En Plein Air at Arlington Town Day

Arlington’s own En Plein Air event was held in conjunction with Town Day on September 17, 2022.  It was sponsored by the Arlington Commission for Arts and Culture (ACAC) and run by Artlinks Arlington as a showcase for the innovative and diverse programs that ACAC produces that both benefit the town and support the artists’ community. ACAC Commissioner Sarah Morgan Wu, Commissioner and ArtLinks Founder Lidia Kenig Scher, and local artist Maryann Hondo designed, planned, and ran the festival.

The site was the beautiful Winfield Robbins Memorial Garden. Twelve artists were selected by the organizing committee from a pool of 25 applicants and competed for the 3 prizes — first, second, and Arlington Vote. The first and second prizes ($500 and $250) were provided by ACAC and the third, the Arlington Vote of $100 was provided by PlayTime Arlington. It should be noted that 350 attendees cast a vote for the third prize!

All of the entries were stunning pieces, showing a variety of artistic styles by talented artists in the area. Both the first prize and Arlington Vote went to Felipe Eguia. The second prize went to Zee Giesbrecht.

Peggy Burchenal, a museum education consultant, who has enjoyed a long and successful career at the Museum of Fine Arts, and more recently worked at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as educator, and curator.

Dan Cianfarini has a 20-year career as a watercolor artist, specializing in En Plein Air Painting, and is a proud recipient of numerous awards for that endeavor.

Catherine Garnett is a visual artist, primarily a painter and printmaker. She holds a diploma in studio art from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She was selected to be an artist in residence at Acadia National Park, Schoodic Point in late Spring of 2017 and continues to paint en plein air and collect awards for it.