2025 Award Winners

COMPETITION EXHIBIT AT JHP

9/12/2025
Best Body of Work: Logan Hudson
Artists' Choice – Body of Work: Tie between James Turner and Brock Larson
Paintings of Exceptional Merit (POEM):
  • Nocturne: Kelly Schamberger, "S'mores at 7:30," oil
  • Carl Bretzke, "Gray Day at Artists' Point," oil
  • Brock Larson, "September Field," oil
  • Cheryl LeClair-Sommer, "Rock Bottom," oil
  • Dan Mackerman, "The Fog of Sydneys," oil
  • Bob Upton, "Morning Rest," Gouache
  • Paul Bergquist, "Cascade River," oil
Best Historic Site awarded by Cook County Historical Society: Ken Valentas, "Cook County History Museum," watercolor
Evergreen Award for Best Tree: Lisa Stauffer, "Reaching Pine," pastel
Honorable Mentions:
  • ​Bridget Ertelt, "As the Fog Rolls In, oil
  • Andrew Carr, "Seagulls in the Parking Lot," oil
  • Joanne Meierhofer, "Highway 61 Revisited," pastel
  • David R. Becker, "North House Folk School Food Kitchen," watercolor
  • Nelia Harper French, "Hidden Falls," oil

BIRNEY QUICK PAINT

9/11/2025
First Place: Logan Hudson
Paintings of Exceptional Merit (POEM):
  • Carl Bretzke
  • Jean Larson
  • Steve Puttrich
2025 Quick Paint photos:

​OPEN CLASS

9/10/2025
Best in Show: Jean Rehkamp Larson, "Fading Summer," watercolor
Paintings of Exception Merit (POEM):
  • Megan Miller, "Breaking Through," oil
  • Jasmin Strevel, "Remembering Grandpa Dean," oil
  • Stephanie Hansen, "Morning at Artists Point," oil
Honorable Mentions:
  • Susan Hayden, "Slipping Into the Past," watercolor
  • John Mix, "Legacy Along the Cascade," oil
  • Paul Oman, "Boats at Bay, Grand Marais," watercolor

2025 ​Award Categories and Prizes

Plein Air Grand Marais is a community-supported, artist-organized event focused on camaraderie, education, and opportunity for artists to learn from each other and enjoy painting together. We offer cash and in-kind prizes for the Competition Class, Open Class and Quick Paint. Our 2025 Juror is Neil Sherman.

Open Class

The Open Class is open to anyone and is recommended for painters who wish to spend time taking Workshops or who don't want to commit to finish and frame 4-6 paintings for the JHP Exhibit. Open Class participants may display one original painting at the Open Class reception on Wednesday of Competition Week, display and sell their paintings at the Off-the-Easel Sale on Thursday, and compete in the Quick Paint. A Best in Show award ($400) and three "POEM" awards ($250) for paintings of exceptional merit will be given.

Birney Quick Paint

The Birney Quick Paint is held on Thursday afternoon of Competition Week. It is a timed 90-minute spectator sport that involves artists and visitors alike in the drama and pressure of painting scenes around Artists Point amid constantly changing light and weather conditions.  Check out this 2013 award-winning documentary short about the 2012 Quick Paint at Plein Air Grand Marais, which continues to inspire appreciation of timed plein air competitions.

The Birney Quick Paint is open to all registered artists. The Birney Quick Paint commemorates renowned Minnesota artist Birney Quick (1912-1981), who co-founded the Grand Marais Art Colony in 1947 and was a seminal force in making Grand Marais a premier arts destination. 

Competition Class Exhibit at JHP

The Competition Class Exhibit at Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery is limited by wall space to 60 painters who commit to create 4-6 paintings for display in JHP from September 12 to October 5, 2025. Four Competition paintings may be eligible for awards, and an additional two Reserve paintings may be submitted to hang for sale as Competition paintings are sold.
Grand Prize for Best Body of Work:  $1,000 + opportunity for solo show at Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery

Paintings of Exceptional Merit (POEMs): $500 awards of excellence for top paintings in any medium, including our popular Night Paint category. 

CCHS Cash Award

  • $300 for Best Historic Site (selected by Cook County Historical Society) awarded for painting of a site in the Cook County Historical Alliance
  • Site List and criteria
  • Passport to the Past GIS Map

Artists' Choice: $500. Registered artists vote using paper ballots for an artist based on their entire body of work at the final reception.
​
Note: Cash amounts and in-kind prizes are subject to change. The Juror may not give more than one award per artist in each event. The award for Best Historic Site is independently awarded by a committee from CCHS, and the Artists' Choice is awarded by vote of all registered artists at the final reception.