May 26-29, 2022

The jurors for Quinte en Plein Air 2022 are Lucy Manley and Frank A. Edwards.

Lucy Manley Artist statement: “My goal is to capture the landscape and express my feelings and emotions through oil painting.  By employing a bold use of colour to highlight and heighten the visual impact of each painting – my loose, rapidly executed brushstrokes capture moment-by-moment impressions on the canvas.  My subject matter is primarily the four seasons as they occur throughout the year. Painting on location en plein air is what I prefer to do.” For more about Lucy and her art click here.

About Frank A. Edwards: Graduate of The Ontario Collage Of Art ’63, Plein Air painter since 1975, Book author, Landscapes From Life and Painting For Life: Winner of the First Annual Belleville Plein Air Festival, 2013, Gallery Association with Gallery Raymond, Kingston, Ont. and Rene-Richard Art Gallery and Museum, Baie-St- Paul, QC, Paintings in national and international collections.  For more about Frank and his art click here.

Remember Bob Ross? The cherubic host of PBS hit “The Joy of Painting,” with his corona of auburn permed hair and a soothing sonorous voice that the New York Times called the “aural equivalent of Demerol”? Ross developed a near cult-like following between 1983 and 1994 as viewers tuned in to watch him paint an idyllic landscape from a blank canvas in just 26 minutes. Viewers fell for his signature words of encouragement to add a “happy little cloud in the sky” and his trademark, “there are no mistakes, only happy accidents.” While Ross died in 1995, his celebrity continued with millions of hits on his YouTube videos. Why? Ross made art accessible, and offered a look inside the artist’s process.

The QAC Arts en Plein Air Painting Festival offers visitors this same opportunity, but with a twist: to watch as artists capture a static painting in a changing landscape. Outdoors. Within a specified time. No reference photos or work after hours. Rain or shine.

From May 26-29, emerging and established artists will leave their studios behind to paint and showcase their work “en plein air.” En Plein air painting yields work that is both spontaneous and lively as light, form and colour change throughout the day.

Visitors will find artists using various mediums (oil, watercolour, acrylic and soft pastel) painting at their easels throughout downtown Belleville, the Old East Hill, Victoria Park, Zwick’s Park, Meyer’s Pier, the Waterfront Trail, Prince Edward County, Quinte West, Madoc, and Stirling.

Artists have between Thursday morning at 9:30 am and Saturday afternoon by 2 pm to create and submit up to three works for consideration by esteemed judges both established plein air artists.

The energy and excitement of the festival culminates in a closing ceremony and awards presentation on Sunday, May 29 at the J.M. Parrott Gallery, where judges will award prizes totalling over $5,000. All are welcome to attend. Following the festival, art lovers are encouraged to visit the Quinte en Plein Air Exhibit in the Parrott Gallery at the Belleville Public Library to view or purchase the art from May 29 to June 25, 2022.

First prize $1200

Second prize $900

Third prize $600

Bay of Quinte Waterfront $500

Mayor’s choice $500

Best downtown Belleville $500

Best rural/agricultural subject $250

Best architectural/heritage subject $250

Best student $200

People’s Choice $150