Artists will paint Dexter en plein air. Photo courtesy of Victoria Schon.
Dexter's Arts, Culture and Heritage Committee wanted to introduce a new event that would celebrate and promote Dexter's character.
The first Paint Dexter Plein Air Festival aims to attract artists who paint outdoors and in the moment. Let loose on the village Aug. 13-17, they will capture scenes of Dexter's downtown, surrounding farmlands, and natural areas. (Plein air means "in the open air.")
The public can watch painters at work, purchase their artworks at the end of the festival, and attend special events and performances along the way.
An important festival highlight to keep in mind, the artworks will be for sale on Saturday, Aug. 17, from 2:30 p.m. until the festival ends at 8 p.m. That will be your chance to see all of the finished artworks.
The best plein air paintings will be awarded cash prizes, selected by competition judge Frits Hoendervanger, 3rd-place winner at last year's ArtPrize. An additional "Quick Draw" competition will be judged by artist Dee Overly, who directs the gallery at the Riverside Art Center in Ypsilanti.
"What this new event will hopefully do," Schon says, "is create a certain level of pride in our community. People will see artists' perspectives of the beauty that we might take for granted every day. I hope it will help them appreciate it more or see it in a new way."
In Dexter, there are many potential painting sites. The artists might prefer to stay within the Village of Dexter to paint downtown, historic houses, street-scapes, or architecture. They may choose to venture out into the natural surrounds and park lands.
"There are beautiful landscapes and rivers, forests and parks all over this area. You could be at Hudson Mills metro park, there is a new park down by the river, and there are beautiful old red barns in our landscape - I've painted them myself. There are also awesome fields, meadows, wild flowers," she says.
"In the village itself there are what I think are lovely, charming city-scapes and really cool old Victorian style homes or Greek revival for people who are into painting architecture," Schon says.
Of plein air painting as a discipline, Schon says, "it's outdoors, quick, and spontaneous." Artists paint their immediate impressions of a landscape, scene or subject, in situ.
Throughout the event, plein air painters will likely be spotted all over Dexter. On-lookers are strongly encouraged to watch.
"I would love for people to come out to see the artists at work," Schon says, adding "part of this is that we want to educate people about plein air painting and get them interested in it."
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
On Thursday, Aug. 15, while painters continue to paint, the public can attend 2 special festival events.
Tecumseh's Black Door Gallery owner Susan Amstutz will do a painting demonstration at Monument Park, from 4 to 6 p.m.
UM art history graduate student Martha Girsch will give a presentation on the "History of Plein Air Painting," from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Dexter Public Library.
A special student art exhibition will be on display, on Friday, Aug. 16. Students from Dexter Schools recently competed in a "Light Pole Banner Contest," and their original artworks will be on display under the festival tent at Monument Park from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Musical accompaniment to the student art show will be provided by Dexter's Summer Music Series nearby. Country rock band Most Wanted will play an unplugged set at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 17 is a big day for the new festival. By 2:30 p.m., all of the artworks will be delivered to the Monument Park tent and put up for sale, until the festival ends at 8 p.m.
Artists will also compete in a "Quick Draw" competition, a 3-hour plein air challenge, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Judges will announce their favorites at the "Awards Ceremony" from 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., followed by music from the Dexter Symphony Orchestra from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Find the festival schedule and information about how to participate as a plein art painter on the Dexter Arts, Culture and Heritage Committee website.