text: For the past three days dozens of people have been sighted on the streets staring at local homes and businesses for hours on end, but there is no need to call the police. They are painters, capturing Alameda’s scenery for the Frank Bette Center for the Arts’ plein air “Calendar Event.”
  Image: "Alameda Theater" by David Savellano. Poster by Genie Scott. Courtesy Frank Bette Center for the Arts.
  Plein air is a French term meaning “open air,” and refers to painting outdoors, catching the light in the scene in front of the artist.
  Nan Gray is event liaison, along with Pamela McCleave. According to Gray, invitations went out to all participants from previous plein air events. Additionally, event hospitality coordinator Rebecca Payne reached out to local art organizations, which extended the invitation to their members. “Our Plein Air is a favorite of the western professional plein air artists,” Payne said.
  The painters will be hard at work Wednesday through Friday. The paint barely dry, this fresh art will be on exhibit at South Shore Center from 11 AM – 5 PM on Saturday, October 8, in the center court area.
  The artists are competing for over $3000 in prize money as well as the opportunity to have their work included in “the city’s first all art calendar,” according to the Frank Bette Center. Calendars will be available for sale at the Frank Bette Center.
  There are 12 Sponsor Awards, one for each month in the calendar, as well as People’s Choice, Volunteers’ Choice, and Peers’ Choice awards. The award winners will be announced at 4 PM on Saturday.
  The Frank Bette Center has room for a few more sponsors to select calendar images. According to Gray, the support of the sponsors pays for the awards to the artists, and offsets the cost of printing the calendar.
  Current sponsors include Alameda South Shore Center, Tucker’s Ice Cream, Dan’s Produce, Park Street Antiques, and Jeff Cambra. Cambra is a producer/director at the local television program Alameda Currents, and board member of the nonprofit BikeAlameda. He is also co-chair of the Calendar Event, along with Doug Perry.
  The paintings are for sale, but note that Sponsor Award winners will not be released to the buyers until they have been photographed for the calendar.
  The Frank Bette Center for the Arts is a non-profit organization run entirely by volunteers. It is located at 1601 Paru Street. (510) 523-6957.
  Michael Singman-Aste
  Postdiluvian Photo
  Tags: Alameda, Frank Bette Center for the Arts
  This entry was posted on Friday, October 7th, 2011 at 8:02 am and is filed under Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.