Europe’s Largest ‘Art in The Open Festival’ in its 8th Year Takes Place in The Sunny Southeast of Ireland.
Many iconic locations in County Wexford will be captured by some of the world’s finest plein air artists next week as Europe’s largest outdoor painting festival Art in the Open takes place from Monday 27th July until Monday 3rd August.
It was confirmed today that a large number of high profile international artists will descend on County Wexford next week with artists coming from thirteen countries including Australia, Canada, Norway, Sweden and of course the US, UK and Ireland to compete for up to €5,000 in awards.
Art in the Open festival is based on the concept that all work is created outdoors at a daily paint-out location. Artists must register at each paint-out with a blank canvas which is stamped daily and over the next few hours must capture their own image of the beautiful surroundings. Each artist can enter two paintings for the Gala Exhibition in the Old Library in Wellington Place, Wexford town centre on Sunday 2nd August at 3pm.
The public are encouraged to watch this creative process at any of the six paint-out locations, including the infamous Hook Head, the lovely fishing village of Kilmore Quay, the historic Wells House near Gorey and the Viking town of Wexford.
The very popular Charity Quick Draw will take place this year at Wexford’s Bullring on Sunday 2nd August at 1pm and the public are welcome to join in this fun event for a fiver registration fee. Proceeds will go to the Windmill Therapeutic Centre.
Other highlights of the festival includes a free lecture by Sinead Rice of the National Gallery of Ireland at the National Opera House on Bank Holiday Monday, August 3rd. Several workshops and demonstrations take place throughout the week by well-known international artists, including Leon Holmes (Australia), Vincent Crotty (USA) and Antti Rautiola (Finland), Rachel Personett (USA).
Life drawing classes, Painter’s Pint and the Festival Annual Barbecue are very popular with the participants where they make new friends and renew old friendships.
The Art in the Open festival runs from Monday 27th July until Monday 3rd August. For further details, www.artintheopen.org