Call to Artists !
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The Bath County Plein Air Festival is a juried event. A jury of five professional local artists/curators select the artists to participate in the festival. Our featured artist selection process begins in February. A prospectus will be posted on OnlineJuriedShows.com January 1, 2020. We will accept materials from prospective artists for our 2020 festival until June 30, 2020.
To be considered for the Bath County Plein Air Festival, you must meet the following criteria: · Be recognized regionally/nationally as a plein air artist. · Are currently represented by a fine art gallery with sales and regional/national media exposure. · Have been juried, or invited to participate, into other national plein air festivals within the last two years. The committee also considers the following:
Bath County Plein Air Festival awards $9000 in cash prizes:
We have a number of generous supporters who will open their homes to visiting artists. All juried artists will be placed in private homes. Several community members have also volunteered to host dinner for the artists. |
“I was enormously impressed with the
community support this event received, the warm hospitality extended by residents of the community and the extent of the planning by Warm Springs Gallery that made the very first outdoor painting event in Bath County a huge success. I know that every artists I spoke with was overwhelmed by the generosity of county residents in providing accommodations, hosting dinners offering financial support, and buying paintings. I'm sure they will continue to tell others about the beauty of the landscape and the wonderful people of Bath County.” --M. Steve Doherty, Editor Plein Air Magazine “What an amazing week, with talented painters, beautiful landscapes, perfect weather, and the generosity of friends, donors and hosts of Bath County. Our accommodations were so comfortable, our painting sites incredible and we artists have never been so pampered at an event. It was lovely to meet so many local residents who were so welcoming with their properties, homes and farms. ”
—Priscilla Whitlock, artist |
2019 Festival Judge: Angela Cunningham
Angela Cunningham is a portrait painter, genre painter, and sculptor in a naturalistic and realistic style whose inspiration arises from the character and individuality of her models and subjects. She enjoys working from life, because she believes it’s the best way to see the intricacies of the subject’s form; it’s also an excellent way to interact with and be inspired by the personality of the life in front of her. For Cunningham, painting means reading the world and getting lost in observing it; it’s also an interaction, an understanding, and a relationship. Every individual possesses something unique, and Cunningham’s fascination is to learn about each person's character, traits, thoughts, and quirks. No matter how different we are as individuals, she believes, there’s an underlying commonality; we can all relate to art that reveals someone's contained emotions and inner thoughts and triggers a glimpse of humanity.
Cunningham draws artistic inspiration from many artists, especially the Naturalists of the late 19th century (Emile Fraint and William Bliss Baker), the late 19th century Russian Realists (Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoi), the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, and contemporary artists Bruno Walpoth, Sally Mann, and Nicola Hicks. She finds Gustave Fraipont’s words particularly apt: “However clever you may be, Nature is your superior; however great your talent, she is greater; and if you only obey her you are sure to not be beside the mark. Great artists are truthful, and it is Nature who has taught them truth.” Please see her website for more information: www.angelacunninghamfineart.com/