Contact
Cedar City Plein Air Festival: Art in the Open Air
Special | 3m 10sVideo has Closed Captions
Artists paint Utah’s landscapes in a plein air festival open to all skill levels.
The Cedar City Plein Air Painting Festival brings artists outdoors to capture the beauty of southern Utah. With open registration, multiple mediums, a juried exhibit, and a public reception, this episode showcases how the festival encourages creativity, community, and connection to the region’s landscapes through accessible, hands‑on artistic expression.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Contact is a local public television program presented by PBS Utah
Contact
Cedar City Plein Air Festival: Art in the Open Air
Special | 3m 10sVideo has Closed Captions
The Cedar City Plein Air Painting Festival brings artists outdoors to capture the beauty of southern Utah. With open registration, multiple mediums, a juried exhibit, and a public reception, this episode showcases how the festival encourages creativity, community, and connection to the region’s landscapes through accessible, hands‑on artistic expression.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Where to Watch Contact
Contact is available to stream on pbs.org and the PBS app.
(bright music) - Well picture this, painting in the open air of Southern Utah's iconic landscapes.
The Cedar City Plein Air Painting Festival is coming up, and Michael Clark joins us now to illustrate how you can let your creativity soar in the great outdoors.
Welcome, Michael.
Thank you so much for being here.
- Thank you.
- So tell me about the festival.
One of the questions some people have is, is it only for artists?
- Well, this is our third year to hold the Plein Air Painting Festival.
Plein Air is a French term meaning painting outdoors, and we have sent invitations to all art organizations and institutions in Utah and Southern Nevada to attend this Plein Air.
It's primarily for artists who come to paint outdoors.
- [Liz] Wow, that's incredible.
- But we also have a public viewing of or exhibit of their work.
- And I bet there is so much inspiration from being outdoors surrounded by the Red Rock and beauty of Utah.
- Oh yes, this is a beautiful area.
Everywhere you turn, there's a beautiful picture.
- Wow, and I love the fact that after they finish painting, that it's on display and there's the competition side of it.
Tell us about some of the other activities people can participate in.
- Well, of course they can go around town and watch as people are painting in various locations.
Most of the people tend to paint outdoors in one of our canyons or in the Red Rocks or out on the, you know, the west side where we have a lot of farms and a lot of greenery.
It's pretty exciting to just see the various artists and how they interpret what they see.
- Yeah, especially given Utah's weather usually, it's usually pretty nice and clear and lots of good days.
So a good time for all.
Thank you so much for joining us.
We have information about the festival that you can check out on your screen right now.
It is Southern Utah Watercolor Society's Plein Air Painting Festival.
There'll be a public reception June 1st, 4:00 to 5:30 PM at the Cedar City Library.
Just head to southernutahwatercolorsociety.og for more information.
I'm Liz Adeola, and thank you for watching "Contact."
(bright music) Philanthropy, Arts, culture.
It's what brings us together.
Hi, I'm Liz Adeola, the host of Contact, a show that connects you with local events and organizations that serve your community.
If you work for a nonprofit and would like to be on Contact, please visit pbs.org/contact
Support for PBS provided by:
Contact is a local public television program presented by PBS Utah