Annual Paint Out Day (June 12), taking place at Folger’s Marsh, is perhaps one of the largest events, during which three free buses take artists and the public from town to the Shipwreck Museum near the location. Quick Paint Day at two currently unannounced locations follows. “It’s become a tradition where you get to see all your fellow artists out painting on location, and it’s really fun to catch up with everyone and see what they’re doing and feed off of one another’s ideas and interpretations,” explains Illya Kagan, who is a full-time Nantucket resident, plein air painter and AAN member since 1989.

According to Kagan, the idea of plein air painting really circles around capturing the chosen landscape in time. “You may be idealizing the space, but you’re still trying to capture the essence of where you are and what you’re feeling at the time that you’re there,” he says. Overall, plein air paintings provide the island with a history of that location and how it has changed. Weeks adds, “We’re capturing the island as it changes and we’re looking now at a 100-year history where we can really go back and see how much the island has evolved through the eyes of artists.” According to Frazier, participants tend to complete anywhere from three to five works, if not more, during the festival, all of which are hung on the wet wall at the Big Gallery and are available for purchase. Sixty-five percent of the proceeds go to the artist, while the rest is given to the AAN. On the final day of the festival, a closing reception takes place, during which the Frank Swift Chase Awards are announced. Frazier concludes, “[The festival] spreads the word that we’re a strong arts community here. We are a colony—one of the few art colonies with a long tenure.”