5-Day Plein Air Paint Festival
Paint the rolling farmlands, dramatic river banks, charming downtown areas, prairies, and forests of Buffalo, Chippewa, Dunn, Pepin, and Eau Claire Counties of western Wisconsin.
GO Paint! Chippewa Valley
10th Year of GO Paint! May 7-13 & Sept 24-30
This May, paint the days and nights away in the beautiful Chippewa Valley when we welcome the greens of spring in the 10th year of the plein air art festival GO Paint! Chippewa Valley. Find a hidden valley, river cove, sidewalk café, or rustic barn: there are so many opportunities for a beautiful painting experience in our region.
Exhibition of GO Paint! Art
Spring exhibit opens May 13, 2022
All registered GO Paint! artists are invited to exhibit up to 5 works of art for each GO Paint event. All artwork will be exhibited virtually on our website and must be for sale. This is a great opportunity for our community to purchase a local landscape for their business or home.
Explore our previous GO Paint! Exhibits.
ARTIST INFORMATION
Artists are required to register to participate. Exhibiting artists will be allowed to submit up to 5 works of art that have been created outdoors, within a 10-mile radius of the Eau Claire & Chippewa Rivers Between Augusta, Cornell, Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Durand, & Nelson, Wisconsin.
All artworks will be exhibited in-person and virtually on our website. All artwork presented for the exhibition must be for sale. All sales, including purchase awards, will incur a commission.
Download the information brochure below.
Register Early & Save
Register by April 22 and save! Register for both the spring and fall GO Paints! and save money.
- Spring GO Paint! Registration - $30
- Fall GO Paint! Registration - $30
- Both GO Paints! - $55
GO Paint! Chippewa Valley Awards
Adult Quick Paint Awards
- Best of Show: Cash Award - $200
- First Place: Cash Award - $100
- Second Place: Cash Award - $75
- Third Place: Cash Award - $50
Exhibit Awards
- Best of Show - $500
- First Place - $250
- Second Place - $150
- Third Place - $100
- Best River - $200
Best of Pablo Center at the Confluence
- Cash Award - $200 This award will be selected by Pablo Center Staff
Participation Award
- Cash Award - $50 Every time you paint at one of our social paint events, we will put your name in a drawing for this cash award.
OPEN PAINTING
Paint the days and nights away in the beautiful Chippewa Valley when we welcome the greens of spring and the leaves are first appearing. This May, find a hidden valley, river cove, sidewalk cafeĢ, or rustic barn: there are so many opportunities for a beautiful painting experience in our region.
Saturday, May 7
11 a.m. - 12 p.m. YOUTH QUICK PAINT
FREE for young painters aged 18 and under. Registration is on-site in front of Pablo Center. Young painters will have one hour to paint the flora, fauna, and folks of Haymarket Plaza and Phoenix Park. Prizes will be awarded. Participants are welcome to bring their own paint supplies or use ours for free! Art instructors will be present to assist with supplies.This event is presented by Pablo Center’s ARTmobile and sponsored by the Janet Carson Art Education Fund.
2 - 4 p.m. ADULT QUICK PAINT
Registered GO Paint! Chippewa Valley painters will have two hours to paint the flora, fauna, and folks of Haymarket Plaza, Phoenix Park, and the surrounding confluence of the Eau Claire and Chippewa Rivers. Cash prizes awarded.If painting for prizes, please line up your canvas on your easel or set it on a provided table outside of Pablo Center facing the Haymarket Plaza by 4:30 p.m.
Monday, May 9
9 a.m. - 12 p.m. GO PAINT EAU CLAIRE, SOCIAL PAINT
Let’s paint in Rod and Gun Park in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on the banks of Half Moon Lake.Tuesday, May 10
12 - 4 p.m. GO PAINT DURAND, SOCIAL PAINT
Let’s paint in Lower Chippewa View Park in Durand on the banks of the Chippewa River.Wednesday, May 11
4 - 8 p.m. GO PAINT ALTOONA, SOCIAL PAINT
Let’s paint in River Prairie Park in Altoona on the banks of the Eau Claire River.Thursday, May 12
4 - 8 p.m. GO PAINT LEINIE LODGE, SOCIAL PAINT
Join us at the Leinie Lodge for a night of camaraderie and painting! There is an open deck and access to the rocky shoreline of Duncan Creek. Family and friends are welcome. This event is free and open to the public.Friday, May 13
10 a.m. - 12 p.m. SUBMIT ARTWORK
Artists must turn in work for judging to Pablo Center at the Confluence. Awards will be determined by the jurors and cash prizes will be announced at our Awards Ceremony and Reception.6 - 8 p.m. MEET THE ARTISTS RECEPTION & AWARD CEREMONY
Join us for an evening in celebration of the artists of GO Paint! Chippewa Valley. All artwork will be for sale at this time.Meet the GO Paint! Jurors
GO Paint! Chippewa Valley Awards Juror and Featured Artist: Mike Olive
Michael Olive lives and paints in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, traveling regionally to plein air painting competitions. Michael was educated at UW-Milwaukee, having received an M.F.A. in Painting and Drawing, with a minor in Art History.
His work is hung in private, corporate, government and museum collections, with many of his paintings having been included in both group shows and solo exhibitions. He was a featured artist on Public Television’s “Dan Small’s Outdoor Wisconsin.”
Artist Statement: There’s just something wild about Plein Air painting; It’s an adventure, it’s challenging and totally unpredictable at times. I enjoy the wandering search for a dramatic cityscape. When people view my oil paintings, I’d like them to recognize they are present in the places I paint, experiencing a sense of time through light. Always hoping to find some scenic essence, I paint in a way that reduces the details and heightens the sense of color and light. My studio work is also an extension of this process, incorporating my reference photography.
GO Paint! Chippewa Valley Quick Paint Judge and Founding Member: Jean Accola
Jean Accola has been a painter most of her life. In 1980 she moved to rural Western Wisconsin where she lived a creative life with her musician husband and two children.
In 1985 she opened the Accola Gallery in Durand WI, where she continues to work and exhibit. She has studied with many influential artists that helped her establish her skills in watercolor, oil, and acrylic. Jean Accola founded the Fresh Art Tour in 1998 and the GO Paint! Plein Air painting event in 2013 and is now looking forward to years of “just painting”.
HEALTH & SAFETY
There is nothing more important to us than the happiness, health, safety, and well-being of every person who participates in our events. The well-being of partners, patrons, artists, and staff will remain our absolute top priority.
Modifications have been made to GO Paint! 2021 to accommodate for safer and socially distanced events.
- All participants in this year’s events are encouraged to wear masks and socially distance
- Canvases and painting surfaces will not be stamped prior to painting.
Find our full COVID-19 protocols on our Visitor COVID-19 Guide page.