Your Plein Air Painting Events Guide for September 2022

Take advantage of these art and plein air painting events and opportunities from our 2022 Ultimate Guide to Painting Events and Organizations.

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September 2022 Art / Plein Air Painting Events

Arizona

Grand Canyon Celebration of Art
September 20, 2022–January 16, 2023
Sponsoring Organization: Grand Canyon Conservancy
Venue: Kolb Studio, Grand Canyon National Park
Format: Juried
Contact: Kathy Duley
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 480.277.0458
Website: www.grandcanyon.org/coa
Celebration of Art is a wonderful tradition at Grand Canyon Na-tional Park, providing a vibrant experience for visitors, a venue for artists inspired by the canyon, and a successful fundraiser to benefit a future art venue at the South Rim. Since 2009, Celebration of Art has invited participating artists to paint “en plein air” for a week at Grand Canyon. The works produced during this time are shown alongside studio-produced pieces at the historic Kolb Studio in an exhibition and sale that extends for four months.

California

Mendocino Open Paint Out
September 19–25, 2022
Sponsoring Organization / Venue: Mendocino Art Center
Format: Open
Contact: Michael McDonald
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 707.937.5818
Website: www.mendocinoartcenter.org
A weeklong plein air festival held in a spectacular set-ting along the Northern California Coast. Artists claim the light is unlike anywhere else in the world. From the rugged surrounding landscape, to the bay and beaches, to the quaint Victorian architecture and water towers, to the nearby vineyards and wineries, abundant creative inspiration is sure to be found amid the beauty and tranquility of the Mendocino Coast. Enjoy daily plein air painting, wet paint sales in a professional gallery, demonstrations by featured plein air artists, a Quick Draw Competition and Sale, and a celebratory awards presentation, among other activities.

65th Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival
September 17-18
Venue: Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival, Old Mill Park
Website: mvfaf.org
For 65 years, the community gathers under the redwood trees in Old Mill Park to celebrate art and the beauty that surrounds us. This year, Richard Lindenberg has been selected as the festival’s featured artist. His image “Pond Walk” graces the poster and all peripheral assets. Although the art comes from near and far, the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival offers a warm, local, non-commercial experience and welcomes all ages and people.

EXHIBITION: “Transitions: The Beauty of Life’s Journey”
Through October 22
Venue: Firehouse Art Center, Harrington Gallery, Pleasanton
Website: firehousearts.org/gallery
This new exhibition features 20 nationally known California artists and revolves around each one’s interpretation of transitional elements in our lives.

Colorado

23rd Annual AIS National Juried Exhibition
September 15–October 22
Opening Reception: September 15
Sponsoring Organization: American Impressionist Society
Venue: Mary Williams Fine Art, Boulder, CO
Format: Juried
Juror of Awards: Huihan Liu AISM
Award Total: $77,000
Contact: Liz Ahrens
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 231.881.7685
Website: www.americanimpressionistsociety.org
The American Impressionist Society provides arts opportuni-ties to artists working in the style of Impressionism. Each year AIS presents four juried exhibits along with numerous panel discussions, demonstrations, workshops, critiques, professional development, on-location painting competitions, and educa-tional programs. The exhibits and events are open to the public. AIS partners with galleries and arts organizations to present our National and Small Works Showcase each year. AIS has grown to be one of the most respected national art organizations in the country, with over 2,000 members nationwide. Founded in 1998 by four Florida artists in honor of their mentor, William Schultz.

Steamboat Art Museum Plein Air 2022
September 23–30, 2022
Opening Reception: September 30, 2022
Entry Deadline: September 15, 2022
Sponsoring Organization / Venue: Steamboat Art Museum
Format: Open
Award Total: $10,000
Contact: Dottie Zabel
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 970.870.1755
Website: www.steamboatartmuseum.org
Paint the fall splendor of Steamboat Springs and the Yampa Valley, offering landmark ranches, alpine vistas, a historic downtown, and plentiful painting opportunities with hosted painting sites. Three sales events: a Kick-Off Quick Draw at the Farmers Market, Saturday, September 24; Sunset Preview Reception with artists and patrons on Wednesday, September 28; Opening Reception and Awards Friday, Sept. 30. All work is on exhibit and for sale through November 6, 2022. Professional and Open categories. Space is limited to 45 artists, early registration and museum membership discounts available.

Georgia

Olmsted 200 Celebration
Through December 31
Sponsoring Organization: Olmsted Arts, Inc. (Olmsted Plein Air Invitational)
Venue/location: Olmsted Landscapes Nationwide
Format: Plein Air/Studio Virtual Gallery Two paintings to competition/virtual judging
Contact name: Phil Cuthbertson / Lillian Ansley
Email: [email protected] / [email protected]
Phone: 404-944-3475
Website: olmstedpleinair.com
Frederick Law Olmsted (FLO), the “Father” of modern American landscape architecture and designer of the grounds of Biltmore Estate, the U.S. Capitol Grounds, Central Park, the Buffalo Parks System, the Louisville Parks System, Riverside in Chicago, Druid Hills in Atlanta and many more iconic landscapes. FLO painted his landscapes with trees, shrubs, rolling hills, streams and ponds. His design vision provided all people with simple pleasures of nature. The Olmsted 200 Celebration brings 52 Olmsted Plein Air Invitational Alumni to document Olmsted landscapes across the country.

Illinois

Paint the Town Barrington!
September 30–October 8
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.barrington-il.gov/pleinair

Indiana

Carmel on Canvas
September 16–18
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.carmelartsanddesign.com

Maryland

9th Annual Summer Plein Air Show
August 20 – September 24
Sponsoring Organization and Venue: Crystal Moll Gallery
Website: www.crystalmoll.com
We will showcase works by some of the most talented plein air artists working today. Plein Air is a French term meaning “in the open air.” We are fortunate to have many nationally recognized plein air artists working and living in our region. In addition to providing us with selected works, we will ask artists to paint throughout Baltimore on August 20th. These new paintings will be on display and for sale wet off their easels during the reception.

Massachusetts

Plein Air in the Berkshires
Through September 30
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.berkshireartists.org/plein-air

Michigan

EXHIBITION: Plein Air Exhibition and Sale
Through September 28
Artist Reception: September 15
Venue: Forest Hills Fine Arts Center, Grand Rapids
Website: www.fhfineartscenter.com

Minnesota

Plein Air Grand Marais
September 9–16
Opening Reception: September 16
Sponsoring Organization: Outdoor Painters of Minnesota
Venue: Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery
Format: Combination
Award Total: $5,750
Contact: Allison Eklund
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 651.592.7858
Website: www.outdoorpaintersofminnesota.org/plein-air-grand-marais.html
Every year for 19 years, painters from across the country have gathered to paint in Grand Marais, from the North Shore of Lake Superior and up the Gunflint Trail to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Daily mini-workshops, paint-outs, artist socials, and a traditional hootenanny with the “Plain Errors” make this a beloved annual tradition. All painters are welcome: the Open Class is oriented toward learning artists, and the Competition Class is juried. An Invitational Class features Mini-Workshop Instructors and painters from the Arrowhead region of Minnesota.

New Mexico

EXHIBITION: Painted Stories Show
September – October
Sponsoring Organization:
Venue: Abiquiu Inn Gallery
Website: milagropainters.com
The upcoming Painted Stories Show is an exciting exhibition from the Milagro Painters – five award winning New Mexico artists. Plein Air Painting is a time honored tradition in New Mexico. Each artist will have a dozen or more paintings in the show and it will run for two full months. All paintings will be available to take home and collectors may work with the Inn to acquire a painting that they want to take home.

New York

Plein Air Paint Out 2022
September 1-3
Sponsoring Organization / Venue: View Center for Arts & Culture, Old Forge
Website: viewarts.org
Our event is well attended and known as a warm and welcoming opportunity to gather to paint plein air in a spectacular area and be hosted with special meals and activities.

Ohio

Ohio Plein Air Society 19th Annual Competition
September 22–25
Opening Reception: September 25
Entry Deadline: September 19
Sponsoring Organization: Ohio Plein Air Society
Venue: Mansfield Art Center
Format: Open
Juror of Awards: Carol Strock Wasson
Award Total: $4,000+
Contact: Mary Ann Clady
E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 419.512.0594
Website: www.ohiopleinairsociety.com
Artists paint anywhere in Richland County, a tourist and recreational hub for north central Ohio featuring state parks, unique villages, Kingwood Gardens, Malabar Farm, the Carousel District in Mansfield, and the Ohio State Reforma-tory, a world-renowned historic site that serves as a location for major motion pictures such as The Shawshank Redemption. Ohio Plein Air Society, since 2002, is a collection of artists and art lovers sharing a common interest in outdoor painting. We are proud to be at the forefront of the plein air movement in the United States.

Oregon

Biennial Open International Juried Exhibition “Spirit of Pastel”
August 2–September 30
Sponsoring Organization: Pastel Artists of Oregon
Venue: Chehalem Cultural Center
City: Newberg, OR
Format: Juried
Juror of Awards: Amanda Houston
Award Total: Over $4,000 in cash and prizes
Contact: Mary Weil
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.pastelartistsoforegon.com
Join us in beautiful Yamhill County, Oregon, home to 764 world-class vineyards. Juried artists traveling will enjoy the beautiful rolling hills, small-town hospitality, a vibrant art community, fine wines, and farm-to-table cuisine.

Coastal Plein Air Art & Wine Festival
September – October
Sponsoring Organization: Florence Regional Art Alliance
Venue: Florence Events Center, Oregon
Website: fraaoregon.org/coastal-plein-air

South Dakota

Black Hills Plein Air Paint Out 2022
September 21–24
Opening Reception: September 23
Entry Deadline: September 9
Sponsoring Organization: Hill City Area Arts Council
Format: Juried
Contact: Sherry Liddell
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 605.574.2810
Website: www.hillcityarts.org
Artists will choose a desired and picturesque location, and visitors can observe “art in the making.” Visitors will have the opportunity to purchase this art. The Black Hills Plein Air Paint Out takes place on the weekend of the famous Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup. The Hills are filled with visitors from around the country.

Tennessee

Paint Out and “On the Porch” Event
September 23-24
Sponsoring Organization: Plein Air Painters of the Southeast
Venue: Leiper’s Creek Gallery, Franklin
Website: leiperscreekgallery.com
More than 30 highly acclaimed Plein Air painters will be painting in Leiper’s Fork. At 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 23 special guest Peter Trippi, editor-in-chief of Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, will make a presentation about the world of art and bring enlightened perspective to the PAPSE event. Fine Art Connoisseur is the definitive magazine for collectors of representational painting, sculpture, drawings and prints. All day on Friday and Saturday, guests are invited to experience the painters creating art en plein air. Visitors can wander from easel to easel as artists capture the beautiful landscapes and historic buildings of Leiper’s Fork. During this time, paintings will be for sale on the porch. They will be framed and ready to go, but only for these two days. This is a wonderful opportunity to acquire paintings from the most celebrated and distinguished painters of the southeast.

Plein Air in the Park
September 25–October 2
Sponsoring Organization: Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Venue: Clayton Center for the Arts
City: Maryville, TN
Format: Invitational
Award Total: $15,000
Contact: Lauren Gass
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 865.257.4776
Website: www.friendsofthesmokies.org/pleinair
Welcome to Plein Air in the Park, the inaugural art event inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Twenty nationally acclaimed plein air artists will gather in the most-visited national park to capture the beauty and magic of the Smokies.

Utah

Escalante Canyons Art Festival — Everett Ruess Days
September 12–25
Sponsoring Organization: Envision Escalante
Venue: Escalante City Park
Format: Open
Award Total: $10,000+
Contact: Allysia Angus
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.escalantecanyonsartfestival.org
Southern Utah’s canyon country with fall colors and stunning light — it doesn’t get any better! Join us to paint and celebrate the spectacular Escalante Canyons and surrounding areas. Hosted in Escalante, Utah — along Scenic Byway 12 —between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks, in the heart of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Plein air, nocturne and quick draw competitions, exhibits, in-person and online art sales, workshops and hands-on-art programs, demonstrations, arts and crafts fair, live music, roving talks, and much more.

Virginia

Suffolk Plein Air Festival
September 6–11
Opening Reception: September 9
Sponsoring Organization: Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts, Suffolk Art League, Suffolk Tourism, City of Suffolk
Venue: Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts
Format: Juried
Award Total: $4,500
Contact: Sandy Waters
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 757.925.1800
Website: www.suffolkpleinair.org
Art enthusiasts throughout Coastal Virginia welcome artists to paint our lovely water views, farmlands, historical sites, and downtown area during this weeklong event. This juried event provides approximately four painting days, with an artists’ dinner and a ticketed grand gala/awards/wet paint sale Friday evening. It features a Saturday QuickDraw competition during our “Taste of Suffolk” street festival where 5,000+ attendees can watch paint-ings come to life and purchase them on the spot. Local residents open their homes to out-of-area artists, but special hotel rates are available, if preferred. We invite you to join us for this fun and artist-focused event.

2nd Annual Poco Paint-Out
September 24
Location: Pocahontas State Park, Chesterfield
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.anthonybowes.net

Wyoming

Plein Air in the Parks
September 15-18: Curt Gowdy State Park, Cheyenne
September 22-25: Trail End State Historic Park, Sheridan
Sponsoring Organization: Plein Air Painters of Southeast Wyoming / Wyoming Arts Council
Website: wyomingartscouncil.org
Cash prizes for adult and youth categories. Up to two entries per participant. Public art show, sale, and reception.

International Painting Events: New Zealand

Publisher’s Invitational: Paint New Zealand
September 15-25
Sponsoring Organization: Streamline Publishing
Format: Painting retreat
Website: paintingnewzealand.com
Paint your way through the majesty of New Zealand with Eric Rhoads for a trip you’ll never forget.

Painting Events Coming Soon:

Maine

Publisher’s Invitational: Fall Color Week
October 6-13
Sponsoring Organization: Streamline Publishing / PleinAir Magazine
Venue: Schoodic Institude, Acadia
Website: fallcolorweek.com/acadia
Fall Color Week is about painting and making friends. This isn’t a workshop, and you’re not there to watch demonstrations. But by painting for a week with others, you’ll learn lots of great lessons. We all help one another. And unlike a workshop, where there is the stress to perform, this is all about taking time and practicing what you already know. If you’re a beginner, think about everything you’ll learn by spending consistent time painting and feeling the excitement of being around others who share your passion.

Online:

Realism Live
November 10-12
Sponsoring Organization: Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine
Phone: 561.655.8778 or 800.610.5771
Website: www.realismlive.com
Save years of struggle and frustration by discovering techniques revealed by some of the world’s top artists in just 3-days during the largest online art training event November 10-12 with a beginner’s day on November 9th.

Visit EricRhoads.com to find out all the amazing opportunities and painting events for artists through Streamline Publishing, including:
– Online art conferences such as Plein Air Live
– New video workshops for artists
– Incredible art retreats and painting events
– Educational and fun art conventions, and much more.

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