Four North Country plein air art festivals planned this summer

SARANAC LAKE | Four plein air events are scheduled for the northern Adirondacks this summer. Visitors are encouraged to check schedules and make plans to see the Adirondacks through the eyes of these artists. The following are scheduled for the northern Adirondacks in 2025: July 15-19: Keeseville Plein Air, as part of their Community Arts Festival Aug. 18-23: Adirondack Plein Air Festival, Saranac Lake Sept. 17-20: Salmon River Valley Plein Air Festival, Malone Sept. 30-Oct. 5: Tupper Lake Plein Air Festival, Tupper Lake Plein Air is a French term for "painting outdoors in the open air." Artists attending these festivals will take their studios outdoors to explore natural light and scenic views. Wilderness or farmland, industrial or village, all locations offer unlimited subject matter in large and small format and rendered in oils, watercolors, acrylics, and pastels. Some artists make several paintings a day, resulting in a group show of hundreds of paintings, all of them uniquely Adirondack. Painters have been capturing the glory of our area en plein air for centuries. In 2009, Sandra Hildreth, a Saranac Lake painter and one of the founding members of Saranac Lake ArtWorks, decided to organize a plein air festival for the Adirondack region. The Adirondack Plein Air Festival started out with just a few local artists who painted for two days and then hung a show of their work on a Sunday afternoon. Now, after 16 years, the event has a national reputation, a juried selection process, five days of painting, and awards over $5,000 in prizes. Ending the event is the huge show and sale in the Harrietstown Town Hall in Saranac Lake that regularly sends dozens of paintings on to new homes. The Keeseville, Malone and Tupper Lake festivals were all modeled after the Saranac Lake event and also attract artists wanting to paint Adirondack landscapes - from the High Peaks to the foothills, and from Lake Champlain to the Au Sable River valleys. These events are for artists - many of whom travel the country attending different festivals - as well as art collectors and spectators. And they bring visitors to the communities that host them. Spectators are welcome at all the plein air festivals, and most will have schedules or specific locations where the artists can be found. Visit the Adirondack Region Plein Air Festivals and bring home a one-of-a-kind piece of art. The Festivals may also have secondary events as part of their schedules, e.g., meet the artists receptions, silent auctions of donated works, nocturne (evening) paintings, and quick draw competitions. Saranac Lake ArtWorks was established in 2008 and incorporated as a not-for-profit membership organization in 2020. Through ArtWalks, Studio Tours, a presence at the Saranac Lake Farmers Market and the Adirondack Plein Air Festival, ArtWorks uses arts and culture to promote Saranac Lake and the surrounding communities, with the goal of bringing economic opportunities to our artists and other creatives. Learn more at saranaclakeartworks.org.

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Four North Country plein air art festivals planned this summer

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