The historic buildings of San Angelo, Texas, the sites and splendors that are sprinkled throughout the community, and the Concho River, which flows right through downtown, are magi-cally transformed through the eyes of visiting artists during the week of EnPleinAirTEXAS. This lively annual event is one of the premier plein air competitions in the U.S., attracting a number of award-winning artists.
This year’s juror, Maryland artist Sara Linda Poly, selected 30 artist applicants to join the four top prize-winners from 2019. And Tim Newton, an art collector and the publisher of Western Art & Architecture, is serving as the 2020 awards judge.
Throughout the weeklong event, artists are treated to several days of painting on private West Texas ranches, rewarding viewers with their varied interpreta-tions of distinctive vistas that aren’t often witnessed by outsiders. Other plein air paintings highlight the Western origins of San Angelo, its life-giving Concho River, and the unexpected beauty of the International Waterlily Gardens, among other visuals. The scheduled plein air sites include the Downtown Paint-Out on October 17 and the Waterlily Gardens Paint-Out on October 20. Along with that, the exhibit, sale, and artist demos are held October 22 to 24 at the Fort Concho Historic Landmark.