Image: Academy Art Museum, New York
The Academy Art Museum will showcase the complete collection of competition paintings from the Plein Air Easton Festival on Saturday and Sunday, July 18-19, according to the museum’s July events notice. The presentation will include the award-winning works selected by this year’s judge, Mary Morton, curator and head of French paintings at the National Gallery of Art. Admission to the museum will be free each day during the festival weekend.
The museum says it has been a partner of the Avalon Foundation’s Plein Air Easton Festival for the past 22 years, a relationship that places it at the center of one of the region’s best-known landscape painting events. The festival’s competition paintings are created throughout the week, then brought together for public viewing, giving visitors a chance to see the full range of work produced during the event rather than a single juried selection.
The weekend presentation is being mounted alongside the museum’s current exhibitions, though the institution notes that some galleries will be temporarily closed to accommodate installation for the festival. Specifically, 'Under the Mexican Sky' and 'The New Colossus' will not be on view on July 16-17, and 'Lisa Elmaleh: Promised Land' will not be on view July 17-19. The museum has framed the closures as a practical adjustment to make room for the Plein Air Festival installation.
The schedule also includes live painting by Summer 2026 artist-in-residence Esteban del Valle, who will be working on large-scale paintings at the museum throughout the Plein Air Easton weekend. The museum describes del Valle as an artist known for dynamic paintings and murals that blend drawing, color and gesture, and says his residency has involved new work inspired by Easton and the Hill Community, as well as public programs.
Another festival-related program ties the museum to Zach Gallery, where Academy Art Museum Visiting Artist Brett Day Windham has work on view in 'Gathering the Chesapeake' through July 18. The email invites visitors to a special artist talk with Windham on the exhibition’s closing day, including an artist meet-and-greet from 1-4 PM and an artist talk at 2 PM.
The museum’s notice presents the Plein Air Easton weekend as part of a broader summer lineup that also includes painting workshops later in the season. Among those listed are 'Vibrant & Versatile: Intro to Gouache' on August 8 and 'Oil Painting for Beginners' on August 22-23. For July 18-19, however, the museum’s main message is straightforward: the full competition collection will be on view in Easton, with free admission and temporary gallery adjustments during the festival weekend.
