BPCC Plein Air Painting

Click on the montage above to see who the 40 competitorswere!

For a listing of the plein air competition events and scheduling, click here to go to our Calendar.

And the winners are (drumroll)....

Click here for Press Release June 29, 2005

This event was part of a year-long celebration of the Centennial of Bidwell Park.

July 2005 marked the centennial of Annie Bidwell's gift of Bidwell Park to the city of Chico and the whole town came together to celebrate the event. Avenue 9 Gallery administered a national plein air painting competition that took place July 20-23. Following two days of painting in Bidwell Park, noted painter and art instruction book author Gerald Brommer awarded $5,000 in prizes and an additional prize given by Plein Air Magazine consisting of a one-half page color ad. An additional "Quick-Draw" open to all comers took place Saturday, July 23, at Bidwell Mansion and this was judged by Lenn Goldman, local architect and interior designer.

Gerald Brommer, Competition Judge

Massa Lubrensa by Gerald Brommer	Fisherman's Home by Gerald Brommer
Rick Deragon, Competition Juror

The artist who juried the applicants for the competition was Rick Deragon, noted painter of California Landscapes, who recently had a show together with his wife, Karen Nagano, in our gallery (Heart.Land). In addition to being an artist, Deragon is an art historian and critic who has curated many shows. His writings have appeared in Artweek, The Monterey Herald, and in numerous catalogues, including ones for the Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, Gallery Illuminati, Santa Monica, and Monterey Museum of Art. Some of his Salinas Valley images are currently showing at the Pillsbury branch of Umpqua Bank in Chico.
Salinas River Bed by Rick Deragon	View of Salinas Valley by Rick Deragon
Lenn Goldmann, Quick-Draw Judge
Self Portrait by Lenn Goldmann
Lenn Goldmann, a native of Northern California, has been a wildlife artist for more than twenty years. He has fished and hiked the Santa Cruz mountains, the Sierra Nevada, the Swiss Alps, the Oregon Cascades, and the rivers of Alaska. Goldmann's work reflects these experiences using watercolor on paper as his medium. His style is reminiscent of Winslow Homer and of the American Plein Air Painters in its format and content, though the color and composition are more contemporary in nature. In addition to painting, Lenn Goldmann has an architectural practice and teaches Interior Design at California State University, Chico. More information and images may be found on his website, www.lenngoldmann.com.

Download the Plein Air Painting Contest Entry form (.pdf file)

BPCC Plein Air Painting competition flow chart will explain about related events.