Riverside painting in Durand.

The week of May 15 will be a great one for lovers of art and the great outdoors. The riverside community of Durand and its surrounding area will host the fourth annual GoPaint! plein air painting event. (“Plein air” is French for “open air” – i.e., painted outside.) During this event, artists have the opportunity to paint various outdoor scenes from the area and submit them in categories such as Best in Show, Best Quick Paint, and Best Chippewa River Painting, and more. Artists come from all over and usually stay in the area for the week, sometimes waking up early to paint a sunrise or staying up late to capture the Chippewa River by moonlight. They’ll be using oils, watercolors, acrylics, pastels, and everything in between. The Quick Paint competition will kick off the event from 2-4pm Sunday, May 15, on the grounds of the Old Courthouse Museum in Durand, and anyone can compete or just watch the artists while they create their pieces. One of the other special features to this event will be the rare opportunity to take a motorcar train ride into the Tiffany Wildlife Area on Wednesday. This allows people to explore and paint the deeper area of the wildlife refuge without harming any plants or animals. There will be painting workshops for people to participate in as well. At 6pm Friday, paintings that have been submitted will be exhibited and awards will be announced; submitted paints will be available for purchase on Saturday. For more information or to register for the event, check out GoPaint!’s website or contact the Accola Gallery.

GoPaint! Plein Air Painting Event • May 15-21, various times and locations • exhibit and awards at 6pm May 20 at Accola Gallery, 502 Second Ave. E., Durand • (715) 672-8188 • jaccola9@gmail.com • gopaint.org