During the first week of March, 30 artists from around the country gather to participate in Lighthouse ArtCenter’s 13th Annual Plein Air Festival. The event is a free opportunity for the public to watch artists paint in plein air around the Palm Beach, Florida, region. In addition, patrons can experience live painting demonstrations, and attend artist meet-and-greets and community events.
“South Florida’s natural beauty provides the perfect inspiration for artists from around the country to paint on site,” says program director, Serin Leas. “Together, they will showcase the unique landscapes and character of the place we call home.”
An artist giving a plein air painting demonstration during the 2025 festival.
The opening event of the festival is the Paint-Out Competition on March 1, where artists compete for over $2,000 in prizes. Completed works will be available for purchase immediately following the competition. This year’s judge is Beth Bathe of Strasburg, Pennsylvania, known for her nostalgic, sepia-toned paintings created using water-mixable oils and unconventional tools. Awards include the Grand Prize, First through Third Place, Artist’s Choice, Honorable Mentions and themed categories such as Best Seascape, Best Nocturne and Best Local Hot Spot.
Jeff Steiner, Biking Palm Beach, watercolor, 18 x 24 in. 2025 Grand Prize winner.
The Grand Prize winner from 2025 was Jeff Steiner for his piece Biking Palm Beach. “[This painting] came from being drawn to the energy of the street more than to a specific ‘pretty’ view,” Steiner explains. “I was interested in capturing the movement of the cyclist and the strong Florida light working together in one moment. I strive for a balance between being too loose and too informative, and I feel this painting struck a nice balance. I simplified the scene into a few connected shapes and focused on warm and cool color relationships to suggest heat, light and atmosphere…The goal wasn’t realism, but a sense of place and motion, something that felt alive and immediate.”
Marc Anderson, Romulus & Remus, oil, 14 x 18 in. 2025 Second Place winner.
The 2025 First Prize winner was Crista Pisano, known for painting on a small scale when working in plein air and for her nocturne scenes. For her winning piece Sleeping Palm 12:44 AM, Pisano shares, “I wanted to play with some tall, vertical formats of palm trees…I was in Port Salerno, and I walked down this long dock to a somewhat hidden waterfront lagoon, and there was this palm across the way in front of a house. Conditions were incredibly windy, lights in the house were turning on and off throughout the painting session…and there was a touch of misty rain for a short period of time.”
Both award winners will return for the 2026 festival. Other participating artists include Marc Anderson, Krystal Brown, Neal Hughes, Tim Kelly, Lizzie Hunter, Robin Waring, Stephen Wysocki, Richie Vios and Laura Martinez-Bianco, among many others.
Crista Pisano, Sleeping Palm, 12:44 AM, oil on panel, 10 x 3 in. 2025 First Place winner.
The following days of the festival include free, live painting demonstrations from March 2 through 5; an Artists’ Reception and Small Works Sale, March 4 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.; a Collectors’ Party and Sale, March 6 from 5 to 8 p.m.; the Battle of the Brushes, March 7 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and special workshops. Freshly painted works will be available for purchase at the Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery throughout the week.
To view a full schedule of events, head to the festival website. —
Lighthouse artcenter's 13th Annual Plein Air Festival
March 1-7
Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery/Various Locations
373 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta, FL 33469
(561) 746-3101
www.lighthousearts.org
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