Plein Air Celebration

Artists come together for an annual Plein Air Festival to revel in the beauty of the Florida landscape.

For one week a year, the Tequesta, Florida, area comes alive with a plethora of free demonstrations, workshops, paint-outs and, of course, opportunities to purchase astonishing works of art. Hosted by Lighthouse ArtCenter, the Plein Air Festival, is celebrating its 10th year. “This is a spectacular show, and the community is so involved,” says ArtCenter curator Janeen Mason. “People wait for this every year—we’ve even had people fly in because they’re following artists that are participating.” ArtCenter executive director, Jeni Licata, also notes that the “festival brings the best of the best plein air artists from all over the country to capture the beauty of our local landscapes and coastlines on canvas.”Artist painting at House of Refuge in Stuart, Florida. Photo by Jordan Weber.

The festival, set to include three plein air events, will kick off on Sunday, March 5 with the Paint Out Competition. Open to both professional and amateur artists, participants will position themselves among the landscape around Harbourside Place in Jupiter, Florida, where they will have two hours to complete a painting. Later the same day, awards and prizes will be announced, and work will be available for purchase.

From Monday, March 6 through Thursday, March 9, free demonstrations will be offered from expert plein air artists like Manon Sander, Richie Vos, Lauren Martinez-Bianco and Lori Cusick, among others—all working in a variety of mediums and depicting specific areas like Juno Beach Pier, Grassy Waters Preserve, Dubois Park and Flagler Park in Stuart.Richard Sneary, Green House, watercolor, 10 x 20"

Also during this time, “35 award-winning artists paint in picturesque places throughout Palm Beach and Martin Counties, capturing the beauty before them on canvas,” say festival organizers. The Collectors’ Party & Sale takes place on Monday, March 10. Patrons can mingle with their favorite artists, purchase works and witness the awards ceremony. The festival judge this year, Kenn Erroll Backhaus, will look for compelling, stand-out works. Shasha Mark, Tequesta Glow, oil, 16 x 20"Last year’s judge, Patrick Saunders, explains his choice in awarding Richard Sneary’s watercolor Green House the grand prize: “This piece beautifully captures the feel of everyday life in South Florida as we drive through a quiet neighborhood. It offers a small slice of suburbia, rather than the expected picturesque scenes often associated with tourism in the area. Even though the painting is filled with textures and brushstrokes depicting the lush foliage native to the area, the composition is carefully controlled, drawing our attention first to the home and then inviting us to continue to discover what lies around the next bend in the road. It’s an identifiable story to most any viewer.”Neal Hughes, Tropical Paradise, oil on linen, 18 x 14"Richard says of his winning piece, “[The painting] came about one day when I was hoping to paint some of the boats and dock areas in Port Salerno, but I realized the light had changed and I need to find something else. I looked around for awhile but without success, and around 2:30, I decided to head back to Jupiter. As I was walking back to my car, I looked back towards the dock area and was struck with the light on one of the fisherman’s houses—I finally found something I had to paint.”

Closing the event on Sunday, March 11, is the small works “Battle of the Brushes” competition, that will follow with another awards ceremony with pieces available for purchase at the Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery. —

Plein Air Festival
When: March 5-11, 2023
Where: Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery, 373 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta, FL 33469
Information: (561) 746-3101, www.lighthousearts.org/pleinair