MARK LUETKE LOOKING SIDEWAYS

In a few weeks Sylvania will experience a new invasion of more than 125 professional artists who will be painting for four days in streets, parks and front yards all over town. Sponsored by the Red Bird Sylvania arts organization, the second Plein Air festival will again feature artists working outside on July 28-31, followed by a sale of their art during the First Friday event on August 2.
The inaugural event last summer generated a lot of curiosity and buzz, but it was over before many folks (like me) could really check it out. My message to everyone this year is, do not miss it!
Plein Aire as a movement first started a century ago by artists who wanted to get out of their dark studios and practice outside where they could add light and value to their painting, explains Dani Fuller, owner of one of the two fine art galleries on Main Street. A few years ago, she and neighboring gallery owner Scott Hudson began discussing how to make fine art and handmade art more accessible to folks who passed by their shops but didn’t bother to stop in.
“The idea was to have an event in Sylvania where artists could create art outdoors that is relatable to the average person … and to entice them to see more than what we have in our two galleries. With the festival, we have artists from all over America painting landscapes and buildings … capturing the character and design of our town … and drawing people in to see what that is,” Dani told me. “The art is designed to be sold—creating art that is more affordable to people.”
“The festival has given people a sense of pride in our community,” adds Scott Hudson, the other Main Street gallery owner. “People can come downtown or drive to other parts of town and see more than a hundred artists set up with easels painting Sylvania, and they feel they are somewhere new.”
The artists seem to love it, too. “I’m very smitten with Sylvania,” says professional artist Mary Hertler Tallman, who participates in similar events in Florida, Grand Traverse, Michigan, the Ann Arbor area and East Tawas on Lake Huron. “Sylvania has a small-town feel, but also a rich history, great architecture, and a deep sense of art,” she explains. “It’s a charming town, and the people are so welcoming.”
Mary enjoys creating art in outdoor settings like Sylvania because “the work I do there has a lot of energy and spontaneity—the air and wind, the people all around you. There is something positive about being in the moment for an artist.”
Last year Mary won the “Best of Show” award here, but her main focus is on the personal interactions she gets as she creates her art. She looks forward to coming back this year. “It’s wonderful that people come up and want to talk to you. They seem interested in what art you do and other places you’ve been.”
Avah AuBuchon will be a seventh grader at Toledo School for the Arts, and she also looks forward to being in the festival for the first time, along with 20 participants in the youth category. For the past year she has been learning about “painting from life outdoors” in classes at Fuller Art House. Just like the adult artists, she will have an opportunity to do her acrylic work outdoors and display and sell her art.
“Dani has been teaching me about live painting—which is drawing from what you see in life rather than taking something from online and putting it on paper,” she explains. “I’m pretty excited about being in Plein Air and getting to watch the older artists and learn from them, too. We’ll just go out and look for something interesting—downtown, houses, Harroun Park, almost anything. I think I will enjoy it.”
Festival organizers allow both adult and youth artists to work on multiple pieces—as many as they want—anywhere in the Sylvania city and township borders. In addition, a series of “purchase prize” awards allow donors to identify a specific local home, business building, or landmark as a subject for any artist to paint. The person who puts up the “purchase prize” then has an opportunity to see all of the works created at their location and select a winner that they will then own.
The Red Bird organizers credit a strong six-person organizing committee and 15-20 community volunteers for creating an event that contributes a “cool factor” to our town. “I wasn’t surprised by the crowd at the opening last year,” Hudson observes, “but I was very pleased by the constant foot traffic the during the entire event. We sold more than 65 pieces last year—and that didn’t include the purchase prizes.”
“We’re attracting hundreds of people to Sylvania–which has a positive economic impact,” he said. “It also creates a sense of pride. When our residents see a hundred-plus artists set up with easels painting our city, it makes them feel like they are somewhere completely new.”
Longtime Sylvania resident Mark Luetke has served on city council, the board of education, and numerous foundation and community boards.