See you at the Grand Prix d”Art – “Let’s get artists out of their studios and onto the streets. The Old School House Arts Centre (TOSH) in Qualicum Beach does just that once a year to the great enjoyment of artists as well as the general public. Each year it attracts about fifty Plein Air Painter participants from Vancouver Island and BC’s Lower Mainland and hundreds of spectators.
Our Grand Prix d’Art is a “race”; competing artists must complete a work of art “en plein air” (working outside on location, not in a studio) within three hours. Each Plein Air Painter will find a location in the picturesque town of Qualicum Beach. The work must represent or be inspired by some thing or person that is visible from the assigned location. All locations are within walking distance of TOSH, visitors are encouraged to watch the process and the progress of the artists, and maps are provided. The Plein Air Painters must complete their work within the three-hour limit and have the paintings in display condition, titled and priced for sale no later than one hour before completion. A panel of three judges then determines the winners of the contest. All the paintings from the event will hang in our galleries until August 9th.
Our twenty-second annual Grand Prix d’Art painting race begins at 11:00. Painters of all levels and mediums from all over BC will spread out over our lovely town to complete a painting of their location in three hours. At 2:00 PM the paintings are brought back to TOSH for framing and judging in the prize competition. At this point they go on sale to the public and then will be placed on display in the TOSH gallery.”