27 Jun Sheridan Arts Foundation: Telluride Plein Air, 6/29 – 7/5!
Telluride’s Sheridan Arts Foundation is proud to present the 23rd Annual Telluride Plein Air Festival. The happening takes place June 29 through July 5, 2026. A beloved tradition which takes place annually over the Fourth of July weekend in Telluride, this year the festival brings 24 nationally recognized plein air artists from across the country for a week of painting, competition, exhibitions, and celebration.
For a complete schedule of events, artist information, painting locations and sponsorship opportunities, please visit the Telluride Plein Air website at www.telluridepleinair.com or visit the Sheridan Arts Foundation website at sheridanoperahouse.com.
Go here for more on the Sheridan Opera House/Arts Foundation.
Throughout plein air week, locals and guest will see the artists create original works in various locations of their choosing throughout Telluride, Mountain Village, and other nearby locations. Each year, artists capture the region’s iconic mountain landscapes, historic architecture, and vibrant summer scenery in their own, unique painting styles. The French term “en plein air” translates to “in the open air,” and the festival celebrates the time-honored practice of painting in the outdoors directly from life and nature.
“Telluride offers one of the most inspiring settings in the country for plein air painting,” said Ronnie Palamar, Executive Director, Sheridan Arts Foundation. “The festival gives art lovers a unique chance to witness the creative process firsthand while supporting visiting artists and the Sheridan Arts Foundation.”
Since its founding in 2003, the Telluride Plein Air Festival has become one of the premier outdoor painting events in the country. The festival also serves as the largest fundraiser of the summer for the Sheridan Arts Foundation, with proceeds from the event supporting arts education, community programming, and the preservation of the historic Sheridan Opera House.
The Telluride Plein Air Festival offers an inspiring opportunity to experience art in action and take home an original piece of Telluride. Collectors and first-time buyers alike will have the opportunity to own an authentic and unique piece of art representing the Telluride community. Shipping will be available for visitors who would like to have their selections shipped home.
What is Plein Air?
En plein air is a French expression, which means “in the open air.” The term is used to describe the act of painting outdoors, popularized in the 19th century.
Digging into the details of that story, Eugene Boudin was one of the more adventurous 19th-century painters, known primarily for his beach scenes and seascapes of northern France and for his luminous skies. One of Boudin’s students was a young painter named Claude Monet to whom Boudin taught the importance of painting a scene directly from nature in the light, in the air, just as he saw it. In the stroke of Monet’s brush, painting en plein air was born. Out went the dark palette of Realism and the Barbizon School. In came the sun.
When Monet and his colleagues first came on the scene back in 1874, artists who ultimately became brand names – Monet, Manet, Renoir, Bonnard, and Degas – they were all considered rebels. Defying the traditions of the official Salon de Paris, they moved their studios outdoors into the open air – again, en plein air – to facilitate the direct observation of nature.
They originally called themselves “Societe Anonyme,” but a critic hatched what he believed to be a derisive handle based on the title of one of Monet’s paintings in a group show: “Impression: Sunrise.”
The Impressionists chose to use landscapes and scenes from everyday life as covers for their true subjects, color and light, defying a trend popular throughout the 19th century (and with the Salon de Paris) to paint historical or literary subjects.
So…
Impressionism is an old idea.
With new blood.
Artists in the United States were attracted to the spontaneity of the Impressionist artists and the freedom of creating in the Great Outdoors instead of in the confines of a studio. Many traveled to France to study with the Frenchmen. Suddenly, locations blessed with remarkable light became the go-to for painters on both coasts and in American Southwest, where colonies o American Impressionists formed.
Schedule of Events:
• June 29 – July 2 | Daily opportunities for visitors and locals to observe artists painting throughout Telluride and the surrounding region
• July 2 | Quick Draw Competition: artists race to complete a painting in the town of Telluride within a limited timeframe with works offered for sale immediately after. Painting on main street 5-6:30pm, followed by judging and art sale in Oak Street Park at 6:45pm. SHOW Bar will be open immediately following for the Artist Choice preview and cocktail party, cash bar, 7-8pm. Open to the public
• July 3-5 | Exhibition and sale of art created during the festival in Oak St. Park and Elks Park, 9:30am-4pm daily. Open to the public.
This year’s 24 artists include new and returning painters:
Kirsten Anderson, WY
Suzie Baker, TX
Jill Banks, VA
Paul Bergquist, WI
Carla Bosch, TX
Lon Brauer, IL
Allen Brockbank, UT
Michele Byrne, NM
Lorraine Cote, CA
Meisha Grichuhin, CA
Rose Ireland, CA
Tom Lockhart, CO
Marie Massey, CO
Rachael McCampbell, TN
Wayne McKenzie, CA
Barbara Meikle, NM
Maria Nemchuk, MA
Timothy Padilla, UT
Steven Plaziak, CT
James Samples, OR
David Smith, MN
Stephen Stauffer, UT
Garland Swinney, TX
Richie Vios, TX
The Sheridan Arts Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the historic Sheridan Opera House and enriching the Telluride community through arts, education, and cultural programming. Through year-round events, performances, and educational initiatives, the Foundation works to ensure that the arts remain an essential part of life in Telluride.
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