What is plein air?  What does it have to do with the Morristown Public Library?

After years of 10% or 15% cuts, this year St. Lawrence County legislators have cut library funding BY 100%.   We all understand the “why?” when everyone in the North Country is struggling.  But we refuse to go back a decade or so when the library was depressed and the village paid the price; when the town was trying hard to progress but the kids and their parents had no programs to reflect progress.  We have had so much success we can’t be forced to cut the new programs and the spirit.  Not Morristown!  We’re going to fight for what we’ve accomplished together.  We’re going to put our muscle and “spirit of volunteerism” into a Plein Air Festival.  A Plein Air Festival will provide the community with entertainment, education, collaboration opportunities and yes, act as a fundraiser for the library.  Morristown has a long history of creativity, energy and a “can do” attitude – we feel this is a perfect solution for putting a dent in the $2,255 lost county revenue.

Plein air simply means “in the open air”, a french term that became intimately linked with painting after the invention of the tube container.  Before that, artists were restricted to their studios where paints had to be mixed.  But with the portable tube they could venture out of doors and use the natural light of the sun.  Voila’!  It’s the era of impressionists.  (I bet you’ll never look at your toothpaste in the same way again, eh?) 

A Plein Air Festival is an event where artists are invited to come into a village and paint the scenery.  The paintings would be offered up for sale with the library receiving a percentage of the profits.  Morristown’s festival will be August 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th.  There will be opportunities for residents to watch the artists paint, mingle with them at the “meet and greet” chicken BBQ and finally purchase their best works at the closing Silent Auction.    

We need to ask our friends and neighbors, both private and commercial, for support of our plein air event. 

Maybe you are able to:

  • sponsor a prize?
  • offer visitor discounts during the event?  Coffee?
  • provide lodging for a visiting artist?
  • allow artists to paint in your beautiful garden?
  • volunteer with the committee?

Community support is critical for the Morristown Plein Air Festival’s success.  Please call Bridget during library hours at 375-8833 or email mtnlib@ncls.org (link sends e-mail) to pledge your support today!

Whatever you are able to provide, we know it will be grand because

YOU ARE THE REASON THAT

“the sun always shines on the Morristown Public Library”

To learn more about Morristown’s Plein Air Festival please use the PLEIN AIR link in the black toolbar at the top of the homepage