Prospectus

15^th Annual Plein Air Festival
September 11-16, 2017

Application Dates: January 1 – February 28, 2017

Application Fee: $50

Notification Date: March 31, 2017

Join us for a week of plein air painting in the beautiful wine country of Sonoma Valley, and we invite you to venture beyond to Marin and San Francisco. This is a painter’s paradise: vineyards, farms, meadows dotted with oaks, rolling hills, mountains, rivers, the Pacific Coast, vintage barns, Victorian houses, city hills, San Francisco Bay and that iconic bridge…

Hosted by the Sonoma Plein Air Foundation, 40% of all painting sales support youth art education in the Sonoma Valley public schools and community arts organizations in Sonoma.

Entry Process

The Sonoma Plein Air Festival is open to all painters age 18 and older.

A panel of jurors will review all submitted applications and make the final artist selections, for a total of 35-40 artists. The previous year’s Artists’ Choice Award Winner is invited back without jury process. Notification of selected artists will be sent to each applicant via email no later than March 10, 2017. Artist agreement forms will be emailed to those who have been accepted following the announcement.

Submission Requirements

o   Entries must be submitted electronically, along with a non-refundable application fee of $50.

o   Artists must submit four (4) digital images of plein air paintings made within the past 12 months. Images must be JPEG format at 300 ppi and sized from 1400 to 4000 pixels on the longest dimension.

o   Images of your work should be professionally photographed, cropped and color accurate. No digitally manipulated images allowed. You may only adjust for brightness, contrast, color correction and to remove scratches and debris. Each image should have the name of the painting.

o   Arrange images in the order in which you would like them to be viewed.

o   An artist biography (up to 1000 characters) including previous shows and awards.

Event Requirements

o   Artists must paint on location for at least 3 of the 5 days of the event.

o   Artists are asked to paint a minimum of 8 paintings.

o   All exhibited plein air work must be original, framed and wired, and available for sale.

o   Artists must submit 1 finished piece created during the week of September 11-15 for prize judging and silent auction sale at the Collector’s Preview and Gala.

• Additional Planned Events for Artists
• Studio Works sale
• Mid-week Artists Luncheon

Artist Choice Award Ceremony and Gala Patron Event

All artists will receive free admission to the award ceremony and gala on Friday, September 15. Tickets for artists’ guests may be available at reduced rate.

Housing and Transportation

Hosted housing for artists will be available for 7 nights beginning Sunday, September 10. Artists wishing to apply for host housing should make their request known upon submission of the Agreement to Participate. Host housing is available on a first come, first served basis, and there may be limited accommodations where spouses/partners are welcome. All artists should plan to have access to a car.

Promotion and Marketing

The Sonoma Plein Air Foundation has a robust marketing program including social media, email newsletter and print advertising. Additional promotional opportunities will be outlined for accepted artists.

Sales

o   This event is a fundraiser for the Sonoma Plein Air Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, which provides funding for youth art education.

o   The sale takes place outside in the historic Sonoma Plaza on festival-supplied panels.

o   The Sonoma Plein Air Foundation will retain 40% commission of the sale price. All works commissioned during the Festival week will be treated as sales. Payments to the artists for sold work will be mailed 30 days after the event. All artists must submit a completed W-9 form at time of artist check in.

Important Dates