Artists from across the tri-state will fill the Western Kentucky Botanical Garden on Saturday for the Owensboro Art Guild’s 5th Annual Plein Air Event. Visitors can enter the garden at no charge, strolling the paths and admiring the blooms as they watch the artists complete their paintings, many of which will be for sale at the end of the day.
Plein air refers to the act of painting outdoors with the artist’s subject in full view. Artists can use any type of material and bring their own supplies.
Same-day registration begins at 7 a.m. The Western Kentucky Botanical Garden opens to the public at 9 a.m. The entry fee for the competition is $25, but artists under age 18 can participate free of charge.
“The Art Guild wants kids to try plein air — you never know what experience will spark a lifelong interest — so we invite artists under 18 to paint free,” organizers said in a post on the event page. “Plein air puts kids out in nature painting from life and it offers social opportunities like paint-outs and competitions. This is a fun event whether you’re a little artist coming with your Grandma or a teenager coming with a buddy.”
New this year is a “Field to Finish” (F2F) competition. Artists will do small studies in the field, go back to their studios, and finish paintings based on those studies. Those paintings will be judged and cash awards presented at the OAG Plein Air Event in 2025. Any artist who participates in the OAG 2024 Plein Air Event is eligible to participate in F2F. More information on F2F can be found here.
For this year’s Plein Air Event, the Guild will present $1,100 in cash awards: $500 for 1st place, $300 for 2nd, $100 for 3rd, and $50 each for two honorable mentions.
The paintings will be for sale after the award presentation. Artists will display their plein air artwork from 2-3:30 p.m. for the competition; this year’s juror is Carolyn L. Roth.
Roth was born in Buffalo, NY, and educated at Herron School of Art (B.F.A.) and Florida State University (M.F.A.). She has been on the studio art faculty of four universities and retired from the University of Southern Indiana in 2010. She has exhibited throughout the United States since 1968. She recently received the Award of Excellence in the 2023 Jasper Community Arts 30th Annual Juried Art Exhibition for her painting “Crying Wolf.” Roth received 1st place in the Owensboro Art Guild’s 62nd Juried Exhibition for her collage painting “Thoughts and Feelings.”
