Art In The Open -
Elk Horn Gallery Hosts 2009 Plein Air Event
By Janet Day / Photos by Carter Photographics
 Gary Coblentz looks at Grand County’s stunning scenery and sees business, not just for his art gallery, but also for the entire town.
Coblentz, owner of the Elk Horn Art Gallery in downtown Winter Park, is the force behind the annual Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters National Show in Winter Park. He brought it here, built it up and has plans to improve it each year into the future.
The event, to be held September 12th through 20th with an opening reception at the gallery on September 18th, features artists who paint outside and in real time. The public can watch the artists at work, ask questions and then view the finished products in Coblentz’s gallery.
“The basis of the Plein Air week is to get the public involved in seeing art being made,” Coblentz said. “But events like this also lure the serious art collector. My goal is to make Winter Park and Grand County a destination for artists and art collectors. I’m going to continue to do everything I can to make it the best show possible.”
 His models are shows in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where more than 5,000 people attend painting events.
Many of the artists whose work is for sale at the Elk Horn Art Gallery are members of the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters – Karen Vance, Pem Dunn, Cydney Springer, Jake Gaedtke, Clive Tyler and more. They record the mountains, meadows, valleys and vistas of Grand County in paint. But the group itself held its events across the divide in Estes Park, where it’s based.
Four years ago, Coblentz decided to host a show for the Plein Air painters. A year later, the group’s national show moved to Winter Park where it continues to be held.
OUTSIDE AND IN REAL TIME: The annual Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters National Show in Winter Park will be held in September this year to capture the gorgeous fall colors of Grand County. Painters portray outdoor scenes on canvas, then display and sell their art at Elk Horn Art Gallery in Winter Park.
“It’s a great opportunity for people to watch how art is created,” Coblentz said. The September show includes location painting events, demonstrations, auctions and the popular Quick Draw paint-off, in which artists have 90 minutes to paint a scene in front of them. This year’s contest will be held September 19th at the Rendezvous event tent.
“Being an artist is very solitary most of the time. This event is fun because you’re getting out with other painters,” said Stacey Peterson, a Granby oil painter who was invited to participate last year and is applying to participate again this year.
 The event previously had been held in the summer but moved to mid-September this year to take advantage of the fall foliage color. “It’s an opportunity to see Grand County emulated in a different light,” Coblentz said.
This year’s show will include about thirty artists whose work rose to the top of a tough jurying process. Some artists will produce as many as twenty paintings through the week. All of them will submit up to five paintings for award consideration, display and sale at Elk Horn Art Gallery.
“We’ll have more than 200 paintings for judging,” Coblentz said. “During the show, every inch of this shop will be covered in Plein Air paintings.”
Coblentz keeps a year-round display of past Plein Air paintings, including oil, pastel and acrylic images of Grand County scenes at a moment in time.
“What these artists do through the event is capture a week in the history of Grand County,” Coblentz said.
For more information about September Arts Week events and Elk Horn Art Gallery, go to www.elkhorngallery.com
READ MORE STORIES FROM THIS ISSUE:
• Art & Design: Engineering Creativity - Artist Stacey Peterson
• The Green Parade: Green Profiles, Outdoor Furnaces, Timber Frames, Green Remodel, & Architecture
• A Rebirth on the River: Riverside Hotel
• Special Lifestyle Section
• 2009 Feature Articles
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