Stems Plein Air Paint

Stems Plein Air Paint is proud to offer a national juried show, welcoming plein air artists nationwide to join us!  

This juried show is a unique opportunity for the national plein air community to safely compete and win cash prizes, including a $2500 Best of Show!  Selected works will be promoted and sold in a public gallery exhibition at The Rice Gallery of Fine Art!  

Submit 1 to 3 images of your best 2021 plein air paintings.  There is no painting event to attend and no restrictions on painting locales.  Any and all 2021 plein air paintings are eligible.
Application deadline is May 28th, 2021.

Stems Plein Air Paint is brought to you by the Friends of Overland Park Arts.

Features:
  • Submit 1 to 3 images of your best 2021 plein air work with your application to be evaluated on an individual basis by our plein air jurors.
  • All selected paintings will be eligible for multiple CASH PRIZES, including a $2,500 Best of Show Prize!
  • All juried selections will be featured for sale in an exclusive gallery exhibition at The Rice Gallery of Fine Art.  This show will be open to the public and promoted via email and social media to gallery clients, friends, and followers.
  • All selected works will also be included in The Rice Gallery’s online store, and will be featured and promoted via Facebook & Instagram throughout the course of the exhibition.
  • Selected works will also be eligible to be featured for sale in the Stems Plein Air sales tent at the Stems: A Garden Soirée ticketed event, a special one -night-only sale on June 26th benefiting the Arts & Recreation Foundation of Overland Park.
A non-refundable online application fee of $30 will be collected from each artist submitting their works.  All entries must be submitted via CaFÉ (www.callforentry.org) no later than Friday, May 28th, 2021

All paintings selected for the 2021 exhibit will be for sale!

Support Friends of Overland Park Arts and artists in our community by purchasing one of these original paintings. After June 1, click here to view all paintings and purchase.

To see the show in person, visit The Rice Gallery of Fine Art, 4829 W. 119th Street (Hawthorne Plaza), open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. & Thursday until 7:00 p.m.

What is Plein Air Painting?

Plein air is a term derived from the French phrase "en plein air," which literally means “in the open air” and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors, which was originally developed by the Barbizon School and the Impressionist movement of the late 1800s. The Impressionists were particularly interested in the influence of changing light outdoors on color. Artists work quickly to capture their subject in natural light. The term is sometimes incorrectly applied to landscapes painted in the studio which employ such a direct technique that they seem to have been done out of doors.

Congratulations to the 2020 Juried Show Prize Winners.

Best of Show
Richard Sneary
12th Street Viaduct
2nd Place
Marcia Willman
Dappled Beauties
3rd Place
Larry DeGraff
Imperial Draft
4th Place
Kirstin Novak
Rhythm of the Plains