Park Place Mall swapped shopping bags for brush strokes Saturday as more than 40 artists gathered for Tucson’s first Plein Air Festival, hosted by the Southern Arizona Arts and Culture Alliance.
The event introduced mallgoers to the French-inspired tradition of “en plein air,” or painting outdoors, a practice made famous by Impressionist painters such as Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Artists set up along the mall promenade to work live, often fielding questions from curious passersby.
“They’re painting from life,” said Eliza Plumlee, program coordinator for SAACA. “They’re looking at the subject matter and they’re trying to recreate it with paint on canvas.”
The method is both inspiring and demanding, Plumlee said. “It’s kind of a rigorous practice,” she added. “You are often subjected to the elements and have only a limited amount of time to make your work because the light changes so quickly.”
Saturday’s festival offered a weather-friendly twist, bringing artists into the shaded mall space to avoid the blazing late-summer sun. The setup, organizers said, helped foster interaction between artists and the public.
“They’re fielding questions from the public about their work,” Plumlee said. “They’re being asked where they can buy their work.”
For painter Greg Wallace, who also serves as president of the Sonoran Plein Air Painters, the festival was a chance to showcase the challenges and rewards of the style.
“It’s a challenge to sort of take whatever visual stimuli you have and compose something out of it,” Wallace said. “I’m kind of about light and shadow and color, you can find that in here.”
The Plein Air Festival was part of SAACA’s broader effort to bring art into everyday community spaces. The nonprofit hosts dozens of events annually, including concerts, culinary showcases and cultural festivals, aimed at supporting artists and engaging the public.
Organizers said they hope to make the festival an annual tradition, building Tucson’s reputation as a hub for local creativity.
——
Eddie Celaya is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born in Tucson and raised in the Phoenix area, Eddie is a life-long Arizonan and graduate of the University of Arizona who loves the desert and mountains and hates the cold. Previously, Eddie worked in print media at the Arizona Daily Star. Share your story ideas with Eddie at edward.celaya@kgun9.com, or by connecting on Facebook or Instagram.
----
STAY IN TOUCH WITH US ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
