Paint It! Ellicott City 2017 Event & Exhibition

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — Artists from around the region and beyond will gather in Historic Ellicott City the weekend of July 7–9 to participate in Paint It! Ellicott City, an annual plein air painting event. The Howard County Arts Council (HCAC), Howard County Tourism, the Historic Ellicott City Partnership, and Howard County Public Schools are presenting this paint-out weekend culminating in an exhibit of 30 juried artists at the Howard County Center for the Arts.

The guest juror for Paint It! Ellicott City 2017 is award-winning plein air artist Hai-Ou Hou, who selected the following artists for the juried exhibit: Lissa Abrams, Stanley Agbontaen, Julia Andersen, Bruno Baran, Joanna Barnum, Edward Bell, Sid Branham, Ann Crostic, Ronaldo Dorado, Raymond Ewing, Matt Fenton, Nancy Freeman, Caroline Goldsmith, Debra Howard, Sara Kahn, Paul Keysar, Jane Knighton, Michael Kotarba, Kathleen Kotarba, Deborah Maklowski, Mike McSorley, Alison Menke, Chrissy Pahucki, Ann Schaefer, Charles Snell, Lida Stifel, Tara Will, Diane Wimsatt, Alexander Wissel, and Dennis Young.

The event begins with an Artist & VIP Welcome Reception at the Howard County Center for the Arts on Thursday, July 6 from 6–7:30pm. Then, all day on July 7–9, artists will set up their easels throughout Ellicott City’s historic district and attempt to capture the essence of the quaint old mill town and all its charms. Members of the public are encouraged to come watch the artists at work while strolling Main Street’s sidewalks and shops. Artists and art students from the community can also join in the fun, painting alongside the juried artists as Open Paint-Out participants.

On Saturday, July 8 from 10am–12pm, Paint Down Main, a quick draw competition presented by Mat About You Gallery, is back for a third year, with artists competing for cash prizes as they take a painting from start to finish in just two hours. A subsequent pop-up exhibit and sale of work completed during the Quick Draw offers fun for spectators and artists alike.

Artists and visitors are invited to attend a free opening reception at the Howard County Center for the Arts on Monday, July 10 from 6-8pm. The juried artists will be featured in HCAC’s Gallery I through August 11; Open Paint-Out artists’ work will be displayed in the Center’s lobby on the night of the reception. During the reception, awards will be presented to the artists, including the Gino Awards, two $1,000 awards named in honor of Ellicott City artist Gino Manelli (1915–2010). The exhibited artwork will be available for purchase.

Registration is required for those wishing to be included in the one-night Open Paint-Out exhibit. Registration forms are available at the Arts Council and in the Exhibit Opportunities section of the HCAC website at hocoarts.org before or during the event.

Paint It! Ellicott City will be on display alongside an exhibit featuring artwork born of environmental catastrophes, by Lisa Moren and Io Palmer. Moren will exhibit a series of marbleized papers created from pigment collected during BP’s Deep Water Horizon oil spill, while Palmer will display sculptural and installation work made with a variety of everyday materials transformed into intricate surfaces, inspired by aerial images of recent uncontrolled oil spills.

Both exhibits run from July 10 to August 11, 2017. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10am – 8pm, Saturday 10am – 4pm, and Sunday 12 – 4pm. To learn more about these and other HCAC programs, visit hocoarts.org or call 410-313-ARTS (2787).