Show Preview | Plein Air Artists Colorado

Boulder, CO
Mary Williams Fine Arts, September 1-30

Jeanne Echternach, A Sunny Disposition, oil, 8 x 10.

This story was featured in the September 2016 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art September 2016 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

This month at Mary Williams Fine Arts, Plein Air Artists Colorado celebrates its 20th annual National Juried Fine Art Exhibition and Sale. The show opens with an artists’ reception and awards ceremony on Thursday, September 1, from 5 to 8 p.m. Master signature member Jeff Legg serves as judge and presents the awards for this year’s show, which comprises nearly 200 plein-air works in oil, pastel, and watercolor by 119 member artists, including Susiehyer, Heather Arenas, Nikolo Balkanski, Debra Joy Groesser, Peggy Immel, Lee Mac-Leod, and Cheryl St. John.

Unlike many plein-air exhibitions, the artworks for this show are not completed during a paint-out leading up to the show. Instead, artists are invited to submit pieces they’ve painted en plein air anywhere in the world within the past two years. The works are therefore dramatically diverse in subject matter. “We have ocean scenes, mountains, deserts, Texas Hill Country, Florida and California coasts: all kinds of things and places are represented,” says show chair Jennifer Riefenberg. “The majority of works are of Colorado, since most of the artists are here, but we ac-
tually have members from over 20 states and usually have about 10 states represented in the show.” The other point she stresses is that “this show is a culmination of these artists’ best work over the past two years. Part of what we want to promote is the excellence that can be achieved in plein-air painting.”

For interested art lovers, multiple painting demonstrations are planned for Friday and Saturday of opening weekend as well as on other weekends throughout the monthlong show.

Riefenberg says that PAAC has been promoting plein-air painting for 20 years and is a very active, year-round organization. “We don’t only offer this annual competition. We offer paint-outs every single week of the year at multiple places around the state. We really try to promote plein air and give people the opportunities to get out and paint.” —Laura Rintala

contact information
303.938.1588
www.pleinairartistscolorado.com