NEW IBERIA, La. --- The Shadows-on-the-Teche Plein Air Painting Competition will host is 10th annual Awards Reception and Fine Art Sale on Friday, March 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Shadows Visitor Center (320 E. Main Street, New Iberia). 

Judge John Poon, acclaimed Utah plein air artist, will announce this year’s winners and award over $10,000 in cash and prizes. All work painted throughout the week by the 25 artists from around the country will be exhibited and available for purchase. Take home an original, one-of-a-kind work of art and support art education. 

Light refreshments will be provided. The reception and sale are free to attend. Paintings will also be on display and available for purchase throughout competition week in the Shadows Visitor Center.

The Shadows-on-the-Teche Plein Air Painting Competition will take place March 9-16, 2024. Visitors are invited to travel around the seven-parish area and watch artists paint en plein air.

2024 Artists:

There were 25 artists selected from the talented pool of applicants. In alphabetical order, the artists are Tom Brown, Keith Burgess, John Thomas Eiseman, Alex Eisenzopf, Xenia Fedorchenko, John Guernsey, Catherine Hillis, John Killeen, Ann Larsen, Kirk Larsen, Laura Martinez-Bianco, Lisette McClung, Mary Monk, Karen Philpott, Craig Reynolds, Elizabeth Rhoades, Susan Bunce Ritter, Robin L. Roberts, Kari Ganoung Ruiz, Phil Sandusky, David Savellano, Sabrina Schmidt, Mary O. Smith, Chris Willey, and Jeff Williams.

All 25 artists will be traveling to New Iberia to the Shadows Visitor Center on March 9 to have their blank canvases marked with the official Shadows Plein Air dated stamp before heading out into town and the surrounding six parishes to paint. Artists can paint as many paintings as they wish from Sat., March 9, to Thurs., March 14. The artists’ works will be judged by Utah based plein air artist and instructor John Poon.

Schedule:

Other festivities planned during competition week can be found below. Additional details about these events can be found on the Shadows’ website.

• March 9: Quick Draw at 3 p.m. in downtown New Iberia
• March 10: Paint Delcambre – more info coming soon
• March 12: Painting Demo at 1 p.m. at Hilliard Art Museum (710 E. St. Mary Blvd., Lafayette)
• March 13: Art Chat with Judge John Poon at 2:30 p.m. at University of Louisiana-Lafayette in Fletcher 134
• March 14: Painting Demo at 2 p.m. near the Shadows
• March 15: Paint Out from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. in downtown New Iberia; Awards Ceremony & Fine Art Sale at 6:30 p.m. at Shadows Visitor Center (320 E. Main Street)
• March 16: Paintings up for view at the Shadows Visitor Center until 4 p.m.

About Shadows-on-the-Teche Plein Air:

The Shadows-on-the-Teche Plein Air competition debuted in 2015, introducing the community to painting en plein air. The tradition of “painting outside” is one explored by William Weeks Hall, the last private owner of the Shadows, who advertised for and taught painting classes in the gardens in the 1940s.

In the 10-year history of the competition, over 180 artists from 28 states, Canada, and the Philippines have applied to participate. Over 100 of these artists have traveled to New Iberia for the opportunity to spend a week painting Acadiana, helping to preserve unique landscape and historic, urban, and rural viewscapes. Painting sales, the driving force behind the event and a clearer measure of success, increase each year with a grand total of $200,000 over the history of the event, providing support to the artists and the Shadows.

About Shadows-on-the-Teche:

The Shadows-on-the-Teche, National Trust for Historic Preservation site, opened to the public in 1961 with the mission to preserve the buildings, landscape, collections, and historical integrity of the site; to research and interpret through education programs a 19th century southern Louisiana plantation economy and community and their evolution; and to encourage an appreciation of and interest in historic preservation.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which owns and operates the Shadows-on-the-Teche, is a private, non-profit organization. The Shadows does not receive funding from federal, state, parish, or city government. The site supports itself through admissions, special programs and events, and donations to the Friends of the Shadows.

For additional information, contact Jayd Buteaux at the Shadows-on-the-Teche at (337) 369-6446 or by email. Any funds raised from this event will be used for the continued preservation and maintenance of the Shadows.