Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) and Plein Air Easton (PAE) are collaborating once again for our third annual alumni invitational, “Forever the Forest,” held during the 22nd Plein Air Easton Festival—the largest and most prestigious juried plein air painting competition in the country. Not only is this exhibition exceptional for its content—lush Eastern Shore forests protected permanently by ESLC—it is also distinctive from the rest of the festival in its season and scope.
This coveted competition features the biggest names in plein air painting today, PAE alumni who have previously won awards at the festival and have been personally invited back for the purpose of participating in this meaningful invitational. Painters were given the option of painting en plein air, or painting plein-air-inspired studio works using reference photos of ESLC’s conserved forests. Whereas the PAE festival celebrates summer scenery, these studio works have the honor of showcasing the Eastern Shore’s vibrant fall foliage. This extraordinary collection of paintings features scenes of wildlife habitat, sustainably stewarded tree farms, pocket forests, and even ESLC’s own Jim and Mary B. Lynch Preserve—a 200+ acre preserve open to the public in Caroline County. Each of the forests illustrated in this competition is forever protected by ESLC in a perpetual conservation easement.
Please join us to take a break from the heat as you browse this year’s vibrant collection of new paintings, immersing yourself in the cool shady dappled woodlands of the Eastern Shore and the cool air conditioning of Easton’s beloved historic Tidewater Inn located right in the center of the festival. Return to Forever the Forest throughout the festival for photography talks, meditative tea times hosted by For All Seasons, interactive community art projects, children’s art activities, and a screening of ESLC’s new mini documentary on healthy forest stewardship featuring ESLC President & CEO Steve Kline, Maryland Forestry Association President Beth Hill, NRCS Regional Wildlife Biologist Erin Baker, and Rick Abend of Abend Hafen Tree Farm. Throughout the ESLC exhibition, join docent, artist and educator, Anna Madachik as she provides hands on instruction and demonstrations showcasing how to use various mediums, supplies, and techniques. Stop by and see what she is creating!
Competition winners will be announced at the opening reception and awards ceremony, held on Thursday July 9th from 5—7 p.m. at the Tidewater Inn in downtown Easton. The full exhibit will remain open to the public for the duration of the festival, from Thursday, July 9 through Sunday, July 19.
ESLC is grateful for the generous support of Bruce Wiltse and Bill Davenport, for partnership with the Avalon Foundation and Plein Air Easton, for the conservation easement landowners and property managers who hosted this year’s on-site artists, and for the time and talent of this year’s painters and photographers, whose paintings and photographs will be for sale at the exhibition, some offering commission towards the mission of Eastern Shore Land Conservancy.
Register for our opening reception below, or join us for additional programming throughout the week.
