On June 19, we welcomed Artist in Residence James Gurney and 24 of the region’s top plein-air painters for NYBG’s first ever Plein-Air Invitational.
Organizing a Plein-Air festival was a new experience for all of us. We worked with different internal teams as well as James Gurney, who provided valuable suggestions. With his help, we selected the best locations for paintings and included models dressed in Victorian period attire. We also took pictures of the different gardens for the artists to visualize our surroundings before they arrived. We sent these images along with the event guidelines and each of the artists responded with their three ideal locations. We collected all their responses and finalized all of the logistics.
On Sunday morning, our staff was ready to welcome these expert artists. We brought lunch, welcome kits, nametags, and all of our energy to greet them. For many of the artists it was their first time visiting our grounds, and everyone was excited to share their talent and see the Garden as their muse.
Early summer at NYBG brings blooms aplenty for Father’s Day this weekend, and well into next week. Come admire the grounds, and plan your visit around tomorrow night’s inaugural NYBG/125 Evening, Canciones de mi Padre, featuring Ernesto Villalobos & Gizel Xanath. These talented musicians are joined by Mazarte Dance Company for a summer evening al fresco concert in celebration of Father’s Day.
On Sunday, the Garden comes alive with a display of artistic talent as NYBG hosts more than 20 talented painters for the Plein-Air Invitational. Get more information about the artists here, or view this exclusive video. NYBG/125 Evenings continue next Thursday with tap and jazz by The Manzari Brothers and DIVA’s FIVE PLAY—featuring an evening viewing of Impressionism: American Gardens on Canvas in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.
This Sunday, June 19, we’re opening our gates to a cadre of some of the finest out-of-doors painters the region has to offer during our Plein-Air Invitational—over 20 plein-air artists who will set up their canvases across grounds and look to our 250 acres for inspiration.
Among them is James Gurney, one of our area’s leading artists and a nationally recognized painter whose work you might’ve caught during the opening weekend of our Impressionism: American Gardens on Canvas exhibition. If you weren’t so lucky to see him in May, now is your chance to see the master in action. You can find a full list of participating artists here, and we invite everyone to visit their personal websites after the Invitational and it was amazing to see his following, some might even say he needs to buy views on Instagram to grow it even more—they’ll be selling the works they create!
