Driggs Plein Air Festival
2024 ARTIST REGISTRATION IS SOLD OUT. Please email lisa@downtowndriggs.org to be included on the waitlist. Workshop slots are still available but going fast! The 13th Annual Driggs Plein Air Festival will take place for registered artists from July 17-27, 2024. Public Festival dates are Sunday, July 21 – Saturday, July 27th. Plein air workshops will be offered by Suzie Baker, David Koch, and Michael Keyes. Artists and collectors enjoy many activities like the extended Exhibition & Sale, Opening Reception, Quick Draw Competitions, Workshops, Paint-Outs, Competition Awards Ceremony, and Closing Reception.
2024 Driggs Plein Air Registered Artist Roster
Mark Alldredge, Darrell Allen, Francis Ambrose, Katelyn Baird, Anne Becker, Tori Bennett, Margie Brackin, Barbara Brandenburg, Nanci Charpentier, Jude Chilen, Liz Covairt, Ericka Davidson, Daniel Driggs, Daved English, Alicia Finlayson, Katy Ann Fox, Nancy Glover, Carol Granger, DeLee Grant, Eileen Guernsey-Brown, Gunther Haidenthaller, Mimi Hamilton, Judy Heusner, Daniel Hidalgo, Kara Hidalgo, Zach Hixon, Julie Hochstrasser, Karen Jacobsen, Brian Johnson, Betsy Keyes, Michael Keyes, Edie Lewis, Louisa Lorenz, Blake Luther, Jay Mace, David Marty, Nicolette Maw, Joanna McCoy, Jean McDonough, Teri McLaren, Trish Melander, Steve Merten, Dianne Merten, Bobbi Miller, Michelle Nixon, Ruth Nordstrom, Nolan Parson, McKenzie Paxton, David Peacock, Daniel Potter, Jerome Quenneville, Maria Ressler, Patricia Romines, Mary Russell, Bryce Samuelson, Ryan Schoeck, Ginger Shell, Susan Simpson, Leah Spence, Seth Spencer, Steve Spencer, Kelly Sullivan, Emily Thomas, Sue Tyler, Lane Valiante, Cynthia Van Stein, Thomas Van Stein, Helga Watkins, Andy White, Lura Wilhelm, Joyce Wilson, Emma Woolstenhulme, Marina Zavalova, Teresa Wade
2024 Judges: Suzie Baker and David Koch
Driggs Plein Air Competition Event Information
2024 Detailed Schedule
July 21 - 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 17 • 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Thursday, July 18 • 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Friday, July 19 • 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Saturday, July 20 • 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Sunday, July 21 • 9:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Wednesday, July 17
9:00am-4:00pm • Michael Keyes Plein Air Woodblock WORKSHOP at Moose Creek Ranch, Victor
10:00am–12:30pm • Kids Plein Air Painting WORKSHOP for ages 8-16 taught by Teton Arts at Bates Boat Ramp - www.tetonarts.org/kids-programs
Thursday, July 18 – Friday, July 19
David Koch Plein Air Painting WORKSHOP, Location TBD
Saturday, July 20 – Sunday, July 21
Suzie Baker Plein Air Painting WORKSHOP, Location TBD
Sunday, July 21
5:00-8:00pm • DOWNTOWN SOUNDS CONCERT, OPENING RECEPTION & PAINT OUT
Driggs Plaza, 60 South Main Street, Driggs
Free concert with jazz and R&B band The Shift from 6-8pm
Monday, July 22
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.
4:30-6:00pm • OPEN STUDIO with Tamara Callens, Downtown Driggs Association offices at 91 East Little Avenue across from King Sushi
View the works of renowned local artist Tamara Callens and learn about her plein air techniques and inspiration
Gallery and Tent Exhibition and Sales • 9am – 6pm, Driggs City Gallery
Tuesday, July 23
7:00-11:00am • QUICK DRAW, Downtown Tetonia
Check in at Ruby Carson Memorial Park, 3103 Perry Avenue
2:00pm • PEOPLES CHOICE QUICK DRAW AWARDS, Outdoors at Driggs Plaza
Gallery and Tent Exhibition and Sales • 9am – 5pm, Driggs City Gallery
Wednesday, July 24
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 25
4:00pm • FINAL COMPETITION SUBMISSION DEADLINE
Submissions due at Driggs City Gallery
Gallery and Tent Exhibition and Sales – 9am – 5pm, Driggs City Gallery
Friday, July 26
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
6:00 • 7:30pm - FREE DOWNTOWN SOUNDS CONCERT with Black Rock Wind Quintet
Gallery and Tent Exhibition and Sales – 9am – 8:00pm, Driggs City Gallery
Saturday, July 27
9:00am-4:00pm – ARTIST CHECK-OUT
Gallery and Tent Exhibition and Sales – 9am – 12pm, Driggs City Gallery
Sunday, July 28
9:00am-12:00pm – 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 5pm Thursday, July 28 - 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 Ruby Carson Memorial Park in Tetonia, Idaho, not far from Driggs. Tuesday morning's Quick Draw in downtown Tetonia will be awarded based on People's Choice voting at midday. Artists will be given a different color paper for their votes. 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 Tetonia Quick Draw paintings must be started and completed on-site or within three blocks of the traffic light in Driggs. 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
2024 Judges are Suzie Baker and David Koch
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 and Woodcut Workshops with Suzie Baker, David Koch and Michael Keyes (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. Cancellation deadline is June 3, 2024.
MICHAEL KEYES WORKSHOP, Lively Woodcut Printmaking, en Plein Air: Wednesday, July 17, 9:00am — 4:00pm , with 1-hour lunch break
$130 for 1-day of instruction (supplies included with cost of workshop) | Maximum number of students is 10
BIO: Michael Keyes Michael Keyes is a woodcut printmaker and painter. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Degree from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Degree from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Michael enjoys the tactile sensation of carving blocks of wood, and developing the dramatic starkness of imagery in the prints made from them. He has been making woodcuts for about 50 years with a variety of subject matter: from mountain-river valley scenes to urban personalities and activities, and even still life, engaging the personality of the wood, in combination with compositional elements of his drawings, and occasional use of color, to produce lively woodcut prints. Michael has taught classes at Park Hill Art Club and Escalante Canyons Art Festival, and currently teaches woodcut printmaking at Art Students League of Denver.
What do you get when you take a workshop with Michael?
The goal of the workshop is for participants to produce an edition of 5 black and white fine art plein air woodcut prints from their sketch or drawing. Students will be introduced to wood and paper types, carving tools, inks, brayers, and printing tools used in making woodcut prints. We will discuss how to store and safely transport paper, ink, tools, and equipment so that they can set up shop in an outside location temporarily, in order to make woodcut prints “en plein air” (weather-dependent). This workshop will be held indoors.
Along the way, we will discuss sharpening and honing carving tools, the effects of hardness and porosity of wood, mixing oil-based ink to proper consistency, proper application of ink to the woodblock, hand-printing techniques to achieve desired results, and techniques to repair mistakes. We will also briefly discuss multi-block color prints, and color/reduction woodcut prints.
Participants must bring a sketch or drawing as a reference for the woodcut print to be produced. Woodblocks, ink, paper, and accessories are included in the fee and sharp carving tools will be provided for use. Instructor will have additional woodblocks available for sale.
Learn more about Michael and his work:
Website: MichaelKeyesArt.com
DAVID KOCH PAINTING WORKSHOP: Thursday, July 18 - Friday, July 19
$309 for 2-days of instruction | Maximum number of students is 16.
BIO: David Koch is an artist with a long history creating fine art for private and public collections. His painting “The Golden Road” commemorating the 150 year anniversary of the transcontinental railroad was recently purchased and added to the State of Utah Alice Merrill Horne Collection which comprises Utah's best visual artists of the past 120 years. Mr. Koch’s work can also be found in the collections of former Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney, former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt, and Utah Senator Mike Lee. Two murals depicting Utah history were commissioned by the Utah State Capitol Restoration Board and are found in the House of Representative Chambers of the Utah State Capitol Building. Mr. Koch has been awarded commissions for other large-scale, religious murals located in Canada, the United States and Europe.
What do you get when you take a workshop with David?
Two of the most common differences between amateur and professional paintings are inaccurate value and color relationships. Direct observation is the best way to see and record these relationships. This will be the focus of the Driggs Plein Air Workshop by David Koch. This 2-day course will feature multi-media presentations, hands-on painting sessions, constructive feedback and insightful discussion that will help you accurately see and record value and color. Composition and design principles will also be presented. Painting sessions will focus on painting small, monochromatic and full color studies to practice and solidify the principles learned in the classroom.
Limited class size will ensure that personal attention can be given to each participant. Whether you're a seasoned artist seeking new perspectives or a beginner eager to learn fundamental principles, you will come away from this workshop eager to get back to your studio and put into practice what you have discovered.
Learn more about David and his work:
Website: www.davidkochartist.com
Instagram - davidkochartist | Facebook - David Koch
SUZIE BAKER WORKSHOP: Saturday, July 20 – Sunday, July 21
$309 for 2-days of instruction | Maximum number of students is 16.
BIO: Suzie Baker's paintings are regularly on display in magazines, prestigious national shows and plein air events. She has served on the board of Oil Painters of America since 2014, including presiding as president from 2020-22. Suzie holds signature status in that distinguished organization as well as the American Impressionist Society, and others. In addition to being a still life and portrait artist, Suzie has been painting en plein air since she was a teenager. A sought-after instructor, for her humorous and informative style, Suzie teaches through videos, virtual classes, and workshops around the UnitedStates, Europe and close to her home in the Houston, Texas area.
What do you get when you take a workshop with Suzie?
You will experience a fun-filled, guided, hands-on learning experience. Students receive instruction on principles of painting with a focus on composition but expect to pick up techniques to strength-en your knowledge of drawing, value, color theory, and SO MUCH MORE. Every day, you will apply what is taught by getting outside to paint. In addition to clear instruction, you will see field demos and receive one-on-one instruction at your easel throughout the workshop.
Learn more about Suzie and her work:
Website: www.suziebaker.com
Instagram: @SuzieBakerArtists | Facebook: Suzie Greer Baker