"Plein Air"

The Palm Desert Community Gallery welcomes “Plein Air”, a group exhibition of artworks by ten contemporary painters on display from December 11, 2008, to February 1, 2009.  Featured artists Ebrahim Amin, Gary Blackwell, Robert Fleming, Robert Ferguson, Michael Logan, Nancy Lynn, Terry Masters, Diane McClary, David Musser, and Jack Wang will show work depicting the Coachella Valley and other scenic areas of California. 

The term 'plein air' is derived from the French phrase en plein air, which literally means “in the open air.”  Artists practicing this style of painting leave their studios to paint outside.  Although a familiar concept today, in the late 1800s when plein air began, it was revolutionary.  Renowned impressionist artists Claude Monet, Camille Pissaro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, were founding members of this art movement.

The plein air tradition in Palm Desert and the Coachella Valley dates back to the 1940s, when artists such as Jimmy Swinnerton, John Hilton, and Agnes Pelton painted our beautiful mountains and plant life.  A favorite location for the painters was the Palm Desert street that is now named Painters Path.  Plein air painting remains a popular local activity.  From 1999 through 2004, La Quinta Arts Foundation hosted “Desert Plein Air” where prominent artists from across the country would spend a week or more capturing desert scenes at locations throughout the Coachella Valley.      

The Community Gallery exhibition is presented in conjunction with La Quinta Arts Foundation’s “Paint Out” on January 10, from 8 a.m. to noon, at the La Quinta Resort and Spa.  For more information about “Paint Out,” please call 760-564-1244 or visit www.LQAF.com.

The Palm Desert Community Gallery is located in the City’s Visitor Center, 72-567 Highway 111. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  For more information, please call 760-568-5240 or visit www.palmdesertart.org.