With its main gallery and display space at Driggs City Gallery & Plaza, the annual festival invites the art community to take in Teton Valley’s  mountains, rivers, working farms and ranches, waterways, forests, meadows, and sagebrush landscapes one brushstroke at a time.  

70 nationally acclaimed artists from across North America descend for ten days of outdoor painting, exhibitions, workshops, Quick Draws, Paint Outs, collector events, artist talks, and live music and theater, in downtown Driggs. “The Driggs Plein Air Festival offers the unique opportunity to experience art as it’s being created, connect with the artists behind it, and bring home a piece of Teton Valley to treasure,” said Lisa Simmons, Executive Director of the Downtown Driggs Association. 

Artists will check in and stamp canvases as early as Wednesday, July 22, with original artwork available for purchase almost immediately at the Driggs City Gallery. While more than 500 paintings, in oil, watercolor, and pastel, will be created and exhibited throughout the festival, the heart of the celebration takes place July 26 through August 1 at the Driggs City Gallery and Plaza. 

Public highlights, all free to attend, include the Opening Reception and Downtown Sounds outdoor concert featuring the Aaron Ashton Gypsy Jazz Band on Sunday, July 26, from 6–8pm; the Grand Targhee Resort Paint Out atop Dreamcatcher Lift on Monday, July 27, from 10am–12pm; and the Downtown Driggs Quick Draw on Tuesday, July 28, from 8–11am. The public is encouraged to vote for their favorite painting during the Driggs Quick Draw People’s Choice Competition on July 28 from 11am–2pm and again during the festival’s main People’s Choice Competition on Friday, July 31, from 9am–3pm. 

The Collector’s Night and John Lintott’s artist talk, The Influence of Plein Air Painting on Western Art, takes place on Thursday, July 30, from 5–6:30pm and offers a first chance to view and purchase all works designated for competition. 

The Competition Awards Ceremony and Closing Reception is open to the public on Friday, July 31 from 5-6pm. Additional highlights include workshops with nationally acclaimed plein air masters and competition judges Kathryn Stats and John Lintott, youth plein air programming with Teton Arts Summer Camp, and Montana Shakespeare in the Parks’ free performance of Much Ado About Nothing on Wednesday, July 29, from 6–8pm at the Teton County Courthouse Lawn, 150 Courthouse Drive. Complete festival schedules, gallery hours, and artist information are available at www.downtowndriggs.org→.