- Jayd Buteaux, from Shadows-on-the-Teche, shares everything you need to know about this week-long event.
- The Visitor's Center for Shadows-on-the-Teche serves as the headquarters of the competition, and houses all the art that's made throughout the week.
Plein air, or 'open air,' is a type of art that allows artists to get outside and paint within their surroundings. For the next week or so, 25 artists from all over the country will be using this technique to 'paint' across 7 parishes in Acadiana.
"This year we're celebrating our 10th anniversary," said Jayd Buteaux, Senior Manager at Shadows-on-the-Teche, "so it's a big milestone."
New Iberia's Shadows-on-the-Teche 'works to preserve the historical integrity of the area' by providing tours, hosting presentations, and throwing the 'Plein Air Competition' every year.
Buteaux says Shadows "must be doing something right" for the organization to be celebrating 10 years of the competition.
"[The artists] love the hospitality, and the people, and the food," said Buteaux. "We have members of the community that make a bunch of food for the artists, they open up their homes to the artists. About 23 of the artists are being housed in private homes."
The competition runs from Saturday, March 9 until Saturday, March 16, and will be judged by Utah-based artist, John Poon.
For a complete list of events click here.
According to Buteaux, Poon is a "sought after plein air artist and instructor," who's been judging the Acadiana competition since it's inception.
"These artists are looking for buildings to paint, or cityscapes, or landscapes...and they just love our trees, and our bayous, and our basins," she explained. "What they're doing, is they're actually helping us to preserve our landscapes. So it's a really neat, extra component of this competition."
