Bringing art to the streets

It’s the first week of October, and that means the sixth annual Plein Air Festival will be gracing the town. With more than 50 hand-selected artists from around the nation traveling to San Luis Obispo to participate, the festival is a week-long celebration of plein air artwork. Artists currently have their representative work on display at the San Luis Obispo Art Gallery available for purchase.

“En Plein Air” is French for “in the open air,” meaning the artist is painting on-scene and outdoors.

“They can use any medium they want,” said Karen Kile, the executive director for the San Luis Obispo Art Center. “But it must be done in plein air style, in the moment, catching the lighting and shadows.”

This is not just an opportunity for artists to display their work; the festival is about the artwork created during the week. Today is “Paint SLO Day” and participating artists have free reign to set up their easels within the city’s limits to paint local scenes. These paintings will go on display in the Art Center on Friday evening for a free exhibition during the “Art After Dark” gallery.

All galleries in San Luis Obispo are open for Art After Dark from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the first Friday of every month, serving refreshments and displaying their artwork. This cultural experience is always a local gem. However, it will be even more exceptional on Oct. 5 during festival week. The plein air paintings will be up in the Art Center for viewing, but not yet for buying.

This year the festival is including its first ever “People’s Choice Award.” Anyone can vote for their favorite painting at “Art After Dark” to decide who will take home the first award.

Saturday morning will probably be the most fun to witness, with a “quick draw” starting at 9:30 a.m. in the Old Mission Plaza. Artists have exactly two hours to start and complete a painting in the plaza, after which the artwork is framed and auctioned off in the Mission Plaza Amphitheater at noon. Admission to the auction and watching the artists paint is free.

Kinesiology junior Tracy Meeks is looking forward to attending the quick draw on Saturday. “I think it will be interesting because they are all in the same place at the same time, creating completely different pieces of art,” Meeks said.

Saturday evening gets a bit more luxurious with a formal gala at the Art Center. Tickets are $50 and include fancy appetizers and fine local wines catered by NOVO. The gala will feature the three top works each artist completed during the festival and guests get the first chance to buy.

A last-chance-to-buy exhibit will be up on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., after which the festival paintings will be taken down. “This is the top talent coming to SLO, painting live,” Kile said. “You don’t want to miss it.” The San Luis Obispo Art Center is located across from the Old Mission Plaza at 1010 Broad St. To preview the incoming artists, visit www.sloartcenter.org.