For more than three decades, artists have packed their easels and headed to the Carmel coast, drawn by a landscape that has inspired painters since the bohemian settlers arrived after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. That tradition continues with the 33rd annual Carmel Art Festival May 15-17 – and this year organizers are offering something new.
For the first time, the festival added a series of workshops and demonstrations to its programming in the days leading up to the main event. Several of the festival’s juried artists led sessions designed to give aspiring painters and curious art-lovers a hands-on understanding of plein air painting, the practice of working entirely outdoors, open to the landscape itself.
“We are always looking for ways to make it better,” says Hella Rothwell, president of the Carmel Gallery Alliance, the nonprofit that organizes the festival. “Creativity and artistic expression are Carmel’s special legacy.”
Rothwell, who became involved with the festival when building its first website in 2000, has led the organization since 2019. Devendorf Park serves as the festival’s beating heart, with artists delivering their newly completed works between 10am-1pm, followed by an evening gala. There is art displayed under tents throughout the weekend, live music, food and wine. On Saturday, Mission Street closes to traffic for the festival’s beloved Quick Draw competition, in which artists race to complete a painting on-site within a set time.
Over 60 artists were selected this year through a rigorous jury process. Invitees come from as near as San Francisco, as distant as Virginia and Florida. Among the returning artists is Maria Boisvert, an oil painter and founding member of the Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters Association, who first took part in the Carmel Art Festival in 2002.
“I’ve been participating pretty much ever since,” she says, noting that the Peninsula’s coastline continues to draw her back year after year.
The festival was founded in 1993 by a group of Carmel gallery owners seeking to honor the town’s deep artistic roots, and has grown into one of the most prestigious plein air events in the country. Collectors travel from across the nation to acquire the fresh paintings produced on-site during the event.