Some 32 artists came from as far away as Delaware to participate in the 2nd Adirondack Plein Air Festival held last weekend in Saranac Lake, sponsored by Saranac Lake ArtWorks. The festival kicked off on Thursday, August 19th when many of the artists arrived to participate in the “Paint the Town,” event. They checked in at the local art supplies store, Borealis Color on Main Street, to sign in and then went off with 5 x 7 canvases to various places around town to paint. The finished works were brought into the Adirondack Artists Guild next door by 5PM that day, where they were displayed for a silent auction over the weekend to raise funds in support of BluSeed Studios children’s arts programs. By Sunday, all of the miniworks had sold, raising $1200 for the BluSeedlings program.
That night was the town’s Third Thursday Art Walk, a self-guided tour of the artist’s studios conceived by local artist Tim Fortune of Small Fortune Studio, which has been a Saranac Lake tradition for a decade. The local merchants all stayed open, and three musical performances went on at different locations. In the center of town, the now infamous “Art Vending Machine” was brought out by local gallery owner and contemporary artist Todd Smith of 7444 Gallery. The vending machine, which reappears only one night each month—and at different locations—during the Art Walk, had mini artworks donated by local artists, each for a $1.
On Friday and Saturday, registered artists trotted off on their own using maps provided by event organizers to approved painting sites to work in their preferred media (oil, acrylic, watercolor, and even pastel) in sizes of their own choosing. Few places offer more inspiration than the Adirondacks, and the artists were free to explore six main locations that offered a range of landscapes. The three-day painting event wrapped up Saturday night with an artists reception at BluSeed Studios.
The culmination of the 2nd Adirondack Plein Air Festival was the exhibit on Sunday of 90 paintings completed by the participating artists over the weekend—and the Town Hall saw a huge turnout of spectators and artists alike. Juror Anne Diggory, an exceptionally talented landscape painter from Saratoga Springs, thoughtfully examined the works in private for more than an hour to select those that were to be presented with awards.
“Best in Show” went to Diane E. Leifheit of Gabriels, NY, for her pastel painting, “Mid-Morning Light,” capturing local barns against a backdrop of Whiteface Mountain. In selecting that work, Diggory explained that it “didn't stand out at first, but then I began noticing the careful choice of angle of vision that made a playful rhythm of similar shapes of the triangles of mountain, tree and roof. And the sense of space within the piece was very strong as a result of color choices, the closeness of value between white roof and sky and the pastel strokes. The sense of light came from the colors rather than a pattern of shadow.”
Other awards went to Nancy Brossard (Childwold, NY), Crista Pisano (Nyack, NY), Tim Fortune (Saranac Lake, NY), Margaret Bayalis (Milford, DE), Lita Thorne (Harriman, NY), John Bayalis (Milford, DE), Tarryl Gabel (Poughkeepsie, NY), and Bruce Thorne (Harriman, NY).
The People’s Choice Award was announced at the end of the show to give visitors and artists the chance to all submit their votes. The winner, Laura Martinez-Bianco (Marlboro, NY), received a $250 gift certificate from Borealis Color for her pastel painting, “Woodland Interior.”
From beginning to end the event was such a huge success that many artists already pledged their plans to return next year, August 18-21, 2011 for the 3rd Annual Adirondack Plein Air Festival in Saranac Lake. Information will be available on the ArtWorks website, or you can contact event organizers Sandra Hildreth (shildreth@roadrunner.com) or Susan Olsen of Borealis Color (518-891-1490).
For tourists who just want to enjoy a special and uniquely fun weekend event, the Adirondack Plein Air Festival is a great way to enjoy this little village this is quickly becoming the art destination of the Adirondacks.
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