They painted the town — literally.
And in the process, 27 artists helped raise $5,000 for charity
From the Large Arch sculpture and The Commons to the former Columbus City Hall, area artists spread out across the city to artistically capture outdoor scenes during last weekend’s Paint Columbus Plein Air Paintout.
The artists began their work on Friday and Saturday, finishing by Sunday. A judging panel selected the top submissions Sunday afternoon.
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Art lovers purchased their favorite pieces, generating the proceeds during a dinner sale of painters’ work that will go toward projects supported by the Columbus Sunrise Rotary, the event sponsor.
Plein air painting simply means leaving the art studio to create landscapes outdoors. It’s been tried twice before during Columbus ArtFest, last held in 2016, but not this successfully.
The reimagined Plein Air Paintout attracted nearly double the number of artists who had participated in the 2016 event, said Bob Anderson, who worked alongside Brigitte Halvorsen to chair the Rotary fundraiser and was also involved in the earlier efforts.
“This was a huge success,” Anderson said, attributing that to increased resources and support.
Indianapolis painter Donna Shortt won the $500 first prize from a panel of judges for her 12-inch-by-16-inch pastel depiction of a section of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church on Fifth Street downtown.
“Sometimes at these events, you never really know exactly what you’re going to do until you walk around a little and just absorb things,” Shortt said. “I’ve always thought there’s an awesome spire on that church, and I really liked the light on it on Saturday.”
On Friday, she painted 12-inch-by-9-inch oil scenes of the Hawcreek Leather Company at Washington and First streets downtown. She sold that work on Sunday, and still is interested in selling the St. Peter’s painting for $475.
Shortt, who has participated in more than 100 plein air paintouts, said she was impressed with Rotarians’ first-time event.
“They really went the extra mile in communicating with all of us and working to make the artists happy,” Shortt said.
Hope painter Rhonda Bontrager settled on spreading her artistic wings and painting the Eos sculpture at the Mill Race Park entrance Friday morning. She finished the oil creation in about two hours, but jet lag weariness from a recent trip to France kept her from doing more or participating in the Sunday sale of paintings or the closing dinner.
“But I thought this was a great event,” she said.
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Adult division
- Donna Shortt, Indianapolis, first place, $500.
- Linda Peterson, Columbus, second place, $300.
- Oksana Pickens, Columbus, third place, $200.
Aspiring division
- Madison Green, Columbus, first place, $75.
- Natalie Sanders, Columbus, second place, $50.
- Lauren Sanders, Columbus, third place, $25.
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