Driggs Plein Air Festival
The 14th Annual Driggs Plein Air Festival will take place for registered artists from July 23 - August 2, 2025. Public Festival dates are Sunday, July 27 – Saturday, August 2. Artists and collectors enjoy many activities like the extended Exhibition & Sale, Opening Reception, Quick Draw Competitions, Collectors Night, Workshops, Paint-Outs, Competition Awards Ceremony, and Closing Reception. 2025 marks the first year the Festival has implemented a juried entry process, with 75 national selected artists invited to participate in both events and the formal competition.
2025 Driggs Plein Air Registered Artist Roster
Artists roster will be available in July 2025.
2025 Judges and Workshop Instructors: Tamara Callens and Kimball Geisler
Driggs Plein Air Competition Event Information
July 23 - Sept 20
EXHIBITION & SALE - Driggs City Center Gallery | *Teton Geo Center after August 5
July 27 - Sept 20
ONLINE EXHIBITION & SALE - Final Competition Paintings – www.downtowndriggs.org
Artist Check-In at Driggs City Center, 60 South Main Street, Driggs
Wednesday, July 23 • 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Thursday, July 24 • 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Friday, July 25 • 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Saturday, July 26 • 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Sunday, July 27 • 9:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Wednesday, July 23
10:00–11:30am • Kids Plein Air Painting WORKSHOP for ages 8-16 taught by Greg Myers, Executive Director of Teton Arts Teton Arts
Thursday, July 24 – Friday, July 25
Kimball Geisler Plein Air Painting WORKSHOP, Location TBD
Saturday, July 26 – Sunday, July 27
Tamara Callens Plein Air Painting WORKSHOP, Location TBD
Saturday, July 26
6-8pm • Montana Shakespeare in the Parks PAINT OUT at Teton County Courthouse Lawn
Sunday, July 27
5:00-8:00pm • DOWNTOWN SOUNDS CONCERT, OPENING RECEPTION & PAINT OUT
Driggs Plaza, 60 South Main Street, Driggs
Monday, July 28
10:00am–12:00pm • PAINT OUT at Grand Targhee Resort, Alta, Wyoming
Use your free chair lift ticket to meet fellow artists atop Grand Targhee Resort with stunning Teton Views.
Gallery and Tent Exhibition and Sales • 9am – 6pm, Driggs City Gallery
Tuesday, July 29
7:00-11:00am • QUICK DRAW, Downtown Victor
Check in at Victor City Park
2:00pm • PEOPLES CHOICE QUICK DRAW AWARDS, Outdoors at Driggs Plaza
Gallery and Tent Exhibition and Sales • 9am – 5pm, Driggs City Gallery
Wednesday, July 30
7:00-11:00am • QUICK DRAW, Location to be announced
12:00pm • QUICK DRAW AWARDS BY COMPETITION JUDGES, Outdoors at Driggs Plaza
Gallery and Tent Exhibition and Sales – 9am – 5pm, Driggs City Gallery
Thursday, July 31
4:00pm • FINAL COMPETITION SUBMISSION DEADLINE
Submissions due at Driggs City Gallery
Gallery and Tent Exhibition and Sales – 9am – 5pm, Driggs City Gallery
Friday, August 1
Driggs Plaza, 60 South Main Street
9:00am • COMPETITION JUDGING
9:00am • 3:00pm – PEOPLES CHOICE JUDGING
11:00am • 3:00pm – ARTISTS CHOICE JUDGING
4:30 • 6:00pm – COMPETITION AWARDS CEREMONY AND CLOSING RECEPTION
Gallery and Tent Exhibition and Sales – 9am – 8:00pm, Driggs City Gallery
Saturday, August 2
9:00am-4:00pm – ARTIST CHECK-OUT
Gallery and Tent Exhibition and Sales – 9am – 12pm, Driggs City Gallery
At artist check-in, all artists must sign an Artist Waiver and a IRS W9 form.
GENERAL
Please display your easel sign while you are painting to help promote the event and give people the connection to Driggs Plein Air and the Gallery, Tent Sales and Treasure Trove. Please wear your name badge as well. Your name badge must be visible in order to take advantage of the business discounts listed on the back of the badge. For last minute supply needs, the Local Galleria (across from the Driggs City Center) has paint and other supplies available and will give Driggs Plein Air artists a 10% discount on all purchases. Artists will be given discounts at local restaurants. Painting boundaries are limited to Teton Valley as artists are encouraged to paint the Driggs/Victor/Tetonia/Alta area.
SALES AND COMMISSION
A completed and signed Artist Waiver and current W-9 must be completed at Check-in for an artist to display and sell paintings during the event. All painting sales during the event MUST be processed through Driggs Plein Air! This includes all paintings in the Gallery, Tent, Quick Draws and Paint Outs. If someone wishes to buy a wet painting off your easel - great! Give me a call (216-235-7532) and I will run their credit card over the phone. It is common to be approached by individuals while you are out painting, and in some cases artists are commissioned to paint for local business owners, landowners and other interested parties. While we can't monitor your sales remotely while you are painting, we ask you to please work on the honor system. Let us process the sale in order to support the continuation of this event. Your host, the Downtown Driggs Association is a small nonprofit that relies mostly on sales commissions from the event to produce Driggs Plein Air. Commissions on art sales are used to cover expenses in order to keep the event free to the public. Driggs Plein Air will retain 30% of the painting sale price (plus all applicable sales tax). See Competition. Artist commissions representing 70% of the total sale price, plus taxes, will be mailed to the artist within 30 days of the event closing date. 1099's will be mailed to artists selling more than $600 by the deadline the following January. Artists are not allowed to hang their own paintings or any other artists work, unless expressly asked by staff to do so when artist is working as a volunteer. ONLY STAFF is allowed to hang and display artwork.
PAINTING RULES
Paintings will be displayed and for sale in the Gallery and a Tent. At Check in - You can bring up to 4 previously painted works ready to hang - 2 to hang in the Gallery and 2 to hang in the Tent. Maximum painting size for the event is 20x20 IMAGE size, and 26x26 FRAMED size. Deep Canvas Wrap and cradled board must be at least 1 1/2 inches deep and wired for hanging. All paintings must be FRAMED and ready to hang. Our hanging system only works with wire. Canvases/boards/paper may be stamped at sign in and at the registration desk in the Driggs City Center during open Gallery hours. Canvases must be free of images prior to stamping. A base coat of paint (any color) is allowed. We will provide identification tags that you may use to mark your paintings with Title, Artist, and Price. Paintings that do not comply to these rules will not be eligible for the event or the competition. Only STAMPED paintings completed during the week can be swapped out or added to the Gallery or Tent. Only STAMPED paintings completed during the week can be submitted in the final Competition. Up to 2 paintings can be submitted for the Competition in the Gallery. Oil, acrylic, pastel and watercolor are accepted media. Charcoal may be used if it consists of no more than 50% of the total composition with other accepted media constituting the other 50%. Any paper like watercolor paper or pastel paper and any non canvas surface must be STAMPED on the back. Upon submission for hanging, the back of the paper must be visible BEFORE the frame backing is put on. Paintings completed during the workshops are NOT eligible for the Competition. In the traditional definition of ‘Plein Air’, you must complete your work 100% outside from what you see during the week, within the allowable boundaries. No paintings from photographs and no entries produced using manipulated photographic processes, computer enhanced imagery, or other non-plein air means.
COMPETITION
Each artist will be allowed to enter up to two (2) paintings - STAMPED, FRAMED and wired and READY TO HANG - into the judged competition. Only stamped paintings completed during the week will be allowed to hang in the gallery during the competition judging. All final competition paintings must be submitted by 4pm Thursday, July 31 - NO late entries will be accepted. All paintings must remain in the Gallery until the conclusion of the Final Reception to allow guests to view all the competition pieces as a group and facilitate the People’s and Artist's Choice selections. The Gallery will be closed to artists during Judging on Friday morning from 9am-10:30 am. Competition paintings will be available for sale all day Friday, in order to give the public the opportunity to purchase paintings before the Awards Ceremony. Buyers will be asked to leave the paintings in the gallery through the end of the Awards and Reception. The Gallery Exhibition will extend to Sept. 10. Unsold paintings may be picked up anytime after the Awards Ceremony on Friday night until Sept 10. After the Main Event, the Gallery Exhibition will be available ONLINE. Additional Rules for the ONLINE Exhibition and Sale will be shared with those exhibiting.
TENT SALES
TENT SALES - Each artists is allowed to display two (2) Driggs Plein Air stamped paintings in the TENT. This can be a paint out, quick draw or any other stamped painting. See paint out and quick draw information below. Maximum painting size Tent is 20x20 IMAGE size, and 26x26 FRAMED size. Eligible paintings must be submitted on a FRAMED and wired READY TO HANG canvas/board/paper.
QUICK DRAWS
Participation in the Quick Draw competitions are not required, but they are great opportunities to promote your artwork and Driggs Plein Air. Traditionally, these have been high traffic events with good on-site sales. Wet paintings will be available for sale immediately following the Quick Draw at the TENT, and cash prizes will be awarded. Quick Draw paintings have to be picked up by 5pm the day of the Quick Draw, unless you submit it into one of your four spots (2 Gallery, 2 Tent) Stamping for Tuesday's Quick Draw takes place at 7:00 am at the Victor City Park, not far from Driggs. Tuesday morning's Quick Draw in downtown Victor will be awarded based on People's Choice voting at midday. Each person is given one vote only. Artists are asked NOT to talk to the public to promote their painting. Voting will be carefully monitored to ensure fairness. The downtown Victor Quick Draw paintings must be started and completed on-site or within three blocks of the traffic light in Victor. Stamping for Wednesday's Quick Draw takes place at 7:00 am on a private property. Location details will be given out the day before this event. Artists are asked NOT to return to the private property after the Quick Draw unless given permission. One of the workshop instructors will judge the Wednesday Quick Draw paintings midday in downtown Driggs. Both Quick Draws require that paintings be completed within the timeframe of the Quick Draw (see schedule) No Quick Draw paintings are allowed from photographs or digital devices, and no entries produced using manipulated photographic processes, computer enhanced imagery, or other non-plein air means will be accepted. All paintings must be completed on a stamped canvas or paper and must be framed.
PAINT OUTS
Participation in Paint Outs is optional and your competition piece is not required to be completed at a Paint Out. Paint Outs are opportunities to see some beautiful places and mingle with other artists. Framed Paint Out paintings can be sold in the Tent. You will have access to Grand Targhee Ski & Summer Resort with two tickets to use during the week.
Driggs Plein Air Festival Awards
2025 Judges are Tamara Callens and Kimball Geisler
2024 Competition Awards
1st Place $1,200
2nd Place $800
3rd Place $600 *Sponsored in by Plein Air Painters of Idaho
Susan M. Rose Artist's Choice - $200
People's Choice - $200
Quick Draw 1st Place $300
Quick Draw 2nd Place $200
Quick Draw 3rd Place - $100
Plein Air Painting Workshops with Tamara Callens and Kimball Geisler (details below) - Registrants will receive a complete supply list and workshop details, including location specifics, from instructors with plenty of time before the workshops start. Students DO NOT have to be a registered Driggs Plein Air artist to register for workshops. Registration Opens on January 13. Cancellation deadline is June 1, 2025.
KIMBALL GEISLER PAINTING WORKSHOP: Thursday, July 24 - Friday, July 25
$309 for 2-days of instruction | Maximum number of students is 16.
Kimball describes his style of Plein Air as realism. While in his work he strives for accurate drawing, value, and color to represent his subject, he relies heavily on the spontaneity of the paint as it is transferred from brush to canvas. Through thick and thin, rough and smooth brushwork, he believes that detail is better left implied than described.
Since entering into the art market, Kimball has enjoyed consistent sales and positive feedback from collectors, vendors, and other prominent artists. His work has been featured in full articles in prominent art magazines, and it has taken him to incredible locations throughout many different states as well as other countries. He’s earned awards through various painting competitions and shows, including the Grand Prize for the annual Plein Air Salon for 2022. In 2024 he was included in the prestigious Buffalo Bill Art Auction in Cody Wyoming. Today Kimball lives in Rexburg, Idaho, with his family where he enjoys the rich mountain terrain that Idaho has to offer.
Workshop Description:
Nature is impossibly complex and we are inherently limited in our ability to accurately paint it, let alone comprehend it! This is the universal problem that we as artists must always deal with. In my workshop we will discuss a basic framework, specifically on the topic of values, that will allow us to distill the complexities of the landscape into manageable decisions that we make on the canvas. When we train ourselves to be deliberate in every brushstroke, our paintings take one a level of competency that becomes apparent in the final product. This workshop is particularly useful for artists with a bit of experience under their belt, but all skill levels will benefit from this two-day class.
Each day will be broken up into two sessions, one with a lecture and demonstration from Kimball, and the other for students to paint and receive individual critique and feedback. Specific times and locations will be provided at a closer date.
Learn more about Kimball and his work:
Website: www.kimballgeisler.com
Instagram - @kimballgeisler | Facebook - Kimball Geisler
TAMARA CALLENS WORKSHOP: Saturday, July 26 – Sunday, July 27
$309 for 2-days of instruction | Maximum number of students is 16.
Proficient in landscape, figure and portrait . Tamara utilizes traditional painting techniques in a decidedly contemporary fashion. While her subject matter remains timeless, she favors dramatic and yet intimate compositions that feature shimmering color harmonies and painterly brushwork. In all, Tamara's luminous oils and murals reflect clarity of vision, passion, and a spiritual focus reminiscent of earlier American impressionists such as Edgar Payne, Guy Rose and William Wendt, and many others.
Tamara was raised in the lush redwood landscape of the Pacific North Coast in California and currently resides in the Jackson Hole Wyoming, where she enjoys the vast Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks
Workshop Description:
Students will experience an introduction to the fundamentals of life painting including both landscape and figure painting. Tammy will lead students through methods of choosing a composition and demonstrate ways to break or simplify the composition. Students will learn how to 'finish' a painting by adding their own accents that can help carry the composition and make it personal.
Learn more about Tamara and her work:
Website: www.tammycallens.com