FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Easels in Frederick hosting “plein air” event to celebrate city’s beauty
Artists will be in Frederick, MD June 21 through 26 of 2011
Frederick, MD- As one of America Style Magazine’s “25 Small City Arts Destinations”, Frederick is showing yet another way they encourage the arts. Sponsored by the Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center, the city of Frederick will be hosting Easels in Frederick.
Easels in Frederick is a juried competition to promote the arts environment of Frederick and create interest in plein air painting. Plein air painting, meaning open air, or painting outdoors, was made popular by 19th century French Impressionists.
The event will be held June 21- 26, 2011. On the 21st, professional artists will be downtown to interpret historic Frederick’s cityscapes and landmarks. Painting outside, en plein air, without the use of photographs, artists will submit two completed artworks on Saturday afternoon and the awards ceremony will take place Sunday along with an exhibit and sale in the Pavilion. During the competition, all artists will be given a host family in Frederick. The grand prize is $5,000 with the Collector’s Award being $2,500 and the Popular Choice Award is $1,500.
March 1, 2011, a list of accepted 30 artists and five alternates will be listed on the Delaplaine website.
Judging all applicants is Kenn Errol Backhaus, who is an award- winning commercial designer and illustrator. In 1984, Backhaus took up the passion of outdoor painting. Since then he has taken home many Best of Show awards. He was a part of the PBS series, “Plein Air, Painting the American Landscape”. You can currently find Kenn on “Passport & Palette”, a 13-part series for the next generation of art education on public television.
So get ready for the arts, the culture, and the beauty of historic Frederick, MD. June 21- 26, 2011. For more information e-mail Nancy Izant at nizant@delaplaine.org
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Media Contact:
Tim Ryan
tryan@delaplaine.org
