members to apply for Signature status. First, applicants must describe and prove they have attained certain markers of professionalism and artistic excellence. This information is reviewed alongside their creations by four unnamed judges, who score the applications and then announce the results. The even higher tier of Master membership is awarded by invitation only.
This is the fourth year that an exhibition of Master and Signature members’ recent works will be mounted at the Taos Museum of Art & Fechin Studio, formerly home to the brilliant Russian-born artist Nicolai Fechin (1881–1955). Each eligible artist will send one painting, which can be painted indoors or outdoors in any medium. The opening reception is set for April 9.
North Carolina
Plein Air New Bern
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.pleinairnewbern.org
Pennsylvania
River Towns Plein Air
Dates: April 18–May 1
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.mariettaartalive.com
Celebration of the Arts Plein Air Event
Date: May 1
Sponsoring Organization: Lewisburg Arts Council and Merrill W. Linn Land and Waterways Conservancy
Venue: Dale-Engle-Walker Property
City: Lewisburg, PA
Format: Open
Contact: Barbara Baker
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 570.412.1686
Website: www.lewisburgartscouncil.com
The eighth annual Plein Air Event, sponsored by the Lewisburg Arts Council and the Merrill W. Linn Land and Waterways Conservancy, is held to preserve, with participants’ artwork, a present moment at Conservancy sites and to build a community of artists and citizens passionate about preserving these sites. The day begins with a free, optional workshop presented by a local artist; participating artists of all ages and skill levels are invited to visit either of two Conservancy sites to paint or draw. A reception ends the day. The artwork will be displayed at a local gallery in June 2022.
Plein Air Painting Along the Historic National Road
Dates: May 22, 2022
Sponsoring Organization: Touchstone Center for Crafts & National Road Heritage Corridor
Venue: Historic National Road, Southwestern Pennsylvania
City: Uniontown, PA
Format: Combination
Contact: Dean Simpson
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 724.329.1370
Website: www.touchstonecrafts.org
Be inspired through direct observation of this beautiful location along the Historic National Road. Bring your own supplies and paint, draw, sculpt, take photographs, etc., alongside beginner and seasoned artisans during this outdoor event. Following the event, registered participants may bring their finished paintings to Touchstone Center for Crafts for judging and a chance to win prizes. Campus and studio tours will be available to all visitors. Artists of all skill levels are invited to participate. Cost is $25 for adults and $10 for under 18. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Texas
Plein Air SouthWest
Dates: May 1–7, 2022
Opening Reception: May 7, 2022
Sponsoring Organization: Outdoor Painters Society
Venue: Galveston Historical Foundation
City: Galveston, TX
Format: Juried
Award Total: $25,000
Contact: Tina Bohlman
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 972.741.6154
Website: www.outdoorpainterssociety.com
Juried plein air event for members of Outdoor Painters Society.
Paint Historic Waxahachie
Dates: May 20–27, 2022
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.elliscountyart.net
Virginia
Plein Air Roanoke
Dates: May 23–28, 2022
Opening Reception: May 23, 2022
Sponsoring Organization: The Little Gallery
Venue: Gallery 202, 206 Market Square
Format: Open
Award Total: $2,000+
Contact: Margaret Sue Turner Wright
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 540.798.1299
Website: www.pleinairroanoke.com
For five days, artists will paint picturesque Roanoke Valley and surrounding areas, including the Blue Ridge Parkway, Historic Roanoke City Market, historical trains, mountains, vistas, expansive lakes, streams, and rivers, with nature trails surrounding the region!
Ontario, Canada
Elora Plein Air Festival
Dates: May 19–23, 2022
Opening Reception: May 19, 2022
Entry Deadline: May 19, 2022
Sponsoring Organization: Elora Fergus Arts Council
Venue: Elora Centre for the Arts, 75 Melville St.
Format: Open
Award Total: $4,000
Contact: Barbara Lee
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 226.821.5536
Website: www.elorapleinair.ca
Come and paint with us! The historic towns of Elora and Fergus overlook the gorges of the Grand and Irvine Rivers. Discover the charm of village scenes, rolling countryside, and dramatic river views. Our four-day spring festival is an open competition. Three days of painting culminate in awards and a great show and sale. There are opportunities for nocturnes and a quick paint competition. There’s plenty to do when you’re not painting, too. Discover small-town warmth and connect with other outdoor paint enthusiasts.
Coming Up in June:
11th Annual Publisher’s Invitational
Dates: June 11-18
Sponsoring Organization: Streamline Publishing
Venue/location: Paul Smith’s College, Upstate New York / Adirondacks
Format: Painting retreat
Website: https://paintadirondacks.com/
Relaxation, opportunity, and adventure await you when you join Eric Rhoads for a Publishers Invitational painting event. The purpose of this event is painters painting together. Nothing more, and certainly nothing less. Though we may come up with something unexpected, there is no event other than daily painting and meals so you should expect nothing but painting. It is simply, pure expression. This July is the most special event of all… our 10 year reunion! PleinAir publisher Eric Rhoads invites you to paint for a week at the end of July, reconnect with old friends and make new ones. Everyone who has ever attended is invited back, and those who have never attended will find this year the best ever. A week with friends, laughter, painting and bonding. No exhibition, no workshop, no pressure. Just painting with new friends for eight days in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of New York. One price includes lodging and meals.
