PLEIN AIR PAINTINGS EXHIBITION: “Colorado Grandeur”
Plein Air Painters of America
Shaun Horne Gallery at the Crested Butte Center for the Arts
Crested Butte, Colorado
pleinairpaintersofamerica.com and shaunhornegallery.com
Through August 30, 2025
This year the nonprofit organization Plein Air Painters of America (PAPA) is mounting its national plein air paintings exhibition in partnership with Shaun Horne Gallery at the Crested Butte Center for the Arts. Appropriately, its title is “Colorado Grandeur,” as many of its more than 150 paintings depict the Rocky Mountain State, especially Crested Butte (population 1,700). PAPA’s members are seasoned outdoor painters and considered some of the best teachers active in the genre today.
This year’s exhibitors include 29 “Signature” members of PAPA, nine emeritus members, and a single honorary one (Len Chmiel).
Founded in 1986 by artist Denise Burns on Catalina Island, California, PAPA began as a small group dedicated to painting from life. For their first two decades, they held annual paint-outs followed by an exhibition in Avalon on Catalina.
This format, unique at the time, has given birth to countless similar groups and events across the country. In 2007, PAPA expanded its format to include exhibitions in museums and art centers to emphasize the importance of field studies in the process of making studio paintings.
