Show Preview | Plein Air Southwest

Galveston, TX
Various locations, May 6-12

Bob Rohm, Night Light, oil, 16 x 20.

Bob Rohm, Night Light, oil, 16 x 20.

This story was featured in the May 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art May 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

THIS MONTH, visitors to the historic island city of Galveston have even more than its spectacular Victorian architecture, lush gardens, long sandy beaches, bustling port, and old-time Pleasure Pier to engage their attention. From Monday, May 6, through the following Sunday, 44 members of the Outdoor Painters Society set up their easels around town as they participate in the second annual Plein Air Southwest Painting Competition & Show.

Last year’s event (some paintings from which are shown here) was held in Rockport, TX, and marked a change for the OPS. The society—founded in 1996 with nine original members and now numbering about 500 strong with a membership from more than two dozen states—had previously held national juried exhibitions. “But two years ago, with the popularity of plein-air events, our board decided that’s what we needed to be doing,” says Tina Bohlman, the group’s president these past five years and a member since the early 2000s.

Galveston is an ideal location for a plein-air show, says Bohlman: “From street scenes to turn-of-the-century storefronts, from foliage and flowers and palm trees to the seawall they built after the hurricane of 1900 wiped out the island, it’s a vibrant community with an awful lot to paint.” The Galveston Historical Foundation, which will benefit from a percentage of sale proceeds, is going all-out to welcome the artists. They have access to paint on the grounds of nine residences that make up the 45th Annual Galveston Historic Homes Tour, taking place at the same time, as well as the 1877 tall ship Elissa.

But they won’t be limited to those venues alone. “The patina of old, abandoned buildings talks to me. And I’m looking forward to painting some of the awesome big boats in the harbor,” says DK “Deke” Palecek of Wisconsin, who joined just four years ago. Adds longtime member Bob Rohm of Lago Vista, TX, near Austin, “I’m planning to paint a long horizontal sunset on the beach or the road that runs along the waterfront.” And that’s just one of the two works a day he anticipates completing while there. Bohlman, meanwhile, is eager to capture “the colorful pastel hues of residential districts along the coast that remind me a lot of areas in New Orleans.”

All completed artworks are due to be turned in for judging by noon on Friday, May 10. The paintings are then hung in the Grand Ballroom of the 1859 Ashton Villa, where awards are presented that night during a preview reception. The show is open to the public on Saturday and Sunday. Participating artists also gather during the weekend for a Quick Paint and Off the Easel Sale on the villa’s grounds. “We’re even talking to a local pizzeria to donate 40 or 50 pizza boxes so buyers can take those still-wet paintings home,” Bohlman adds with a chuckle. From first brush stroke to last, this year’s Plein Air Southwest is sure to be another rousing success. —Norman Kolpas

contact information
www.outdoorpainterssociety.com

This story was featured in the May 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art May 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

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