Plein Air Abingdon 2023

Plein Air Abingdon is a three-day, open enrollment painting event now celebrating its 7th year. Not only is this an artists’ competition with $4000 in cash prizes, it’s also a unique opportunity for the public to witness creative action as artists remove the confinement of their studios’ four walls and paint in the open, drawing inspiration from the beautiful scenery in Abingdon, Virginia.

• Best in Show $1,500
• 1st Place $1,000
• 2nd Place $600
• 3rd Place $400
• Quick Draw winner $500

Click here for Artist Registration (be sure to complete entry fee process)

Thursday, Day 1 of 3: Details are coming soon!

Friday, Day 2 of 2: Details are coming soon!

Saturday, Day 3 of 3: You’ll be provided a quick draw map and set loose right in the middle of the vibrant downtown of Abingdon. The town is bursting at the seams with quaint shops, Victorian architecture, beautifully manicured landscaping, and historic landmarks such at The Martha Washington Inn & Spa and Barter Theatre. There is even a steam engine and historic depot in the center of town.

On the Thursday and Friday evenings, there will be a public reception to gather, discuss and appreciate the work accomplished that day; the public will also have the opportunity to purchase pieces from the competition. (Please check back closer to the event for further details.)

Plein Air Abingdon culminates with a Grand Finale Juried Art Show on Saturday, October 7, at William King Museum. Our juror, Peggy Root, will select the show for a grand finale, and pieces will go on sale for the final time of the event.

William King Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, and is still Virginia’s only nationally accredited museum west of Roanoke. Today, the Museum hosts exhibitions of world fine art, material culture from Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee, and contemporary art by regional artists. It continues to serve as an institution of scholarship and education for visitors and students who walk through its galleries, attend a lecture, or take a class.

More About the Juror…

Peggy Root studied at Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida and at Lyme Academy of Fine Art in Connecticut. She works in oil directly from life on location, generally working on large canvases in two-hour sessions, returning to the site at the same time on successive days to develop the painting.

For over 40 years she has painted the landscape of the eastern United States, focusing specifically on the southern Appalachian mountain region since she moved back south in the 1990s. Her paintings are in public and private collections across the country. Southern collections such as the Tennessee State Museum, Tennessee Art Commission and the Opryland Hotel Convention Center in Nashville, The Assisi Foundation, Promus Hotel Corporation Headquarters in Memphis and AmSouth Bank Headquarters.

Her work is currently represented by Blue Spiral 1, in Asheville, North Carolina. Peggy and her husband artist Tom Root run Root Studio School in their hometown of Jonesborough, Tennessee.

Summer by Peggy Root

View From The Hill by Peggy Root