Keep the event pure

It’s not a financial scandal
with millions of dollars being funneled illegally. It’s not a matter of abuse
of power by an over-reaching government. It was nothing more than an innocent
oversight, but it should have been avoided.

The third annual plein air fund-raising event for the
Chadds Ford Historical Society was last weekend. Plein air painting is done outside, all of it, from initial sketch
to final brush stroke.

Jacalyn Beam, a plein air artist and the chairman of the
historical society event said in an interview for a preview story:

“Our show remains one of the
purist [plein air events] because you
paint that day and there’s no opportunity for people to go home and fix it two
days later in the studio. The paintings are still wet. That’s the charm. It’s
the beauty. There ‘s a look to that kind of painting that’s very different.”

Artists get an officially
stamped canvas that must be used to enter a painting in the “wet paint sale”
held Saturday evening.

Unlike the previous two years,
though, this year’s event was held over two days with artists getting
officially stamped canvases on Friday as well as Saturday. Ms. Beam said the
society decided to do that because of a threat of inclement weather, despite
the fact that a snow date had been scheduled.

Along with that change, though,
came another. Artists who picked up canvases for use Friday were not required
to turn them in at the end of that day. Without turning in a canvas on Friday,
there’s no way of knowing whether an artist did all the work in the field as
required.

No one is accusing any of the
29 artists of starting a painting in the field Friday, then going inside to
finish it that night or early the next morning. It could have happened, though.
Ms. Beam said she knows of artists from other plein air events who don’t always play by the rules.

Again, this is not an
accusation of cheating and, even if an artist did fudge, it’s not the worst
thing that could happen. Yet, the integrity of plein air purity, as the chairman referred to in the first
interview, does come under question.

It’s a great event. Artists
love it. Patrons love it The Chadds Ford Historical Society needs the revenue.
We hope the event goes on for generations, but the integrity of the event
should be maintained, and it can, easily.

The society should either go
back to a one-day only event or, if two days, require artists to turn in their
canvases at the end of both days; not just Saturday.

About CFLive Staff

See Contributors Page https://chaddsfordlive.com/writers/

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