CAPITAL PLEIN AIR | Outdoor Painting Festival
Capital Plein Air aims to engage Australian artists through an outdoor painting event that is dedicated to helping reinvigorate and elevate the Plein Air Painting movement in Australia once again. Our festival will bring more people (young and old) to the outdoor painting experience whilst encouraging not just involvement, but also camaraderie and development of the artistic depth and skill of Australian painters.
Planning is currently underway for the inaugural Capital Plein Air (CaPA) – Outdoor Painting Festival scheduled for Anzac week in April during the peak of the Autumn Colour.
“Plein air painting is the biggest art movement in history”, (Eric Rhodes CEO Streamline Publishing USA)
In the USA there is an internationally recognised annual calendar of 300+ Plein Air events across the country including a national conference of 1500+ attendees. Artists from all over the world, and of all mediums and subjects, participate in these events to improve their skills, compete for prize money, connect with the national art community and experience new locations from an artistic/travel point of view. Across in Europe the popular UK festival “Art in the Open” in Wexford Ireland has been running for 16 years with lots of spin off new festivals emerging since.
The plein air movement in Australia hasn’t kept pace in comparison to the USA and Europe and whilst there are many Australian artists still painting en plein air, there has been only 1 national show in the calendar “Plein Air Downunder”, (PADU) founded by Leon Holmes and the Mandurah Plein Air Painting Society 7 years ago in WA. But now there are 2 national shows, PADU and CaPA !!
Australia has a long history of outdoor painting with our own Australian Impressionist movement in the late 19th century with Artists like Arthur Streeton, who were internationally recognised amongst the European Impressionist movement in France.
Capital Plein Air is run by Volunteers of the non-profit Capital Plein Air Painting Association.
Join our mail list to stay up to date with all the news and events.
CaPA Committee
Natasha Ruschka – Chairperson and Co-Founder
Natasha Ruschka is an award-winning Australian artist and instructor with a passion for cultivating creativity and community through outdoor painting. Inspired by the dynamic USA outdoor painting scene she first experienced in 2018, Natasha is committed to bringing similar opportunities to Australian artists, emphasizing camaraderie and a drive for artistic depth and quality.
Chan Dissanayake – Co-Founder
Chan Dissanayake is a multi-award-winning watercolour artist living in Canberra, Australia. Over the years he has represented Australia on International watercolour delegations.
With 20 years of experience in painting, teaching and leading international tours, he shares a deep passion for outdoor painting. Known for his generosity in sharing his knowledge, Chan has gained considerable reputation as an outstanding tutor.
Rosanna Burston – Co-Founder
Rosanna is a passionate plein air painter and a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the best vantage points in Canberra in any season or any weather. She has spent over a decade working in community arts and coordinating weekly plein air paint outs and is also on the committee of the Queanbeyan Arts Society. We thank them for sharing her with us all
Greg Meszes – Treasurer
Nadya Meszes – Secretary