Evanston Made presents the Second Annual Plein Air Festival: July 9-16, 2023. Click here to sign up to participate!
Plein Air Painters will descend on the city to compete for Best in Show. The juried invitational will be judged by Plein Air Painter, Nancy King Mertz.
Artists are invited to paint in the Plein Air style, all over Evanston, capturing the beauty of Evanston’s natural environment, favorite landmarks and built environment.
The festival’s grand finale on Sunday, July 16, is an exhibit of one piece from each artist submitted for judging for Best of Show, 4 Honorable Mention awards, and a community vote for Festival Favorite.
The July 16th exhibit and judging is complemented by an open air art exhibit of the participating artists’ additional work for sale.
In 2022, 50 plein air artists competed for Best in Show, over 300 attendees voted for Festival Favorite and hundreds of people enjoyed meeting the artists, viewing the exhibit and collecting Evanston art.
Want to participate? Click here to sign up!
Want to stay in the loop and receive event updates? Click here to join the 2023 Evanston Plein Air Art Festival Contact List
Support Evanston Made
Support is important and impactful for the work we do in capacity building and raising visibility for the artists in our community. All contributions to Evanston Made are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law, tax identification number: 84-3971750. Donate now at evanstonmade.org/donate/
***
Evanston Plein Air Festival 2022
Evanston Made presented our First Annual Plein Air Festival: July 14-17, 2022
We were excited welcome 50 Plein Air Painters to Evanston for the first ever Plein-air painting festival.
The juried invitational was judged by Master Plein Air Painter, Don Yang.
Artists were invited to paint all over Evanston, capturing the beauty of Evanston’s natural environment, favorite landmarks and built environment. The festival’s grand finale was an exhibit of one piece from each artist submitted for judging for Best of Show and 4 Honorable Mention awards, and a community vote for Festival Favorite. The July 17th exhibit and judging was complimented by an open air art exhibit of the participating artists additional work. Over 300 attendees voted for Festival Favorite and hundreds of people enjoyed meeting the artists, viewing the exhibit and collecting Evanston art.
Links to more about our PAF!
2023 Evanston Plein Air Festival Interest Sign up
Evanston Plein Air Art Festival photo:
Mark Cleveland, event director, Don Yang, Plein air festival judge
Best of Show: Scott Lloyd Anderson
Honorable Mention; Maria Delton, RL Weber, Jane Sloss, Karen Beauprie
Liz Cramer and Lisa Degliantoni with Evanston Made
Gallery of Exhibited Work: (coming asap)
2022 Evanston Plein Air Festival Participating Artists:
Kerstin Alischowewski•Scott Lloyd Anderson•Karen Beauprie•Christina Body•Liz Brent•Jaimie Brunet•Pat Brutchin•Kimberly Burnett•Anna Cherkashina•Chloe Chow•Muriel Christensen•Mark Cleveland•Maureen Crowley•Majorie Davidson•Maria Delton•Zarina Docken•Sue Dunmore•John Fleck•Joseph Frey•Chris Froeter•Denise Grossman•Barabara Herring•John Herron•Kuhn Hong•Pricilla Huang•Peter Jablokow•Sarah Kaiser-Amaral•Julie Keating•Laurie Kennard•Richard Laurent•Sachin Mehta•Allison Neggers•Carol Neiger•Deborah Paige-Jackson•Christie Patterson•Joe Patterson•Alvino Perez•Julie Porter•Emmy Savage•Jane Sloss•Ann Spletz•Amanda Brodie Stenlund•Robin Strand•Joseph Taylor•Malik Turley•Willian Turley•RL Weber•Amy Williamson•Jill Zylke
Event Description:
The community is invited to watch Plein Air Artists capture the beauty of Evanston, purchase art and judge works on the final day of the festival.
The festival takes place over 4 days and follows the general approach familiar to artists participating in local “Plein air “events in the area. Join us at Fountain Square in Downtown Evanston, Sunday, July 17, 1-3p, for Judging followed by Awards and Artist Reception 3-5p.
July 10-16, competing artists will check-in, authenticate up to 5 blank work surface(s) and paint at locations across Evanston. Visit the Google map to track follow painters. Follow @evanston_made on Instagram and Facebook for locations to see and meet painters, follow #evanstonpleinair
Special Events
- July 16, 9:30a, Space 900, 816 Dempster St., Artist Talk- “Stepping into the light – Getting started in Plein Air” with Evanston Plein Air Festival Director and Plein Air Painters Chicago Co-Chair Mark Cleveland.
- July 16, 12-8p, MDM Plein Air Music Festival & Front Porch Concert Series, 600 Main Street Train Station Alley.
- July 16, 9a-4p, Don Yang and Plein Air Painters at Grosse Point Lighthouse, Lighthouse Beach Evanston, 2603 Sheridan Rd.
- July 16, 1-5p, Artist Book House Pop Up Shop, Harley Clarke Mansion, Lighthouse Beach Evanston, 2603 Sheridan Rd.
- July 17, 1-3p, Plein Air Artists Exhibit and Art Sale at Fountain Square in Downtown Evanston.
- July 17, 3-5p, Festival Judging, Awards and Artist Reception, at Fountain Square in Downtown Evanston.