Thank you to our judges and more than 600 people who voted Festival Favorite. Evanston Made’s 3rd Annual Evanston Plein Air Festival was a success! Sign up for the 2025 Interest List here. Winners by category listed below.
Plein Air Festival Finale Winning Artists:
Judges: Mark Cleveland, Nina Weiss, Thomas Trausch
Best of Show – David R. Becker
Second Place – Amanda Stenlund
Third Place – Robert Holmes
Honorable Mention – Shabad Kaur Khalsa
Honorable Mention- Jianqiao Luan
First Place Amateur- Lucy Clary
Festival Favorite – Jianqiao Luan
AlleyGallery Award for Evanston Made Artist – Maria Delton
Mark Cleveland Founders Award – Kurt Ritterpusch
Paint Outs
- Bastille Day Nocturne hosted at LeTour. Winner: Patrick Perry, Judge: Yun Park
- Church &Dodge. Winning Artist: Cory Wright, Judge: Mark Cleveland
- Downtown Evanston. Winning Artist: David R. Becker, Judges: Darren Oberto and Ross Martens
- Arrington Pond. Winning Artist: Abdoulaye Conde, Judges: Matt Puchalski and Katherine Gotsick
- Central Street by Independence Park. Winning Artist: Don Yang, Judge: Laurie Kennard
- Noyes Street. Winning Artist Lucy Clary, Judge: Nina Weiss
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Evanston Made presents the 3rd Annual Evanston Plein Air Festival: July 12-21, 2024. This citywide summer arts festival invites the community to plein air art events and competitions hosted in every neighborhood, accessible and free for all!
Watch competing artists paint in the Plein Air style, capturing the beauty of Evanston’s natural and built environment and favorite landmarks.Festival Map
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Friday July 12- Sunday, July 21 – Plein Air Festival ROAMLI Challenge! Evanston Made and ROAMLI have partnered to create a customized, interactive experience around this event for plain air festival attendees! Compete for prizes! INFO
Friday, July 12 – Main Dempster Mile hosts the Plein Air Festival Kick Off Block Party! Pick up the festival map, meet competing artists, see live art demonstrations, shop for plein air art, enjoy live music and delicious drinks and bites! 5:30-7:30p
Saturday, July 13- Workshop with Mark Cleveland. Artist talk and instruction: learn the basic techniques to start painting outside or “en plein air”. Artist and founder of the Evanston Plein Air Festival Mark Cleveland. 9 – 11:30 a. Coordinated by Evanston Park District
Monday, 7/15- Class with Thomas TrauschThe day will begin with a demonstration and all media are welcome. If you have wanted to paint “en plein air” or have limited experience in doing so, we can go over supplies and answer any specific questions. Workshop hosted at the Evanston Lighthouse by Evanston Made.
Plein Air Festival Paint Outs, July 13-19, 2024
Paint Outs are “quick paint” competitions for competing plein air painters! Watch painters work during the painting time. Join us for award ceremonies to see paint out winners. See below for times and locations across Evanston, free to attend.
Saturday, July 13
- Bastille Day Nocturne Paint Out: LeTour, Judge: Yun Park
- Painting time: 5-8p
- Award Ceremony: LeTour, 625 Davis Street
- Award Time: 8:30p
- Winning Artist: Patrick Perry
Monday, July 15
- Painting Area: Church & Dodge, Judge: Mark Cleveland
- Painting time: 12-5p
- Award Ceremony: C&W Market and Ice Cream, 1901 Church St., 6-7p
- Award Time: 6:30p
- Winning Artist: Cory Wright
Tuesday, July 16
- Painting Area: Downtown Evanston, Judges: Darren Oberto and Ross Martens
- Painting time: 12 – 5p
- Award Ceremony: Alley Gallery, 1712 Rear 2, Sherman Ave., 6-7p
- Award Time: 6:30p
- Winning Artist- David R. Becker
Wednesday, July 17
- Painting Area: Arrington Pond, Judges: Matt Puchalski and Katherine Gotsick
- Painting time: 8a – 12p
- Award Ceremony: CoCo Design & Build, 602 Dempster St., 5-6p
- Award Time: 5:30p
- After Party: Artist Reception for Mark Cleveland and Nina Weiss, Plein Air Exhibit, POUR Evanston, 528 Dempster St., 6-8p
- Winning Artist- Abdoulaye Conde
Thursday, July 18
- Painting Area: Central Street by Independence Park, Judge: Laurie Kennard, Exec. Director PAPC
- Painting time: 11a – 3p
- Awards Ceremony: DeSalvo’s Pizza, 1945 Central St., 3-4p
- Award Time: 3:30p
- Winning Artist- Don Yang
Friday, July 19 (Paint Out & Member Mixer)
- Painting Area: Noyes Street, Judge: Nina Weiss
- Painting time: 8a – 12p
- Award Ceremony: Sarah Kaiser Artist Studio, 927 Noyes St., 6-8p
- Award Time: 7p
- Winning Artist- Lucy Clary
Wednesday, July 17 – Plein Air Judges Exhibit Opening Party
The exhibit includes examples of plein air and studio work from our judges; award winning artists and educators Nina Weiss and Tom Trausch joined by Festival Founder Mark Cleveland. POUR, 528 Dempster St., 6-8p,
Saturday, July 20 – Painting Demonstrations
See artists Mark Cleveland (oil), Claire Tarnaki (acrylic) and Maria Delton (watercolor) work in plein air. Fountain Square in Downtown Evanston, FREE, 9-11a
Sunday, July 21, Plein Air Festival Grand Finale
Join us for an afternoon of art, awards and an Outdoor Art Market where artists will sell their work “off the easel”. Enjoy food and drink vendors and family-friendly activities hosted by Downtown Evanston and festival partners. Free for all to attend.
Plein Air Festival competing artists will submit one work for judging.
View submitted art and vote Festival Favorite, 12-3p
Festival Award Ceremony: 3:30p
Art Market with Artists on Site: 12-4p
Hosted at Rotary International, Downtown Evanston, 1560 Sherman Ave., RSVP to attend here
Finale Winning Artists:
Best of Show- David Becker
Second Place- Amanda Stenlund
Third Place- Robert Holmes
Honorable Mention- Shabad Kaur Khalsa
Honorable Mention- Jianqiao Luan
First Place Amateur- Lucy Clary
Festival Favorite- Jianqiao Luan
Alley Gallery Award for Evanston Artist- Maria Delton
Mark Cleveland Founders Award- Kurt Ritterpusch
Thank you to our SPONSORS!
This festival is made possible by the following festival sponsors; Blick Evanston, Central Street, The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, Masterpiece Framing & Imaging, Neighborhood and Community Relations at Northwestern University, Romano Wealth Management, Downtown Evanston, The Brown Team, Hagerty Consulting, The Main Dempster Mile, Rotary International, Evanston Arts Council, City of Evanston Economic Development Great Merchant Grant
Artist prizes provided in part by the following sponsors: Alley Gallery, Blick Corporate, Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff, Golden Paints, Guerilla Painter. Judson Plein Air Outfitters, and Festival Founder-Mark Cleveland
Press:
Evanston Roundtable Plein-Air-Festival-takes-place-july-12-to-24
Evanston Roundtable At-this-time-like-paris
Evanston Now-artists-go-al-fresco-in-evanston
Evanston Roundtable 7.16.24-out-of-town-artists-come-to-evanston/
Evanston Roundtable Monday Church & Dodge Paint Out winner
Evanston Rountable Tuesday Downtown Paint Out winner
Evanston Roundtable Wednesday Arrington Lagoon Paint Out winner
Evanston Roundtable Thursday Central Street Paint Out winner
Evanston Roundtable Friday Noyes Street Paint Out winner
Artist Preview:
