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RTPI To Host Plein Air Festival In September

The Roger Tory Peterson Institute as seen from the pollinator garden. This is one of the five locations artists will be able to paint from during the Plein Air Festival, to be held from Sept. 7-10. Submitted photo

The Roger Tory Peterson Institute will host its first ever Plein Air Festival at the beginning of September.

Plein Air, which means painting outdoors in nature, is a festival for artists, occurring from Sept 7-10. Artists will register on the 7th and will be tasked with painting an outdoor scene located at a local organization. Besides RTPI, locations include the Jamestown Community College Campus park, Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy, the Audubon Community Nature Center and the Jamestown Riverwalk.

Registration is $75 for artists. There is a limit of 60 artists able to participate in the event. The price of the registration also includes the ticket for the kickoff event happening at 5:30 on Sept. 7.

Maria Ferguson, collections curator for RTPI said the idea of Plein Air is similar to old impressionist paintings, where artists are inspired by the scene and light in front of them. This is the first year the institute is holding the event.

“On Wednesday, we have the artists come and check in in the afternoon and then that night at 5:30 we have the kickoff event which includes things like music and bands,” Ferguson said. “That event goes until 7:30. Then Thursday is the painting day, where artists go off by themselves to their locations and paint all day. On Friday they turn in their work and papers, and then Saturday the paintings are on view for the public and we have judges come in and judge them.”

Saturday night closes the event with a reception and awards ceremony. The paintings will also be available for the public to purchase on Saturday night.

Following the event, RTPI will have an exhibition at their museum of some of the paintings, which Ferguson said is “a little bit different” than at other Plein Air Festivals. The exhibition will run from November to May and show the work of the artists upstairs in the museum.

Ferguson said anyone who is interested should sign up.

“There’s no need to be a professional painter,” Ferguson said. “Anyone who is interested in painting in nature should come out. It’s fun and you can meet many new people with similar interests.”

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