Leamington En Plein Air Painting Competition 2026 Submission Form

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Leamington En Plein Air Painting Competition 2026 - Submission Form

Generously sponsored by the Leamington Lion's Club, the Leamington En Plein Air Painting Competition is an incredible opportunity for all artists to present their En Plein Air paintings at the LAC for a chance to win cash prizes.

The exhibition's focus is to showcase the beauty within the Leamington and Point Pelee district, and celebrate the joy and impressionism in full view when painting in the open air.

Eligibility & Terms

This exhibition is open to all amateur, emerging, mid-career and established visual artists.

ONLY paintings completed in the manner of "En Plein Air"  will be accepted (painted outdoors on location, in the moment - no portion of the painting is to be completed from a photograph or in studio).

The only accepted media will be pastels, acrylic, watercolour, and oil paints. Paintings may be completed on canvas board, stretched canvas, paper or wood panel.

Mixed or other media, substrates with drawing or sculptural effects are not permitted.
All paintings MUST be completed within the municipal limits of Leamington, Point Pelee, and may include Caldwell First Nations territory within Leamington. Paintings completed in, or depicting other regions will not be accepted.
Suggested locations: Point Pelee National Park, Seacliff Park, Beach & Amphitheatre, Leamington Municipal Marina, Rick Atkin Park, Hillman Marsh, Kopegaron Woods, Sturgeon Woods, Caldwell First Nations Marina and Boardwalk.

A maximum of 3 submission per artist.

A maximum size limit of 60 united inches per artwork, combined width and height (not including frames). Ex: 20" x 40", or 30" x 30".

Framing is not required, however recommended for projection and presenting in a public gallery setting. Reclaimed and salvaged or vintage frames must be structurally sound, wired on the back and in a clean undamaged condition.

Artwork not properly prepared to display in a public gallery, artwork no properly prepared to hang, incomplete or late submissions will NOT be displayed in the exhibition.

All artworks must be originals and not reproductions, prints, copies, derivatives or artworks based in any way on other copyrighted or published artistic works. Must be entirely executed by the applicant.

Jury

This is a juried exhibition. The juror will select the works to be displayed in the exhibition as well as the winner. The juror decisions are final.

This year's juror is Elizabeth MacDonald.

Elizabeth's passion is plein air painting. She began painting in Plein air in 1996 and shortly thereafter she began her studies at the University of Windsor where she received her BFA in 2000. From 2000 to 2009 she volunteered for the nonprofit organization, Windsor Printmakers' Forum. In 2009 she founded the Windsor & Essex County Plein Air Artists group. She organizes weekly plein air events year-round and participates in Plein Air Festivals in the U.S.A and Canada. She has received several awards in the U.S. and Canada.

Awards (Sponsored by the Leamington Lion's Club)

$1000 of CASH Prizes to be Won!

1st Place: $500 + award certificate

2nd Place: $300 + award certificate

3rd Place: $200 + award certificate

Honourable Mention: award certificate

Winners will be announced on July 31 at the Evening at the LAC and opening reception. 

How to Submit

  1. Complete this online Submission Form and payment below to register.
  2. All participants MUST delivery their fresh unpainted canvas/media to the LAC between June 9 - July 16 to receive an authorization stamp prior to commencing. Artists may apply transparent or opaque grounds, without 3 dimensional textures, to their support’s prior to registration. Canvas not pre-authorized will be disqualified form the competition.
  3. Label the back of the completed work with: Name, Title of Artwork, Medium & Sale Price.
  4. Deliver the completed painting to the LAC by the July 16 submission deadline. Incomplete, unauthorized, or late submissions will NOT be considered.

Submission Fee: 

$35 submission fee. (1 fee for up to 3 works)

Please note: submission fees cover expenses to develop, coordinate, and curate the exhibition, handle and store works, in addition to general operating expenses. For this reason, submission fees are non-refundable, for works accepted or not accepted into the exhibition.

Schedule

Submission Deadline: Thursday, July 16, 5pm

Exhibition Opens to the Public: Friday, July 17, afternoon

Reception: Friday, July 31, 6-8pm

Exhibition Closes: Thursday, October 8

Artwork Pick Up: October 9 - October 31

NO PICK UP BEFORE October 9. ALL ARTWORK MUST BE PICKED UP ON OR BEFORE October 31.

Artwork Preparation

VERY IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ & FOLLOW!

All artwork MUST be prepared and ready for display and presentation in a pubic gallery setting. Works not properly prepared and presentable will not be displayed.

Stretched canvas, canvas board and any other framed artwork MUST BE WIRED on the back. Saw-Tooth Hooks/Aligator Hooks or other types of hardware are NOT accepted.

Material that may smear should be treated with an art fixative prior to submission.

Properly label ALL artwork on back matching the online form. Title of Artwork, Name, Media, and Sale Price (NFS if not for sale)

Artwork not properly prepared, incomplete or late submissions will NOT be displayed in the exhibition.

Sales

All sales will be handled by the LAC. A commission of 35% will be retained on all sales.

*The LAC strives to provide exhibition opportunities for all artists however, on some occasions select exhibits are juried or due to the volume of entries received all works are not able to be included on display. Artwork that is not properly wired for hanging may be modified or discluded from the exhibit. Submission fees assist to cover exhibition and programming development, administration and clerical work, storage and moving, as well as jury selection and curatorial work involved in preparing exhibitions. All submission fees are non-refundable. The LAC/SEAA reserves the right in its sole discretion to disclude any work it feels does not meet the exhibition eligibility criteria, size accommodations or any work it feels is inappropriate for all audience and could otherwise be considered offensive or overly sexualized in nature. Uncollected work after 1 year of the exhibit end will become the property of the Leamington Arts Centre. We strongly advise to collect unsold works within the pick up times in the exhibition schedule. Unclaimed works may be sold and all proceeds forfeited by the artist. The LAC reserves the right to close the submissions early.
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