The community of Burlington Iowa is situated along the Mississippi River and offers a wide variety of plein air locations to capture the river, downtown locales, natural beauty and architecture. Plein air artists of any age are eligible to participate. Artwork must be done outdoors, en plein air, during the event. All paint and drawing mediums are accepted. There are no size limits on canvas and paper. Artists must work on public property within the city limits of Burlington and West Burlington.
Friday, September 13 & Saturday, September 14
Entry Fee
$30 for both days, $20 for 1 day
Daily Plein Air Check-In
Artists will need to check-in each day, 7:00 - 8:00 am, at the Art Center of Burlington, 301 Jefferson Street. Artists are not required to participate each day. Each day, canvases and/or paper must be stamped at check-in with the current day’s stamp. Stamp must be visible at judging or access provided if asked by judge. Daily complimentary artist packets that include daily instructions, maps of suggested site locations and other goodies will be provided. Those that do not pre-register are not guaranteed an artist packet. Pastries and coffee will be provided at check-in, each morning. Check-in locations will remain open and have water and restrooms, 7:00 am - 6:00 pm Friday and 7:00 am - 4:00 pm Saturday.
Exhibition and Competition
Each evening, up to two artworks completed earlier that day may be turned in for judging. Only works hand-delivered by 4:00 pm Friday and/or 1:00 pm Saturday will be displayed and eligible for judging. Artists are encouraged to drop off artwork anytime before these times. All canvases must have screw eyes and picture wire for hanging. All art done on paper should be protected under plexi/glass and either framed or mounted, with picture wire for hanging. No sawtooth hangers. The utmost care will be taken in the handling of artwork, we assume no responsibility for loss or damage to any artwork. Due to the wide variety of visitors, all artwork must be appropriate for viewing by all ages. We reserve the right to refuse any work that may be considered potentially offensive.
Judging and Optional Quick Paint
Judging will take place Saturday, 2-4 pm, during the optional Quick Paint competition. The quick paint will take place at the parking lot between the Port of Burlington and the Burlington Auditorium. Burlington Heritage Days will also be going on both Friday and Saturday in the parking lot. There will be live music, food, kids activities going on Burlington Heritage Days. On Saturday, the Iowa Hawkeyes will be playing away. The game will be shown at BHD, game time being 3pm. There should be a good crowd of people for the afternoon during the optional quick paint competition.
Awards from Art Center of Burlington
$150 Best of Show
$100 Second Place
$75 Third Place
Sales
Saturday afternoon there will be space available for artists to sell 3 additional pieces of artwork. The Art Center will have 2 large canopies set up at the Burlington Heritage Days event at the Burlington Memorial Auditorium parking lot with hanging display space available for artists to hang additional artwork for sale during the quick paint competition, Saturday 12-4pm. This is also the same location where the judging will take place. The Art Center staff will handle all sales for the artists, so you can focus your time on the quick paint. A sales commission of 10% will be charged for sales made, so please adjust your pricing accordingly. The Art Center can handle credit card purchases. A transaction fee will be charged to the buyer in addition to any credit card sales. We will have a paypal card reader available at our tent to handle credit card sales. The Art Center will then pay each artist for artwork sold the following Monday, by check. Checks can be picked up after 12 noon Monday or mailed to you.
**I agree to abide by the guidelines for this event. I agree, my name and any photos taken of me and my artwork may be used in promotional advertising for this event. I understand that while precautions are taken to safeguard artwork in possession of the galleries and the participants during the ACB Plein Air Event, the event committee members, sponsor/host organizations, and all participating sponsors accept no liability for loss or damage to artwork or for any personal injury incurred during this event. I understand that artists are strongly encouraged to insure their own person and artwork.