Ocean City will transform into an arts mecca this weekend, as the Art League of Ocean City gears up for the Plein Arts Festival. 50 artists will travel to our resort town to essentially paint the town for the Plein Air Event, which runs all weekend long.
The Plein Arts Festival is one of the biggest events that the Art League of Ocean City hosts; they welcome almost 50 artists to our area from all over the region. These talented artists will take to the boardwalk, streets, harbors and marshes around the area to paint “en plein air” which is a technique of painting outdoors directly from nature throughout the day. The artists will do this on Saturday, August 9th as tourists and locals alike watch them! After they paint, join the Art League at the Ocean City Center for the Arts from 6PM-8PM for a reception, awards presentation and a wet paint sale.
“En Plein Air” means “in the open air” in French. It’s typically used to describe the act of painting outdoors, with artists using field easels which have highly portable legs and a built-in paint box and palette. These are made highly useful for treks in forests to paint or up mountains. Even wildly famous French Impressionist painters such as Monet, Pissaro and Renoir painted “en plein air,” as much of their work was done outdoors.
The Art League of Ocean City emphasizes that this is truly a once in a life time experience… you could be among the first to view over 100 fresh, ORIGINAL paintings, completed in the same day as purchase. During the reception, enjoy a glass of wine while viewing the talented artwork and mingle with the artists that painted them.
In addition, on Sunday, August 10th at 9 AM there will be a quick draw painting competition on S. Division Street and the Boardwalk for another chance to watch the artists paint downtown Ocean City.
Event Calendar:
- Thursday, August 7th 2014 6PM-8PM: Welcoming Registration Reception for Artists held at the new Ocean City Center for the Arts, 502 94th Street, OC MD.
6:00PM- Registration
6:30PM- Plein Air Discussion by noted artist, Kevin Fitzgerald, and light Eastern Shore style dinner featuring crab gazpacho, baked chicken, coleslaw, beverages and dessert.
- Friday, August 8th 2014
7:30AM-9AM: Additional registration for artists. Artists paint all day in the Ocean City area.
- Saturday, August 9th 2014 Artists paint all day
4PM- Artists return to the Ocean City Center for the Arts to hang completed artwork for the competition. One piece of work may be entered into competition for prizes and this piece will be hung in the galleria through the end of August.
5PM-6PM- Judging of the artwork.
6PM-8PM- Wet Paint Sale… Doors open to the public.
6:30PM- Remarks by judge and awarding of prizes
- Sunday, August 10th 2014 Quick Draw Contest
7:30AM-8:30AM- Gather downtown on the boardwalk for registration.
9AM-11AM- Artists paint against the clock in the downtown area
11:30AM- Judging
11AM-4PM- Wet Paint Sale continues at the Ocean City Center for the Arts
3PM-4PM- Artists may pick up work hung in the classrooms at the OC Center for the Arts
August 9th until the 31st, 2014
PLEIN AIR EXHIBIT: Featured in the Galleria of the Ocean City Center for the Arts!!!!
The Art League of Ocean City is a successful organization that hopes to promote visual arts to the Ocean City community through education, exhibits, scholarships, programs and most importantly- community events. Their new beautifully built building is on the bayside and features a two story art gallery, a pottery studio, classrooms where they offer educational lectures and classes, an art library and five different working art studios.
