"Plein air for the Young at ART"

Plein Air for the Young at ART is a two-part art program designed to encourage young students, ages 8-18, to explore the creative art of painting outside. Plein Air is a French term meaning "outside". As part of giving back to their community, West Maui Cultural Council and Islanders - Hawaii Plein Air Painters are offering this new program for young art students throughout Maui. It is the organizers' hope that this type of program will help foster the idea of being an artist. "It's up to us to encourage kids to see and record simple beauty outside and to perhaps turn their creative juices into a rewarding career" says Ronaldo Macedo one of our local Islanders plein air painters.

Part I

Part I is a classroom session that can include a painting demonstration, a discussion about being an artist, and an outside experience to watch the artist paint. These sessions are conducted by professional plein air artists. By going outside the artist encourages the students to "look carefully" at the visual scene and to see how the light, the shadows, the reflections, the colors, etc., affect the overall scene. This careful scrutiny of mastering what you see is reflected in plein air artists' work. The hope is that students look at the outdoors as an endless source of material to paint. By sharing the artist's techniques they get inspired and hopefully more driven to paint from nature.

Part II is a two hour paint out with 25 young artists participating. The young artists are assisted and coached by professional plein air painters and the event is coordinated by volunteers. The first two hour paint out was held October 25, 2009 at Kamehameha Iki Park in Lahaina and included students ages 8 through 16 from Lahaina Intermediate School, Sacred Hearts School, King Kamehameha III Elementary School, Kamehameha Elementary School, Maui Preparatory Academy and Haleakala Waldorf School. Modeled after the Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational, the paint out was an opportunity for young aspiring artists to experience painting direct from life. Three professional artists roamed the area and visited each student artist offering tips, guidance and feedback. The program was funded through the Community Art Fund of the Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational. After checking in, the kids found their favorite subject matter and dove into the task of seeing shadows, composing shapes, choosing focalpoints, and identifying color relationships. The kids completed an original plein air painting in two hours. Immediately after the paint out, the young artists were treated to a reception and display of their work at the Lahaina Cannery Mall. Maui No Ka Oi magazine sponsored the event and local merchants donated treats and discount coupons to the young artists.

"It was very exciting to see our idea of giving back to the schools and the kids come to reality," said Lois Reiswig, one of the program founders. “Seeing young driven students create beautiful pieces of work from nature was exciting.”

The professional artists coaching the kids on this day were Mike Carroll of Lanai and Carleton Kinkade and Ronaldo Macedo of Lahaina.