CAPITAL PLEIN AIR

CAPITAL PLEIN AIR 2025
FESTIVAL RUN SHEET

---

INFORMATION FOR ARTISTS

ARTISTS CHECK-IN & BOARD STAMPING

Artists must check in twice during the festival:

1. First Check-In – On the first day they attend (or at the optional early check-in on Sunday, April 20).
2. Quick Draw Check-In – On Sunday for those competing in the Quick Draw event.

Check-in tents will be set up at each location for registration and board stamping.

First Check-In

• Receive festival information, location guides, and a lanyard (must be worn on location).
• Get blank painting surfaces (boards/canvases/paper) stamped with the Capital Plein Air stamp.
• Only stamped surfaces will be accepted for judging and exhibition.
• Surfaces must be blank at the time of stamping—no exceptions. (a single colour ground/under colour is allowed)
• There is no limit to the number of surfaces you can have stamped.

Stamping will be available throughout the week if additional surfaces are needed.

Early Check-In & Stamping – Sunday, April 20

Artists who want to start painting early can check in and stamp boards at:
📍 Strathnairn Arts, 90 Stockdill Drive, Holt
🕛 12 PM – 3 PM

WORKSHOP LOCATIONS

All workshops will be held at the same locations as the pre-festival paint outs. Material lists are available on the Workshops page of the website. Specific meeting points at these locations will be sent out workshop participants closer to the time. Please arrive by 8.30am for a 9am start.

WET WALL ARTWORK

The “Wet Wall” is a casual display of artwork from the pre-festival paint out, available for sale to the public. There will be a designated wall for this work that has shelves to hold panels, canvas or watercolour paper in matt board.  Limit of 2 pieces per artist.  Hand in wet wall submissions to The Terrace Room on Friday morning.  This is optional – you do not have to hand in art to the wet wall.

FESTIVAL ART EXHIBITION

You can select and submit up to 2 pieces of artwork created anytime during the festival (except for work created during workshops).  Submit artwork between Friday morning and Saturday 5pm.  Artwork will be judged on Sunday morning during the Quick Draw and Awards announced Sunday afternoon.  Oil paintings on panel and canvas MUST be framed to avoid contact with wet paint .  Acrylic paintings will be accepted unframed with hanging wire on the back if they are dry. Watercolour/Gouache can be submitted in matt boards.  Where possible, we encourage you to present your artwork for judging and sale as professionally as possible with a frame.

Please refer to our full Terms and Conditions

FRAMING

We are in discussions with a local framer about the option for pre-ordering frames to pick up at the festival. We will provide more information when we can.   

If you have a regular framer you use, take along your regular panels in your most used size and ask them to make a couple of timber frames to suit.  Have them add clips in a landscape and portrait position to give you more hanging options. Choose a wide moulding (4-5cm) for smaller works (8×10, 12×16) and have them insert the metal flex points so you can bend them open when it comes to inserting your finished artwork at the festival.

QUICK DRAW

If you registered for the festival, your entry to the Quick Draw is included.  You will still need to check in on Sunday Morning to get sales tags for your painting.  We recommend a frame for this artwork if possible.  The Quick Draw artwork is for sale and it will present better for judging and sale and be easier for a Collector to handle if it is in a frame/matt board.

SOCIAL EVENING – THURSDAY 24^th April

Grainger Gallery is kindly hosting a social evening at their new event space on Geelong Street in Fyshwick. Thursday’s painting location is in central Canberra, giving you plenty of time to return to your accommodation, have dinner, and freshen up before joining us for a drink, a chat, and even a portrait painting session if you’re interested!

GOVERNMENT HOUSE – SECURITY REQUIREMENTS

We are thrilled to confirm Government House as our painting location for Saturday, April 26th. Due to security requirements, the names and contact details of all registered artists and public attendees on this day will be submitted for AFP security checks. If you have any concerns, please reach out to the festival committee at capitalpleinair@gmail.com.

Artist details provided at registration will be shared with Government House, so there is no need for a separate registration. A separate registration form for public attendees will be available soon. If you have a partner or companion joining you at Government House on Saturday, they will need to complete a registration form. 

PARKING

There is free parking available at each painting location however in instances it is limited. Please consider car pooling on the weekend as there is limited free parking available at The Arboretum and Government House

Monday – plenty of free parking available at both Cotter Bend and across the bridge at Cotter Avenue

Tuesday – Gundaroo, plenty of free parking through the small town streets. Try not to park in the main street in front of the most paintable buildings!

Wednesday – Tharwa, plenty of free parking at Cuppacumbalong Homestead at along the driveway entrance to the property.

Thursday – Weston Park, this is a big area with multiple car parks scattered throughout the park. Cafe parking is limited at The Yarralumla Cafe, The Station Stop Cafe has a large car park.

Friday – The National Arboretum, there is limited free parking (30 cars) at The Margaret Whitlam Pavilion Carpark that will be available on a first come first served basis. However, there are many free car parks scattered around the park where there are paintable vistas. This is an ecologically sensitive area and parking outside of designated spaces is strictly prohibited. At the main visitor centre paid parking applies between 9am and 4pm, 7 days a week. Parking rates are $2.50 per hour to a maximum of $8.80 per day. We recommend managing paid parking via the “EasyPark” app is which is more flexible and convenient and used at most ACT government parking facilities.

Saturday – Government House, there is limited parking (60 cars) available inside the grounds of Government House. Please consider car pooling to avoid having to park outside the grounds.

Sunday – The Arboretum (as per Friday).

LOCAL ART STORES

Eckersleys

Phillip, 21 Colbee Court, Phillip ACT 2606, t.02 6260 4444

Braddon, Unit 43, 38 Mort Street, Braddon ACT 2612 t.02 6257 1711

Belconnen, Level 1, Westfield, Benjamin Way Belconnen ACT 2617 t. 02 6251 6466

Artists Shed, 88 Wollongong St, Fyshwick ACT 2609, 0418 237 766

VOLUNTEERING

If you would like to volunteer while participating in the festival, or have a friend/partner who would like to volunteer while you are painting – you can see volunteering options via this link. https://signup.zone/42iz6PDzMi9hKsjnz

FACEBOOK GROUP

Don’t forget to join our private Facebook Group.  You can use this group to connect to other artists who are attending, share information, work out carpool situations or call out for spare equipment if you find yourself caught. 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Please check our FAQ’s page for any questions.  You can also contact us on capitalpleinair@gmail.com

SOCIAL MEDIA

If you are active on Facebook, make sure you mark yourself as “Going” on our Facebook Event.

When you post about the festival tag @capitalpleinair so we are notified and can share it

Our festival hashtags are #capitalpleinair #capa2025 #pleinairaustralia

We will continue to update this page with information to make your festival experience as smooth as possible.

Thank you

Capital Plein Air Committee