NEW IBERIA, La. --- The Shadows-on-the-Teche Plein Air Painting Competition's planners are thrilled to continue their partnership with the Hilliard Art Museum, where Dawn Whitelaw, judge for this year’s competition, will host a live painting demonstration.

The free demonstration will take place Tues., March 14, 2023, from 1-3 p.m. on the grounds of the museum (710 E. St. Mary Blvd., Lafayette), weather permitting.

About Dawn Whitelaw:

Dawn Whitelaw is one of the artists in residence at On Track Studios in Franklin, TN. The opportunity to paint en plein air with her artist colleagues adds richness and honesty to her studio work. Most of her formal instruction came from a long-term mentorship with New York painter Everett Raymond Kinstler. 

Whitelaw is currently on the faculty of the Portrait Society of America, where she holds the office of Vice Chairman. She is a frequent instructor for Plein Air South and the Plein Air Convention. For over 25 years, she taught painting as an adjunct instructor at David Lipscomb University, and she continues to teach throughout the country by conducting workshops in oil painting principles and drawing.

Whitelaw received 2nd place awards in the Door County Plein Air Festival in both 2014 and 2015. In recent years, she has won awards in The Olmsted Plein Air Invitational, the Piedmont Plein Air Paint Out, and in Plein Air Richmond.

In 2012, 2013, and 2015, Plein Air Magazine included Whitelaw’s work in feature articles. She was honored by The American Impressionist Society in 2016 when she was elected to Master status. Whitelaw was one of ten American women artists invited to exhibit in “Inspiring Figures” at the Butler Institute of American Art in 2010. She recently had a painting accepted into the permanent collection of the Rahr-West Art Museum.  

Shadows Plein Air Schedule:

The Shadows-on-the-Teche Plein Air Painting Competition will take place March 11-18, 2023. Visitors are invited to travel around the seven-parish area and watch artists paint en plein air.

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

• March 11: Quick Draw at 3 p.m. in downtown Lafayette.

• March 12: Paint Delcambre; Artist Meet & Greet from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. at the Pavilion Bayou Carlin Cove (605 S. Railroad St., Delcambre).

• March 14: Painting Demo at 1 p.m. at Hilliard Art Museum (710 E. St. Mary Blvd., Lafayette).

• March 16: Painting Demo at 2 p.m. near the Shadows.

• March 17: 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

• March 18: Coffee with the Judge at 9 a.m. at Shadows Visitor Center

• Painting demos by competing artists throughout the week at select locations.

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 eight-year history of the competition, over 180 artists from 28 states, Canada, and the Philippines have applied to participate. Almost 100 of these artists have traveled to New Iberia for the opportunity to spend a week painting Acadiana, helping to preserve our 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 $170,000 over the history of the event, providing support to the artists and the Shadows.

About the 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 more information, visit ShadowsOnTheTeche.org.

For more information please contact Jayd Buteaux at (337) 369-6446 or JButeaux@savingplaces.org. Any funds raised from this event will be used for the continued preservation and maintenance of the Shadows.