4th Annual Plein Air-Easton Competition

The deadline to enter the 4th Annual Plein Air–Easton! Competition is March 3, 2008 by 5:00 p.m. Artist's Prospectus and submission instructions are available at www.pleinaireaston.com. Entries may be submitted online or mailed/delivered to the address shown below.

The entry jurist is Brian Stewart (www.stew-art.com ). Stewart is a Signature Member of Plein-Air Painters of America, Classical Realism Society, Oil Painters of America, and California Art Club. The awards judge will be Lynn Gertenbach ( www.lynngertenbach.com), a Signature Member of the Oil Painters of America, the California Art Club, and Plein Air Painters of America.

Accepted artists and alternates will be announced March 24, 2008 via posting at www.pleinaireaston.com.

Plein Air–Easton! has quickly become the East Coast’s premier plein air festival, attracting nationally known artists of high caliber and creating a stir among art collectors. The national Plein Air–Easton! Competition will showcase approximately 50 national artists vying for cash awards totaling more than $11,000. The First Place award will be $5,000, Second Place $2,000, Third Place $1,000, with the remainder being distributed among Awards of Merit and various named awards.

This year’s Plein Air–Easton! Competition & Arts Festival will be held July 21-27, 2008. The event consists of a national competition complimented by a comprehensive arts festival that draws thousands of artists, collectors, art enthusiasts, and spectators from across the country. Attractions include gallery exhibits, collectors’ parties, world class speakers, art demonstrations, music, theater, and the popular, fast paced “Quick Draw” painting competition held for two hours in downtown Easton.

Paintings will be for sale during the entire festival weekend, including special events such as the Collectors’ Preview Party on Friday evening, the Quick Draw Exhibit & Sale on Saturday afternoon, the Sunday Brunch & Live Auction, and an ongoing exhibit throughout the weekend at the Academy Art Museum. Sales in past years have been brisk; last year 172 paintings sold, grossing more than $158,000. Competing artists create two paintings each for the competition, and may also bring replacement paintings to sell, making available hundreds of pieces of some of the best art in America today. Paintings by artists from the Delmarva region will also be available at the “Local Color” plein air exhibit, a juried and judged show featuring artists from the Delmarva Peninsula, presented Friday through Sunday at the Tidewater Inn.

Plein Air–Easton! is presented by Easton Main Street in partnership with the Avalon Foundation and hosted by the Academy Art Museum. Information, Artist’s Prospectus and digital uploading of juried submissions are available at www.pleinaireaston.com. Submissions will also be accepted on CD sent by postal mail or delivered to: Plein Air–Easton!, c/o The Avalon Foundation, 40 East Dover Street, Easton MD 21601. For more information, email info@pleinaireaston.com or phone 410-822-7297.