Artists paint ‘en plein air’ in Sea Cliff

The Sea Cliff Arts Council held its first Plein Air Festival from Sept. 21 to Sept. 22. The event invited residents to “Paint Sea Cliff,” finding their favorite spots or views from around town and recreating them on canvas.

Residents were required to stay within a one-square-mile boundary after registering for a canvas. Artists were given until 5 p.m. on Sept. 22 to finish their paintings and report back to the Arts Council. Chief Creative Officer Noelle Fiallo-Evans says that this event was not only a fun event for all but a competition as well.

“Painters were basically asked to come and register their canvases at the Arts Council first before painting, and then they were able to choose any location, as long as it was within sea cliffs, one-square-mile boundary and hand them by Sunday at 5 p.m.,” said Fiallo-Evans “But besides just an event, it is a competition, the submissions will be judged by a gallery owner in New York, and we will be announcing the winners.”

The festival featured 45 canvases painted this year, with all paintings being available for sale as they are featured this months gallery at the Arts Council. Fiallo-Evans said she loved the turn out from not just Sea Cliff, but residents from all around the island.

“The quality of the of the work was, was outstanding. We actually had a lot of artists come from out of town, which is exciting. A lot of events we do, of course, always attracts local people, but people came from few different towns across Long Island,” said Fiallo-Evans. “We got a nice variety of places that they painted from also, and, you know, it really results in and all the works actually that were done will also be for sale at the Arts Council. We actually already sold two of the paintings so we’re hoping to continue that as well.”

This was the first year that the Arts Council hosted the Plein Air Festival and they are looking to make it an annual event. Many artists were thankful for the event as it was one of the only ones they have heard about on Long Island.

“The plein air painters that came from like across Long Island were so thankful. A lot of them commented that while there are plein air events in New York, many of them are based upstate and a few hours away, and this is one of the one of the first ones that they’ve seen on Long Island,” said Fiallo-Evans So that was a great thing to be able to bring it to local Nassau and Suffolk County Painters and the city too.

The Sea Cliff Arts Council will display all of the plein air paintings as a part of their October exhibit. The council also plans on announcing the winners of the festival at their two year anniversary on Oct. 18.