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 anticipated event.

“The Avalon Foundation takes the health and safety of our community so very seriously.  We were leaders in shuttering our operations and working from home early in March.  Especially early in the stay at home order, the fate of Plein Air Easton felt extremely precarious”, said Jess Bellis, Chief Operating and Financial Officer at the Avalon Foundation.  

The Avalon Foundation (Plein Air Easton is the work of the Avalon) counts on contributed support for its ongoing success.  “The future of the entire organization, not just Plein Air Easton, is in the hands of its contributors.  We began reaching out to them about their feelings regarding Plein air Easton in the early spring.  Overwhelmingly, everyone we spoke to, or more correctly “Zoomed” with wanted SOMETHING to happen in person for the sake of the community and its beloved artists.”  Explained Bellis.

Out of hundreds of hours of conversations and brainstorming sessions, Plein Air Easton organizers decided there would indeed be events in 2020, provided that whatever was planned could be executed even under the strictest reopening guidelines.  The result was an event (not a competition exactly) in which the 58 artists who had already been juried in for 2020 were given an invitation to participate in what will hopefully be a more “normal” competition and festival in 2021 and those who felt comfortable still participating in events this year were invited to paint out in a series of events that were all brand new. 

In the end, 34 artists participated in events and exhibitions that spanned over nine days.  “While Plein Air Easton has recorded sales over $400K for the last several years, we made it clear to all of the participating artists that we were hoping to generate sales in the magnitude of about $100K (or 25% of historical sales),” said PAE Event Manager Marie Nuthall.  “We could not be more proud to announce that because of the support and patronage of our local arts community and because of the hard work of all of the artists who chose to participate in this year’s event, our total sales exceeded $236K!”  This means that for the artists that participated, average sales per artist were unchanged from previous years!

Newly designed Plein Air Easton 2020 kicked off with a “Meet the Artist Expedition. “This event will be talked about for years to come,” exclaimed Nuthall.  “To say it was the event of the summer, would be an understatement.  The photographs alone are striking enough to be included in history books.”

The donor only event was held across six breathtaking and historic waterfront estates spread across Talbot County.  Patrons were given maps to aid in their exploration.  Pop up art displays featuring works by participating artists lined the driveways so that those who were socially isolating could view the exhibition right from their cars.    Other patrons who felt more comfortable, but all wearing masks and practicing social distancing, explored each property on foot and got to witness the artists at work creating fresh paintings before their eyes.  Gourmet dinners were served via special Plein Air Easton branded cooler bags that were carefully placed in each donor’s trunk along the way to be enjoyed safely back at home.  In the end, Plein Air Easton was able to host a party for nearly 300 people and sold paintings without ever having a crowd of more than a handful of people gathered.  “Everyone was so grateful.  People felt safe.  They were so happy to be out of their homes, supporting the arts and focused on something fun and connective for a change.”  Explains Nuthall. 

The week continued with artists assigned painting regions strategically across the county, purposely again never to draw a crowd.  Patrons chose between 4 nightly concurrent pop up exhibitions to see the day’s work.  Thanks to the support and encouragement of longtime supporters Hali & Scott Asplundh, nightly “Best in Show” awards of $500 per location were offered and the awards were streamed live on Plein Air Easton’s social media pages.  Winners were as follows:

Monday Winners:

• Oxford – Nancy Tankersley
• Easton – Jill Basham
• Tilghman – Tara Will
• CBMM – Thomas Bucci

Tuesday Winners:

• Oxford – Stewart White
• Easton – Tara Will
• Tilghman – Olena Babak
• CBMM – Olena Babak

Wednesday Winners: 

• Oxford – Jill Basham
• Easton – John Brandon Sills
• Tilghman – Stewart White
• CBMM – Stephen Griffin

Any unsold work was exhibited in a growing week-long exhibition and sale in the pop-up Exhibition Hall located in a large empty retail space at the downtown Talbottown shopping center.  “Having a place to display the show was the final piece of the puzzle in determining if we would be able to host a festival,” said Bellis.  “At 11,000 square feet and by extending the window to see the show from 20 hours in a typical year to 64 hours this year, it worked out that we never had too many people in the building at one time.  It could not have worked out better.”                                                                                                                                                                                                         

The festival closed on July 19, and despite the challenges, exceeded expectations at every turn. There is no question this year’s success was due to the support from the Friends of Plein Air Easton, the Talbot Arts Council, the PAE Steering Committee, local galleries and businesses, volunteers and the community at large, some of whom were able to see the exhibitions in person and others who were enjoying it from the safety of their homes.  Many of the paintings exhibited as part of Plein Air Easton 2020 can still be viewed on the Plein Air Easton website (pleinaireaston.com) as can discussions that aired live with artists, podcast episodes and more.  

Photo Credit: Ted Mueller