For Immediate Release
Contact:
Brittany Racca
(337) 365-1540
(888) 942-3742
Shadows-on-the-Teche
Plein Air Awards Reception & Fine Art Sale
NEW IBERIA, La. --- The Shadows-on-the-Teche Plein Air Painting Competition will host its 6th annual Awards Reception and Fine Art Sale on Fri., March 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the Shadows Visitor Center (320 E. Main St.).

Judge Kenn Backhaus, a plein air artist from Bucks County, Pa., will announce this year’s winners and award over $6,500 in cash and prizes. All work painted throughout the week by 30 artists from around the country will be exhibited and available for purchase. Take home an original, one-of-a-kind work of art and support art education. Light refreshments will be provided. The reception and sale are free to attend.

The competition will take place March 14 - 21, 2020. Visitors are invited to travel around the seven-parish area and watch artists paint en plein air. Other festivities planned during competition week are an art talk, two painting demonstrations, awards reception and fine art sale, and quick draw competition. All activities and events are free to attend and participate unless otherwise noted.

  • Tuesday, March 17 at 1 p.m.: Kenn Backhaus will lead a Plein Air Painting Demonstration at the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum.

  • Wednesday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m.: Kenn Backhaus will lead a Plein Air Painting Talk at the Shadows Visitor Center.

  • Thursday, March 19 at 2 p.m.: Kenn Backhaus will lead a Plein Air Painting Demonstration near the Shadows-on-the-Teche.

  • Friday, March 20 from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.: Artists of all ages and skill levels are invited to participate in a Paint Out in Downtown New Iberia. Works produced at the Paint Out will be judged, awarded ribbons, and available for sale. Free to participate, but registration is required.

  • Saturday, March 21 at 9 a.m.: Artists have two hours to complete a painting in downtown New Iberia. Once time is up, artists will bring their completed paintings to The Shadows fence on Main Street. Works will be then be judged, awarded ribbons and prizes, and available for sale off the easel. Participation in the Quick Draw is open to all artists for a fee of $10.

About the Shadows-on-the-Teche:
The Shadows-on-the-Teche, a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, opened to the public in 1961 with the mission to preserve the buildings, landscape, collections, and historical integrity of the site; to research and interpret through education programs a 19th century southern Louisiana plantation economy and community and their evolution; and to encourage an appreciation of and interest in historic preservation. The National Trust, which owns and operates the Shadows, is a private, non-profit organization. The Shadows does not receive funding from federal, state, parish, or city government. The site supports itself through admissions, special programs and events, and donations to the Friends of the Shadows. For more information, visit shadowsontheteche.org.

For more information, please contact the Shadows at (337) 369-6446 or Shadows@ShadowsOnTheTeche.org or follow the event on Facebook. Any funds raised from this event provide funding for art education.

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The Iberia Parish Convention & Visitors Bureau is the official parish marketing agency promoting New Iberia, Avery Island, Jefferson Island, Jeanerette, Loreauville and Delcambre as a destination. Marketing programs target leisure travelers, business travelers, media, entertainment industry, and the travel trade including group tour planners, meeting planners, sports planners and special event planners. The bureau operates a parish welcome center in New Iberia, Louisiana.
 
For more information on parish events and tourism assets, call the bureau at 337-365-1540 or visit  IberiaTravel.com