Saturday, September 11 and Sunday, September 12, 2010

The Doña Ana Arts Council presents the first Color Las Cruces Plein Air* Competition and Community Arts Festival. The annual event is two full days of ongoing activities and entertainment in Downtown Las Cruces, with an artist workshop, a “Quickdraw”, two Plein Air competitions, a VIP Artist Reception, and a Citywide gallery hop.

Color Las Cruces takes place September 11th -12th. During the event weekend, juried artists will compete for cash & merchandise prizes in one of two Plein Air categories.  In a 4-hour period on Saturday morning, they must go to an outdoor location in Las Cruces, begin, finish, and return with a completed painting.  Guest judge (and workshop instructor) is Kevin Weckbach, a noted professional fine artist.  Winners of the two Plein Air categories will be announced Saturday evening at the VIP Artist Reception.   A public exhibit and sale of the completed paintings, with artists in attendance to discuss their work, will take place in participating galleries on Sunday afternoon from noon until 4:00pm.

The VIP Artist Reception will be held Saturday evening at the Rio Grande Theatre where you can meet the artists, sample food from the best restaurants in town, and enjoy wine from local wineries and a live performance in the theatre.

Open to all for a wee fee, a Quickdraw competition takes place downtown at the Rio Grande Theatre during Farmers’ Market, held in front of the Rio Grande Theatre. Artists will have 1 hour to complete a drawing or painting, and finished work will be displayed and judged by the public for prizes.  Artists can register prior to the competition at the Theatre on Saturday morning.

In conjunction with Color Las Cruces, event judge and Denver artist Kevin Weckbach will instruct a two-day plein air workshop on Thursday, September 9th and Friday, September 10th. Open to artists of all levels, the class size is limited for personal instruction, and a fee will be charged for this workshop.

Please contact the Doña Arts Council for artist entry applications, artist prospectus, workshop enrollment, and general information visit our website at www.las-cruces-arts.org or phone 575/523-6403.

*Plein Air:  En plein air is a French expression which means “in the open air”, and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors. (Wickipedia)