Quick Paint – Paint Out for All

Online Pre-registration will open March 15, 2025

$15.00 Open Adult (18+)

FREE Youth Category (ages 10-17)

2025 Plein Air New Bern Quick Paint Event Agenda

The North Carolina Plein Air Art Festival is pleased to host its 2025 Quick Paint Event. The following rundown includes the event’s schedule, rules, eligibility requirements, and instructions for the display and sales. Please familiarize yourself with the guidelines.

Event Schedule
7:30 a.m. – Walk-up registration, check-in, and stamping at 421 S Front St in New Bern.
8:00 a.m. – Open and youth participants begin painting.
9:00 a.m. – Featured Artists start painting.
11:00 a.m. – Painting ends, and all participants head to the Farmers Market for the display and judging.
11:30 a.m. – Deadline for placing your easel at the Farmer’s Market Parking Lot for judging.
12:00 p.m. – Awards announcement, followed by the start of sales.
12:00-1:00 p.m. – Your paintings will be displayed on easels for public viewing and sales.
1:30 p.m. – All unsold artwork must be removed from the display space.

Eligibility Requirements and Rules
All painting and drawing mediums are permitted, but photography is not. Framing is optional, but it is recommended for the open adult categories. All entries must be labeled with your registration number and price, or the words “Not For Sale” if applicable.
After awards are announced, you can bring one additional piece that you painted during the event week to display on your easel for sale, in addition to your Quick Paint entry.

Sales
Plein Air New Bern staff will handle sales for the Adult Open and Featured Artists categories, which will include a 40% commission that supports the Plein Air New Bern organization. Cash sales for the Youth category may be direct between artists and buyer. Credit card purchases for the Youth category is available at cashier. There is no commission for Youth category.

Registration is required for both Adults and Youth. You may create multiple Adult tickets or Youth tickets, but Adults and Youths tickets must be entered separately

Our esteemed judge is Judith Cutler.

Judith Cutler is a visual artist known for her expressive work in soft pastels, acrylics, and mixed media. Her art explores both abstract and representational themes, often blurring the boundaries between the two.

Originally from western Pennsylvania, Judith now lives in eastern North Carolina. She holds a degree in Graphic Arts from Penn State University and spent 25 years as a designer for major companies including IBM, Holiday Inn Corporation, and Oakland University in Michigan. Early in her artistic journey, she studied under the influential painter Elaine de Kooning, whose teaching helped shape her intuitive and gestural approach. The influence of nature is a consistent presence in her thoughts and artworks.

Judith is a Signature Member (2003) and a Master Pastelist (2007) of the Pastel Society of America (PSA), New York City; a Master Circle Member (2009) of the International Association of Pastel Societies, and a Member of Excellence with the Southeastern Pastel Society, Atlanta. She is also a member of the Piedmont Pastel Society, Charlotte, and the Pastel Society of North Carolina, Raleigh. Her paintings have received numerous honors in regional and national exhibitions, including multiple awards in The Pastel Journal’s Pastel 100 competition and repeated awards into the PSA’s Annual International Juried Exhibition.

Her work has been exhibited in the Southeast and beyond. She was awarded a Regional Artist Project Grant by the Arts & Science Council in Charlotte, NC, and participated in the Windows Project at Charlotte’s Hearst Tower, curated by the McColl Center for Visual Art.
Judith is currently represented by Carolina Creations in New Bern, NC, and  the Ellen Moore Gallery in Cape Charles, VA, Her artwork is also featured in Abstract Painting: A Celebration of Contemporary Art and A Brief History of Artists in Eastern North Carolina.

At the heart of Judith’s paintings is a love of color, gestural lines, and experimentation.
Through her work, she invites viewers to connect with the emotion, movement, and the quiet presence of the natural world.

Artist’s Statement: Follow your own path. Be happy.

judithcutlerart.com