Old Town Temecula Street Painting & Plein Air Art Festival

Fine artists of all ages will be colorizing  Old Town Temecula during the Street Painting and Arts Festival,  June 20-22. Artists will start their works of art on Monday June 16 and continue throughout the week, while street painters and muralists will begin Friday even, June 20th.

Plein air is a French expression, meaning "in the  open air" or painting outdoors.  Plein air artists begin painting Old Town Temecula scenes on canvas and paper,  Monday, June 16,   while string artists  decorate  benches, trees, the gazebo,  and other objects at Sam Hicks Memorial Park.  Titled Yarn Splash,  the string  projects  will be completed Saturday,  June 21. The yarn art remains  in place  through August 24.

Plein air artists paint with oils, water color, pastels and acrylics, through Sunday, June 22. . Temecula's plein air festival is inspired by Ralph Love, a popular California plein air artist who lived and taught in Temecula. His Art Shack was located where Baily's Old Town Dining is now located.

Artwork completed during the Ralph Love Plein Air Festival will  be on display in the Temecula Civic Center, 41000 Main Street,  Saturday and Sunday.  

Muralists, pastel artists, and painters cover the black top of Main and Mercedes Streets at Town Square Park, with vibrant pastel paintings.  With asphalt as their canvas,  street painters have been painting Old Town Temecula's streets for 14 years.  Artists come from as far away as Arizona and Washington to participate in Old Town's Street Painting Festival. Over 140 artists painted 92 murals in 2013.

A unique aspect to Temecula's Street Painting Festival is the family and youth area provided. Here young artists and their parents can paint small two-foot-by-two-foot blocks using the very same pastels that the master painters use for their 10-foot by 12 foot murals. More than  1,800 squares will be made for participants. THIS IS FREE as is admission to all of the art activities.

"It will take most artists 24 hours to finish the largest murals," explained the event coordinator Melody Brunsting. "It's fun to watch their creations develop from a light sketch to a vivid painting. Yet, for the artist, it is a grueling endeavor on hands and knees," she added.

 Street Painting  applications are available at the City of Temecula as well as online at temeculacalifornia.com.  Street Painting begins at 5 p.m. Friday, June 20. Saturday and Sunday hours are 10 a.m.to 5 p.m. Most artists, however,  begin painting at 7 a.m. both days, with some painting into the night Saturday. All murals must be complete by 3 p.m. Sunday for judging.

All three artistic endeavors are part of the Temecula Art Festival. Artists will also display and sell fine art paintings, ceramics and jewelry during the Art Festival June 20-22 at the Temecula Civic Center.