What does being a “Plein Air Artist” actually mean … and how does one become one?

We learn more about the Carmel on Canvas plein air event with Roy Boswell, Artist, Carmel on Canvas Plein Air Paintout, and Kelli Prader, Project Manager City of Carmel.

Here’s more:

Watch art created before your very eyes at the sixth annual Carmel on Canvas plein air event – an open-air painting exhibition and competition on the sidewalks throughout the Carmel Arts & Design District and Midtown. The event, which is free to spectators, runs Friday to Sunday, September 13-15.

Artists ranging from professionals to amateurs, including a teen and children’s division, will be painting at a variety of locations for the plein air event all day Friday and Saturday. The public is invited to come to the district and Midtown to watch the painters set up their easels and paint their chosen subjects. The artists’ works are for sale, so you could negotiate a price before the paint is even dried! Artists are able to register at the Indiana Design Center (200 South Range Line Road) beginning at 8:30 a.m. Friday, and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. – noon.

One quick paint is offered to registered artists on Saturday at the Carmel Farmers Market (5 Center Green) where winning paintings will be determined by a community vote by market visitors. The winning artists will take home a $300 first place prize, a $200 second place award and a $100 third place spot, as well as the $50 child merit award.

Also on Saturday, children are able to paint at the Carmel Arts Council’s Kids Zones from noon – 3 p.m., with two locations in the Arts & Design District, including Magdalena Gallery of Art (27 East Main Street) and Carmel Arts Council’s Children’s Art Gallery (40 West Main Street).

The plein air artworks created on Friday and Saturday will be judged by Shawn Krueger. Krueger is a contemporary landscape painter who, over the course of his career, has shown his works in a variety of galleries across the United States. This year the artist was invited to be a signature member of the American Tonalist Society and to participate in the inaugural exhibition Shades of Gray at the Salmagundi Club in New York. Locally, he has been invited to participate in recently curated shows at Butler University (In Open Air) and Harrison Center for the Arts (Landscape Today). Shawn’s work has garnered a number of awards over the years and his pieces are in dozens of private collections as well as in the permanent collections of the Grand Rapids Art Museum, Gilda’s Club of GR, Calvin College and the Bissell Corporation.

The plein air reception and public viewing takes place at 5 p.m. on Saturday where the paintings will be available for viewing and for sale before the judging at 6 p.m. Artist awards include a $3,000 grand prize, $2,000 for second place, $1,500 for third and $1,000 for fourth. Award winners will be announced on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. along Artists Lane (also known as 2nd Avenue NW) between Sophia Square and the Monon Greenway.

Sunday’s art fair will feature works created by Carmel on Canvas artists from noon – 4 p.m. It will be set up along Artists Row (2nd Avenue NW). Artists are encouraged to display works from the plein air event along with other works in their collection.

To learn more, visit http://carmelartsanddesign.com/features/carmel_on_canvas/.