Sedona Plein Air Art Festival

Here’s an interesting event that caught my attention because first of all it’s in one of my favorite places, Sedona and secondly it’s an outdoor event featuring nationally recognized artists.

Painters gathered at Slide Rock State Park, Arizona

For nine days in late October, October 24 through November 1, thirty-two nationally-recognized plein-air artists participate in a unique artistic showcase, the Sedona Plein Air Festival. “En plein air,” French for “in the open air,” is a spontaneous art form with artists creating their art outdoors, responding to the immediacy of the moment and reflecting the excitement of the changing light, weather conditions, and deepening shadows on their work.  French Impressionist painters such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir advocated en plein air painting, and much of their work was done outdoors, in the diffuse light provided by a large white umbrella.

This is the fifth annual festival and based on previous festival winners the artists really capture the endless picturesque scenes of Sedona’s Red Rock Country.

Spiritual Morning at Cathedral Rock" by Jill Carver

It all begins on Saturday afternoon, October 24, with the Paint Out on Main Street in the heart of Sedona, followed by daily free activities open to the public, lectures, demonstrations, free plein-air painting classes and the Artists Showcase, A Day in Jerome. A Public Exhibit and Sale of festival art will take place at the Sedona Arts Center Gallery on Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1. For a complete schedule of events, visit their website.

Sedona Arts Center Galleries
15 Art Barn Rd
Sedona, AZ 86336-4249

Photos credit: Courtesy of Sedona Plein Air Festival and Wikimedia