INTRODUCING OUR FIRST-EVER PLEIN AIR EVENT
Set in the stunning ribbon of parks at the heart of Leamington Spa, this non-selective art event will be open to all local 2D & 3D artists (not only WOS members). Whether well established or just starting out, artists will be invited to engage with their surroundings and produce a creative piece in response. On the day, a number of our established WOS artists will be providing mentor support to emerging artists.
Whereas most Plein Air events tend to be restricted to paintings or drawings, we’re inviting you to engage with your surroundings and produce a creative piece in response in any 2D or 3D art form. In addition to paints, pastels or pencil, this could be ceramics, jewellery, wire, felt, print, photography or even mixed media using leaves, twigs, etc found in the parks. The choice of medium is entirely up to you...
Visitors will be welcome to wander around and see the art in action. At the end of the day, the artwork will be displayed in a pop-up exhibition in The Glasshouse, followed by a month-long exhibition in the LSA Gallery; pieces will also be photographed for a virtual gallery on the WOS website. Prizes will be awarded in a number of categories (see below).
ARTISTS
This event has been developed to support artists in the investigation of new work in outdoor spaces. It will provide a platform for visual artists working in a variety of mediums (not just 2D) to respond to the beautiful vistas of central Leamington Spa. We will be providing mentorship to those artists who perhaps haven't tried this before. We want the day to be enjoyable and informative and maybe an opportunity to build some confidence and gain some new aquaintances.
It will cost £10 to take part for established artists and there will be some concessionary rates for the U25s and emerging artists as we don't want any barriers to participation.
Event registration will open from 9am until 10:30am on 5th September and all pieces being submitted for the competition must be back at The Glasshouse by 3pm at the latest. It is then up to you how long you take to produce your piece within these timeframes.
PRIZES
We're delighted to announce that some amazing prizes will be awarded to a number of the participants to provide opportunities to continue to develop their practice. These prizes have been kindly donated by our partner organisations:
- Tustains Jewellers - £250 voucher to spend in their shop for the most outstanding piece of work on the day
- Art in the Park - An artist selected to be provided with a pitch at the next AITP live event in 2022
- Leamington Studio Artists - An opportunity to exhibit in one of the rooms of their gallery space for one month
- Warwickshire Open Studios & The Leamington Spa Museum & Gallery - An emerging artist will be invited to exhibit a piece alongside the WOS 21st Birthday Retrospective at the Gallery from October to December
- Picturesque Art - 12 highly commended £20 art supplies vouchers
- Compton Verney - Annual membership for the People's Choice award
Submissions will be judged by a panel including our patron Andrew Davies, the Mayor Susan Rasmussen and representatives from the event sponsors.
Contact
If you have any further queries then please contact pleinair@warwickshireopenstudios.org
SIGN-UP
We want this event to be as low key, relaxed and informative as possible, but all participants must understand and agree to certain Terms & Conditions, so please make sure you read these first. We are using the Coventry City of Culture ticketing site for the artists' registration process. We can only accept artists who sign up in advance to take part in the event.
INSPIRATION GALLERY
