Plein Air Festival offers a new way to experience art
Residents strolling through Downtown Los Angeles’ historic district this past weekend might have encountered an unexpected surprise: artists creating work directly in front of them on the sidewalk. These artists are participants in the Los Angeles Plein Air Festival, which ran from Oct. 9 to Oct. 12.
Classic feel · The festival aims to celebrate a more traditional form of art where artists simply painted what was in front of them as opposed to modern art forms such as street art and animation. – Photo courtesy of Plein Air Festival
The festival was hosted by Raw Materials Art Supplies and the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk. Though the Art Walk has showcased local artists since 2004, this weekend marked the first annual Plein Air Festival. L.A. residents have long patronized the art walk as an opportunity to visit artists’ studios and view their work, but the Plein Air Festival featured the added treat of watching artists create art.
“Plein air” is a French phrase that translates to “in the open air.” In terms of the festival, this means that artists painted outside while directly observing their subject: the city of Los Angeles. From local artists, to community members, to historic downtown, the Plein Air Festival integrated various attributes of the city by allowing artists to paint Los Angeles, in Los Angeles while L.A. residents observed.
Typically, the term “art show” conjures up images of a stuffy museum primarily filled with well-dressed, wealthy collectors. Casual and involved, Plein Air starkly contrasts this stereotype by making the creative process tangible to all members of the public.
Besides revamping the way patrons look at art, the Plein Air method also impacts the way artists create art. John Kilduff, a participating artist, explained that while painting outdoors, he must consider additional factors, like “the energy from the street, the people, the cars, the sun, the heat, the cold and [his] mental and physical state.”
Free and open to the public, the festival drew a wide variety of both artists and spectators. Any artist who wished to participate could register beforehand on the festival’s website, leading to a total of 129 unique artists from different parts of Southern California, including Miriam Jackson of San Pedro, California.
Jackson described plein air painting as “one of the most peaceful forms of performance art.” To Jackson, what makes the festival special is that “People pass by and experience the creation of the painting. They get inspired and feel good to see something unusual and interesting. They get to see the work that goes into it.”
Daily “Paint Outs” occured throughout the event, with each Paint Out based in a different portion of Downtown: Spring Street on Thursday, Main Street on Friday, Broadway on Saturday and the Downtown Farmers Market on Sunday. Most artists set up around noon and painted the urban landscape dedicatedly until the sun went down. Kalim Quevedo of Orange County managed to produce a near complete painting depicting the view of Downtown from Spring Street in approximately four hours. Quevedo participated in the Plein Air Festival in the hopes of “encouraging other people to be involved in art and to try outdoor painting.”
In addition to observing artists, the Plein Air Festival offered countless hands-on opportunities for patrons. Casual art demos were offered by Raw Materials Art Supplies Friday through Sunday, making art more accessible to the general public.
The event culminated on Sunday at the Downtown Farmers Market, where artists could sell the very art that patrons watched them create. By the end of the festival, patrons had seen every part of the process: from creating their own art, to watching artists work, to purchasing the final product. Portions of these proceeds will go towards supporting the Downtown Art Walk, allowing the event to come full circle. Participating artists are also eligible for Audience Choice awards, further connecting the artists to their audience.
A must-see stop for festival visitors was the Blackstone Gallery’s “Streetscapes: Downtown Los Angeles” exhibit, which opened on Thursday night. The front wall of the gallery showcases pieces created during the festival with an impressive map display of the streets of Los Angeles. Artists display their finished plein art pieces on the geographic location where they were created, resulting in an interactive collage that blends the work of several artists.
While a large portion of modern art revolves around street art or animation, the streetscapes created during this festival are a tribute to more traditional art methods, in which artists simply painted what was in front of them. The Plein Air Festival balanced this return to tradition with an innovative show format that enhanced the already lively Downtown Art Walk and made art more comprehensive to the average Angeleno.
Jackson hopes that the festival leaves patrons with “a deeper appreciation and understanding of this art form. In order to appreciate something, you have to understand it. By experiencing every step of the creation process in the festival, I hope people will gain a better understanding of what it is that they are looking at,” he said.