As the Plein Air Festival got underway with Friday evening’s festive opening, Evanston saw a number of artist-visitors in addition to its homegrown artist population.
In only three years, the festival, put on by Evanston Made, has attracted national attention, and that means summer outdoor painters are following.
They arrived over several days, usually by car because of the many supplies they must bring. Artists have come from Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, and as far as Texas and Florida, always hoping for good driving and good painting weather.
Kurt Ritterpusch drives from Texas in his “traveling art studio,” also called a pickup truck. Everything he might need is packed in there, even a canvas top so he can set up and paint almost anywhere from the truck bed.
He said the Evanston show is a fun, entertaining event. He has tried to talk other Texan artists into coming, but, he admitted, it’s quite a distance.
Ritterpusch lived in Fort Sheridan as a youngster, attended Highland Park High School for one year and visited his younger brother at Northwestern University. So he is fond of the area and enjoys a return trip.
Ritterpusch won a blue ribbon at last year’s festival with his painting of the vintage building in the Main-Dempster Mile area, formerly known as Thee Fish Bowl and now is the Coco Design Studio at 602 Dempster St. That intersection and area had been chosen as one of the Paint Out locations in 2023.
“The Paint Outs give artists an opportunity to create five or six paintings during the week,” Ritterpusch said, “to exhibit them all and to enter them all into the final competition,” which is on Sunday, July 21, at Rotary International, 1560 Sherman Ave. Almost all of the finished artwork is for sale there from noon-4 p.m.
Ritterpusch has a degree in art (painting) from American University in Washington, D.C., but attended the school on a wrestling scholarship. After college, he joined the Army Reserve as an officer, taught art in the Arlington, Virginia public schools and worked summers as a graphic designer.
In 2001, he was called to active duty, serving two combat tours each in Iraq and Afghanistan. He did “vulnerable assessment” for the 1st Cavalry Division, telling his commanders that, “As an artist,” he would “see things differently.” He said “An artist saved a lotta lives.”
Ritterpusch earned four Bronze Stars and the Legion of Merit, retiring at the end of December 2020. Now, he paints as much as he can, “While I can,” he said.
He knows he is gregarious and seemed to enjoy the company and conversation of onlookers that passed by during our conversation at the northeast corner of Church Street and Benson Avenue.
A favorite at this year’s festival and third-place prize winner Jianqiao “JQ” Luan drove from Kansas City. His equipment is minimal. He carried a small folding table, a comfy canvas chair in a bag, a lightweight drawing board and a backpack containing a small folding palette with few colors, a bottle of water, cup and only three brushes.
As this is his second visit to Evanston, Luan knew right away that he wanted to paint at the rose garden and went to do so immediately upon arrival. Artists can paint wherever they want, he said, but there are also six Paint Out events scheduled at specific locations.
Luan was born and grew up in Beijing, where he studied landscape design, learning perspective and graphic design elements on the way. His parents wanted him to continue his studies in the U.S., so he came to Kansas State University in 2015, where he “experienced culture shock” and earned a master’s degree in horticulture.
The festival’s registration fee of only $45 is “rad,” said Luan. It’s an additional $20 to sell art at a table during the event’s finale. A class is offered before the week begins in the basic techniques of plein air painting, as is a painting class with noted watercolorist Tom Trausch from Woodstock, Illinois.
There are many prize-winning opportunities for the 60 registered artist-participants. Besides Best of Show, second place, third place and festival favorite, there are honorable mentions — one for an amateur and Evanston Made member — and the Mark Cleveland Founder’s Award. And there are awards for the six Paint Outs.
I found Abdoulaye Conde in the Church Street-Dodge Avenue area, painting the C&W corner store and finishing an ice cream cone. This is his first time working at Evanston’s Plein Air Festival, he said.
It should be noted that all the artists look for a shady spot, usually but not always easy to find.
Conde was born in Conakry, Guinea, and came from West Africa in 2022. He is just shy of 30 years old. He met and married his American wife there and after several years, they moved to the the United States. The Condes now live in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood.
Conde is a professional artist, muralist and a musician. He has exhibited the last two years in Uptown’s Artwalk. Last year, he entered and won first place in the much-coveted “ArtPrize” international competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with his painting of elephants and their babies swimming — obviously not done plein air in Grand Rapids.
Creative people are often creative in more than one field. The kora, a long-necked harp-lute from West Africa, is Conde’s musical instrument. It has 21 strings and a calabash gourd body/resonator. He plays with a group of musician friends in Chicago and with a group in Michigan named Baraka.
Rotary International will host this year’s Festival Finale.
“We are proud to support cultural events like the Plein Air Art Festival that celebrate the beauty of Evanston, which our home for 70 years,” said Mark Lowry, director of operations and administration at Rotary International. “Just like Rotary clubs across the globe, we are thrilled to participate in bringing people together in the spirit of service, friendship, and fun.”
Chicago North Shore Convention & Visitors Bureau is the other main sponsor of this year’s Plein Air Festival. Evanston Made has succeeded in lining up multiple supporters for the individual events, Paint Outs and awards.
