Plein Air-Easton! announces the addition of Quick Draw: The Next Generation, a competition for emerging artists, age 21 years or younger. This exciting event is a new component of the 6th Annual Plein Air-Easton! Competition & Arts Festival, which takes place July 19-25, 2010. Quick Draw: The Next Generation will be held Sunday, July 25 in historic downtown Easton. The Next Generation quick draw consists of a four-hour paint-out followed by an outdoor exhibit and sale. Check-in, continental breakfast, and information session will take place from 9-10am. The paint-out will be from 10am-2pm. The exhibit and sale will be set up on S. Harrison Street from 2-4pm. Awards will be announced at 3:30pm.

Any medium is acceptable, but all artwork must be created en plein air (French for “in the moment” or “in the open air”).

Plein air subject matter is varied and diverse—landscapes, gardens, architectural, streetscapes, restaurant scenes, figures . . . anything goes. Artists may work only during the Quick Draw timeframe,10am-2pm, and must start with nothing pre-painted, pre-drawn, or pre-sculpted. All competition pieces must be created within the specified six-block area in picturesque downtown Easton.

Quick Draw: The Next Generation will be judged by Jean Stern, executive director of the Irvine Museum in Irvine, CA, and a renowned authority on California Impressionism, author, curator, lecturer and teacher. Mr. Stern will also be the awards judge for the Plein Air-Easton! National Competition on Friday, July 23 and the national Quick Draw event on Saturday, July 24.

Cash prizes totaling almost $3,000 will be awarded in the Quick Draw: The Next Generation competition. The first place award is $1,500 with the winning painting featured on the cover of the September/October issue of Attraction magazine, which is also a sponsor of this event. Second place is $1,000, and third place is $100, plus a product award. Three honorable mention awards of $50 each will be given. Awards are intended to assist young adult artists in the pursuit their educations and art careers.

“By offering young artists the opportunity to compete and sell their work at this internationally-known competition, they can gain impressive credentials and win sizable educational awards,” says Al Bond, executive director of the Avalon Foundation, the sponsoring organization for the Plein Air-Easton! Festival. “By elevating the work of up-and-coming artists, Quick Draw: The Next Generation represents yet another initiative designed to deepen the region’s reputation as an arts destination and ensure Plein Air-Easton!’s continued standing as the premier plein air festival in the country.”

Plein Air–Easton! is the work of the Avalon Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide diversified arts and educational programs that improve the quality of life in the Mid-Shore region. The Academy Art Museum provides an accredited museum venue for the competition exhibit.

Rules, maps, and registration for Quick Draw: The Next Generation are available online at www.pleinaireaston.com. Registrations will be accepted during the festival (July 19-25) at Plein Air–Easton! Headquarters, located at Coffee Cat, 5 Goldsborough St. Registrations will also be accepted at the Academy Art Museum, 106 South Street, from 9-9:30am on the morning of the competition, Sunday, July 25. The registration fee is $10.

You will also find Quick Draw: The Next Generation on Facebook and Twitter. Questions? Email info@pleinaireaston.com or by phone the Plein Air-Easton! hotline at 410.822.7297.