The Evanston Plein Air Festival, a weeklong event centered on the craft of outdoor painting, came to a close on Sunday. A grand finale drew community members into the lobby and courtyard of the Rotary Center to admire paintings created by almost 60 participating artists.
Over the last week, painters set up across the city to scope out subjects, completing works within hours and “chasing the light.” Each artist chose one painting created during the week to be their final submission, which was analyzed by the festival’s Best in Show judge, Cory Wright, as well as any onlookers who chose to vote for the Festival Favorite.
Wright hails from Florida, and she first attended the Evanston Plein Air Festival last year. After attending a plein air workshop in Italy over a decade ago, she “fell in love” with the practice.
“People ask me all the time, ‘How long does a painting usually take you?’” Wright said. “I have a standard answer. I say, ‘About two hours and 20 years.’ Twenty years of doing it consistently and getting better. Time is of the essence when you’re painting outdoors.”
At last summer’s festival, Wright took first place at a “paint off,” an on-location competition between painters, and she caught the eye of festival founder and local artist Mark Cleveland. Cleveland invited Wright, who teaches and has experience judging festivals, to teach a workshop and judge the event’s final showcase this year.
Along with naming the festival’s Best in Show, Wright awarded five additional artists with second place, third place and honorable mentions.
“When it comes down to looking at two good paintings, how do I award second to one and third to the other?” Wright said. “When I’m going through the first time, I don’t even take notes. I just note which ones are compelling. Then, I ask myself a series of questions, and I give a number rating to each based on the answer.”
Among her criteria, Wright considered how memorable, skillfully crafted, intentionally colored and well-composed each painting was to make her decision.
Arturo Aldama received the Best in Show award for an ambitiously-sized painting of the Grosse Point Lighthouse. Simon Cygielski took home both second place overall and another award granted by Plein Air Painters Chicago for “capturing the mundane in a beautiful way” with his rendition of the underside of a Metra overpass. Mary Flack’s colorful depiction of boats stored on the beach rounded out the top three.
Other awards honored an individual who represented the spirit of Plein Air and the best painting from an amateur artist.
Out in the open
Plein air painting includes a unique set of challenges, like dealing with changes in weather and light as the day passes. One reason the style is suited so well for a competitive festival is its difficulty; another is its unique power to engage passersby.
To Lisa Degliantoni, founder and co-director of Evanston Made, placing artists around neighborhoods drums up attention and support for the local art community.
“Plein air painting is representational painting of wherever you’re at. People come here for a week and they paint Evanston, then the local people spend the week noticing that there was a painter at the fountain, there was a painter at the beach,” Degliantoni said. “All this common interest gets built up, and then the finale is an opportunity for all of these people to come in, gather and meet artists, and look at their city in a different way.”
For Wright, curiosity and appreciation from spectators is a valuable part of plein air painting.
“Painting itself is such a solitary profession or activity,” she said. “One of the things I really enjoy about doing it is interacting with the public and being able to explain what I’m doing. I feel like an ambassador sometimes, to explain to people that this is a thing.”
The public made its presence known at the finale by voting for the recipient of the Festival Favorite award. The honor went to Jianqiao Luan, who painted a watercolor perspective along the coast of Lake Michigan looking toward downtown Chicago. His unique positioning on the Segal Visitors Center parking garage on Northwestern University’s campus and his simple, colorful design drew in experienced artists and admiring Evanston residents alike.
“As you’re inviting people into the community to explore Evanston, you’re like, ‘I wonder what they’re gonna look at,’” Degliantoni said. “It’s really fun when they find a sneaky locals’ vantage point.”
Plein air festivals across the country often have entry requirements for admission, such as prior participation in a festival. Evanston Made intentionally doesn’t incorporate any such limitations for registering artists to ensure the event is accessible for rising talent, which brings in a wide variety of skills, ages and styles every year.
“Everybody gets to play,” Degliantoni said. “We have to be equitable and inclusive, and you never know where that absolute talent is going to come from.”
