Blog

The 18th Annual Plein Air Easton Festival and Competition Awards

The largest and most prestigious plein air festival in the nation, Plein Air Easton started with a community celebration and block party on July 15 and finished its 10-day event schedule with an action-packed weekend July 23 and 24. Credit for the continued success of the festival and competition lies overwhelmingly with the unwavering community support and partnerships, the generosity of the Friends of Plein Air, the Plein Air Easton Steering Committee, a plethora of volunteers, and the dedication of the Avalon Foundation’s staff.

2022 Juror Announcement

January 28, 2022

2021 Award Winners

Pictured: Artists Choice winner, "Bound" by Daniel Robbins

Plein Air Easton, the largest and most prestigious plein air festival in the nation, broke every record with this year’s event. In no small part that success is due to the overwhelming community support, the generosity of the Friends of Plein Air, the Plein Air Easton Steering Committee, community partnerships, a plethora of volunteers, and the dedication of the Avalon Foundation’s staff.

Another Plein Air Easton for the History Books

PAE Artist Kate McGraw painting the Courthouse.

Since its inception 16 years ago Plein Air Easton (arguably the largest & most prestigious outdoor painting competition in the United States) has been defying odds, challenging norms and defining the modern Plein Air painting movement. Building an international, juried, painting competition that is held in the intense heat of the summer in rural America; Plein Air Easton organizers are no strangers to challenges. However, the safety issues and uncertainty that came with trying to plan an art festival during an international pandemic were nearly enough to cancel this year’s highly anti

Longtime Plein Air Easton Sponsors Can’t Help but Sweeten the Pot

As it has to nearly everything, the COVID 19 pandemic threw a monkey wrench into customary plans for Plein Air Easton. Each year hundreds of accomplished artists apply for acceptance into the nation’s largest outdoor painting event, with the knowledge that only 58 positions are available. Plein Air Easton is known for its enthusiastic crowds, lively local interactions, lavish parties, brisk art sales, and a multitude of generous cash prizes. Clearly, to occur in any form, big changes became mandatory.

Unique Event Changes for Challenging Times

For most of the last 16 years, Plein Air Easton has been the largest and most prestigious outdoor painting competition in the nation. Annually, artists from across the globe hope to become one of the 58 juried artists who get to compete for prizes and art sales in the heat of July on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. We were all systems go on the 2020 Plein Air Easton Festival when the world was brought to a screeching halt this March with the spread of deadly COVID-19. By having all of their revenue streams closed, canceled, or postponed until 2021, many artists have been devastated.

What is a Podcast?

The Plein Air Easton Podcast chronicles the intrepid lives of the people who are making the modern plein air art movement. It’s not just about art; It explores the stories of the artists, gallery owners, collectors, educators, and other players that have an interesting perspective on art in our world. The Plein Air Easton Podcast is hosted by Tim Weigand (who also hosts Plein Air Easton’s live streaming television show Coffee/Cocktails & Conversations), Jess Bellis, and Marie Nuthall.

2020 Juror Announcement

Plein Air Easton, the largest and most prestigious outdoor painting competition in the United States, is preparing for its 16th year this July. Each year, PAE chooses a single person to evaluate nearly 1,000 images submitted for consideration from plein air painters around the world and then, from those images, select the 58 artists who will compete in Easton in July. This person becomes the single judge for the event in the following year.

Watch it Again!

As Plein Air Easton turned the corner on its 15th year, we felt the need to express our gratitude for the hundreds of competition artists whose hard work has led to our success over the years. Each year, we reflect on our events, listen to feedback and give careful consideration to how we can improve the festival and grow. As a result of this process and in celebration of our 15th year, we reached out to PAE alumni artists to help us create an even better experience for artists and collectors.

2019 Judge: David C. Levy

The Avalon Foundation is pleased to announce David C. Levy as the Jjudge for the Plein Air Easton 2019 competition. Plein Air Easton is the largest and most prestigious outdoor painting competition in the United States. Each year Plein Air Easton chooses a single person to evaluate hundreds of slides from plein air painters around the world and select the 58 artists who compete in Easton in July. This person becomes the single judge for the event in the following year.

Home