Fall color began to arrive with warm breezes and perfect outdoor painting conditions during 2024 Plein Air Grand Marais. Almost 100 painters spent 8 days in early September enjoying daily paint-outs, workshops, and artist socials while competing for prizes awarded by this year’s juror, Brock Larson.
Plein Air Grand Marais is a joint enterprise of Outdoor Painters of Minnesota and the Cook County Historical Society, which mounts the Competition Exhibit in the Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery.
Plein Air Grand Marais is unique in its emphasis on artists’ education and camaraderie. The event is organized by participating artists and proudly attracts nationally recognized talent while welcoming painters of all experience levels. The event also celebrates artists in the Arrowhead region with a North Shore Invitational class of the Competition.
The Competition Exhibit features 60 artists who each display 4 paintings eligible for awards totaling $7,000. This year’s paintings include scenes from paint-outs organized in wilderness locations throughout Cook County, including YMCA Camp Menogyn at an entry to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness accessible only by boat ride across Bearskin Lake. The Competition Exhibit at Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery is displayed through the first Sunday in October.
2025 Plein Air Grand Marais is scheduled for September 5-13, 2025. Registration will open February 1, and the deadline for Competition Class registration is May 1, 2025. Interested artists and collectors should visit OPM’s web site for the event at https://www.outdoorpaintersofminnesota.org/plein-air-grand-marais.html and subscribe to the PAGM newsletter for announcements and updates.
Here are our 2024 awards for Plein Air Grand Marais:
Juror: Brock Larson, South Range, Wisconsin
Open Class Reception on Wednesday, September 11, 2024:
Best in Show: Angela Velin | Temperance | Oil
Three top awards for Tim Sullivan | Poplar River | Oil
Paintings of Exceptional Jean Larson | Superior Glass | Watercolor
Merit (POEMs): Stephen Herzog | The Hjordis – Magna Charter | Oil
Three honorable mentions: Kelly Frankenburg | Wave after Wave | Acrylic Mary Klein | Gitchee Gumee | Oil
Elizabeth Lexau | Along the Way to the Lighthouse | Pastel
Birney Quick Paint on Thursday, September 12, 2024:
Grand Prize: Gary Olson | Oil
Three POEMs: Kelly Schamberger | Oil
Jimmy Navarro | Oil
MaryAnn Cleary | Oil
Competition Class Reception on Friday, September 13, 2024:
Grand Prize for
Best Body of Work: Neil Sherman | Oil
Artists’ Choice Award for
Best Body of Work: Hannah C. Heyer | Oil
Six Top POEM Awards:
Hannah C. Heyer, Cynthia S. Kath Award for Exceptional
Color & Light: Waxing Poetic | Oil
David R. Becker, Nocturne: Hjordis Evening Cruise |
Watercolor and Gouache
Bob Upton, Transparent Harbor | Oil
Jack Dant, Evening Departure | Oil
Carl Bretzke, Mark on the Rocks with a Twist | Oil
Special Categories:
Best Sense of Place: Deann Kroll, Canoe Workshop, Grand Portage | Oil
Beauty of Watermedia: Gary Olson, Cotton Grass | Gouache Beauty of Oil: Michele Combs, Hollow Rock | Oil
Beauty of Pastel Lisa Stauffer, Storm Over Superior | Pastel
Best Historic Site David R. Becker, Looking Into the Window of B.Bally’s | Watercolor and Gouache
Honorable Mentions
1. Kurt Schulzetenburg, Fractal | Oil
2. Stephen Wysocki, Island of Gods | Oil
3. Michelle Wegler, Sea or Sky | Pastel
4. Abbey Fitzgerald, Splash and Sparkle | Oil
5. Nelia Harper, Turbulence | Oil
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