Competition and Festival of Outdoor Painting
on the North Shore of Lake Superior

Registration Opens: February 1, 2025
Competition Class Deadline: May 1, 2025

September 5-13, 2025
2025 Juror: Neil Sherman

Competition Exhibit Venue:
Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery
115 W. Wisconsin St
Grand Marais, MN 55604
Competition Week: September 5-13, 2025
Competition Exhibit: September 14 – October 5, 2025
PAGM Kickoff Painting Trip: Mid-August dates TBD
Get your PAGM Caps and Beanies here, embroidered on demand through Tee-Spring.
Plein Air Grand Marais is an annual tradition since 2008 bringing outdoor painters to the North Shore of Lake Superior for a week of painting, learning, competition, and camaraderie. Since 2018, the event has been organized by Outdoor Painters of Minnesota and hosted by the Cook County Historical Society's Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery.
Plein Air Grand Marais welcomes artists of all ages and abilities. Painters self-select their class of participation: The Competition Class consists of invitational and experienced painters who commit to display four paintings eligible for awards in an exhibit at Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery from the opening reception Friday through the first Sunday in October. Open Class artists may exhibit one painting created during the event at a Wednesday night exhibit and awards reception. A public art activity at Joy & Co. in downtown Grand Marais offers supervised plein air painting for children and adults and a clothesline art exhibit. A 90-minute Quick Paint competition on Thursday, daily paint-outs, and Artists Socials are open to all registered artists. Anyone in Grand Marais during Competition Week may register to attend PAGM Workshops with professional plein air Competition Artists and the Juror Workshop on the Saturday after the final reception.

Thank you to our community partners and sponsors!

The Cook County Historical Society operates Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery, which hosts the PAGM Competition Exhibit.
Joy & Co., which sells art materials and gifts from its store in downtown Grand Marais, donates gift certificates for Open Class Quick Paint awards, and supervises a public plein air painting activity in their alley during Competition Week.
Artist and graphic designer Kim Gordon designed the logo and print materials for our event.
Visit Cook County awarded a grant to the Cook County Historical Society to fund promotional materials for the event.
Wet Paint contributed gift cards for Artists' Choice and Honorable Mention awards and fine art materials from suppliers for Open Class awards.
Guerrilla Painter contributed a package of art materials for the Artists' Choice award in 2024. 
Picture
2024 Juror Brock Larson

Workshops

Every year, some of our professional plein air painting instructors competing in the event offer a 3-hour workshop during the week of competition. These popular paint-along workshop demos cost just $50 each and are open to painters of all ability levels, helping to make Grand Marais a destination-painting event for artists to learn from each other and get inspired. An individualized Juror Workshop with painting critiques is offered for $100 per person on the final Saturday of the event.
Picture
2024 Paint-Out at YMCA Camp Menogyn

Daily Paint-Outs

Plein Air Grand Marais is all about bringing people together to paint. Daily paint-outs are scheduled during Competition Week at Artists' Point, Grand Marais Campground, YMCA Camp Menogyn, various State Parks along the North Shore, Superior Hiking Trail, and a traditional nocturnal paint-out in downtown Grand Marais. 

Public Art Activities

Plein Air Grand Marais provides opportunities for community members and visitors to try outdoor painting. Berton Boxes are supervised by local sponsor Joy & Co. for anyone to stop by and create a painting for public display in a picket-fence outdoor "gallery." 

Artists' Socials

Plein Air Grand Marais is more than a painting competition: it is an opportunity for artists of all levels to socialize, learn, and make new connections. An opportunity for all artists to socialize together is scheduled every day of Competition Week.

Birney Quick Paint

On Thursday afternoon from 3:30-5:00pm, we have a quick paint competition in honor of Birney Quick, a pillar of Grand Marais's rich history of community arts. This exciting spectator sport attracts visitors to watch the timed all-weather event and was featured in an award winning documentary. Paintings are displayed on the rocks at East Bay near Artists Point and juried for awards immediately after the 90 minute event ends. ​The Birney Quick Paint is open to all registered PAGM artists.

Off-the-Easel Sale in Harbor Park

On Thursday at 11am before the Quick Paint, all registered artists may display and sell paintings created during the event and enjoy seeing each other's work. Competition paintings may be pre-sold and remain eligible for prizes if buyers wait to take home their paintings until the awards reception on Friday.

Hootenanny

It's a Thursday night tradition:  After the Quick Paint, we gather at 7-10pm at the harbor picnic shelter at the Grand Marais Municipal Campground to sing, play music along with our ad-hoc band "The Plain Errors," and celebrate the week's painting achievements.

Open Class Reception

The Open Class awards reception is held on Wednesday of Competition Week starting at 5:00pm. Open Class prizes include cash and in-kind contributions from our sponsors.