Plein Air artist are painting this
week in annual competition
9-3-2020
SPRIING CITY—Plein Air, or the act of painting outdoors, goes hand in hand with the pastoral landscape of this small town.
Dotted with sheep, cattle, horses, farms and barns, Spring City is home to many talented and devoted artists.
And once again, even facing the challenges of COVID-19, Spring City will be hosting its premier annual plein air painting competition.
The week-long event has already started as artists have taken to their palettes to the fields and they will be turning in their completed works by Friday afternoon, Sept. 4. Later that evening at 7 p.m. a reception will be held in the Spring City Arts Gallery on Main Street, and award winners will be announced during the reception. Painting may be purchased at this time, according to organizer Chris Anderson.
On the morning of Saturday, Sept. 5, a limited number of registered artists will participate in a “paintout” event and the finished paintings being sold at a live auction, which starts at 1 p.m.
Anderson encourages visitors to come early on that Saturday and watch the artists at work, then bid on and purchase the “paint-out” paintings they like the most. An exhibition and sale of works from the plein air competition will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on that Saturday. This is a great chance to add beautiful works by some remarkable artists to your collection, Anderson said.
Artists participating in the plein air event may paint anywhere in Sanpete County—it’s cities, farms, mountains and streams—and of course in Spring City, Anderson said
Participating artists will be competing for cash prizes: $1,500 for the winner, $1,000 for second place and $500 for third place. Honorable mention awards include a $100 cash prize. A number of other cash and purchase awards will also be offered.
Greg Hull will judge this year’s competition. Hull is a California based artist who holds a BFA and MFA from the University of Utah, and is represented in galleries in California and Arizona. He loves to work in plein air, sometimes in remote areas such as the High Sierras or the Wind River Range in Wyoming.
The Spring City Arts annual Artist Studio Tour will also be held in Spring City on Saturday, September 5. Participating artists will open their studios and galleries; art will be on sale at most of these locales. A number of prominent artists are expected to participate in the Artist Studio Tour. This year the studio tour will be open to all visitors, with no need to purchase tickets. Visitors can pick up a map of the participating artist studios when they arrive at the Spring City Arts Gallery.
For more information, visit springcityarts.com.
