The 10th year of Plein Air Easton lived up to its high expectations. Another year of record breaking painting sales and the addition of The Artist Gallery and Information Center opening at the Avalon Theatre created an exciting environment for artists, collectors and the thousands of visitors who ventured to Easton over the weeklong event.
This year’s $10,000 Grand Prize went to Plein Air Easton veteran John Brandon Sills for his painting “Meditation”.
There were 14 other awards passed out during the Friday night Collectors Party and they went to – Tim Bell – Second Place, Ken Dewaard – Third Place, Tim Kelly – Vanishing Landscape, Stephen J. Griffin – Best Maritime, Mark Boedges – Best Architectural, Zufar Bikbov – Artist’s Choice, Crystal Moll – The Carol Hilderbrandt Award of Connecting Artist with the Community, Garin Baker – Best Composition, Stephanie Marzalla – Judge’s Choice, Nikolay Mikushkin – Best New Artist to Plein Air Easton, Zufar Bikbov – Best Use of Light, Sara Linda Poly – Best Painting by a Maryland Artist, with Hiu Lai Chong and Robert J Barber both receiving Honorable Mention awards.
The sales numbers for the festival were up by 10%. The total number of paintings sold was 326 (with 107 being sold during the Collector’s Party alone) adding up to $365,004 in total dollars over the entire week. An even bigger change came in the average price per painting sold at the IG Burton Artists Gallery housed at The Academy Art Museum which rose significantly from $1300 per painting to $1500.
“We had great sales this year, the weather was beautiful and we are fully appreciative of both IG Burton and the Academy Art Museum for helping in hosting the finest outdoor painting competition in the country,” said Al Bond, Executive Director at The Avalon Foundation. “We were also extremely pleased with how well the new Artist Gallery and Information Center at The Avalon was received by the artists, visitors and residents.”
The Avalon Theatre, as most know it, was transformed into a gallery where most of the 58 competing artists hung their work throughout the week; a lounge with custom furniture; a cafe featuring Rise-Up Coffee Roasters and Banning’s Tavern and finally a comprehensive orientation and information center for visitors to the event.
The idea of the gallery was to be able to show samples of the artists’ work and let people know where any artists whose work that they liked were painting at any specific moment or showing at local galleries during the entire competition.
“The Avalon Gallery sold 13 painting which added up to $30,025 in sales with an average price of $2310,” said Jessica Rogers, General Manager at The Foundation. “It did what we were thinking it might in terms of sales, but in terms of a gathering place for artists, residents and tourists for that special week, it went well beyond our expectations.”
Tim Cureton, Owner and Operator at Rise Up Coffee remarked, “We were very pleased to be a part of Plein Air Easton and felt we were a meaningful part of this community event by being inside the newly designed space. Everything about it was better than we anticipated.” The special lighting brought in for the space was made possible by Marianne Meadows.
Both the Quick Draw and the Plein Air the Next Generation were successful as well. There were several thousand people in the streets on Saturday said Rogers, but it’s more about the spirit of the day she added. “The festival brings energy into town which is hard to quantify. When 200 artists are all creating in such a small area it’s hard not to be swept up in the moment. That’s what brings thousands of people onto Easton’s streets in July. Surrounded by hundreds of people creating beauty, it’s really quite moving.”
After completing its 10th year, the Avalon Foundation is moving forward with the prospect of launching another decade of Plein Air Easton. Event organizers are thrilled to announce that next year’s event Judge will be magazine executive, Kip Forbes. The fact that each year the competition has a new jurist and new judge ensures that each year’s show has a fresh perspective for the public and a clean slate for aspiring participants.
To learn more about this year’s festival visit www.pleinaireaston.com/articles to see all of this year’s action through the 3 minute video blogs that The Avalon Foundation creates to document the event.
..
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.