Call Description

Our inaugural Paint Livingston event last year was a big success. We’re working hard to make this year’s event even better. We’ve incorporated input from participating artists and patrons, and we’ve tried to adopt more best practices from other plein air competitions and art sales around the country.

Our goal is to have 30 participating artists. 

The 2025 Paint Livingston jurors are:

1.     Jane Chapin in Wyoming: janechapin.com

2.     Katie Dobson Cundiff in Sarasota, FL: dobsonart.com

3.     Bill Fletcher in Lexington, KY: BillFletcherStudio.com

Jurors are not to be contacted by artists applying to the competition, for any reason related to the competition. Any and all questions about the jury process should be directed to OCAC via email at info@overtoncountyarts.org.

Total prize money:     $5,000

Prizes for main plein air competition:

First National Bank First Place Prize:              $1,350

Second place:                                                   $900

Third place:                                                       $500

Honorable Mention:                                          $250

Prizes for Quick Paint competition:

First National Bank First Place Prize:               $850

Second place:                                                   $600

Third place:                                                       $400

Honorable Mention:                                          $150

About Livingston, Tennessee:

Livingston, TN is a small town (population 4,000) located in north central Tennessee and is known for its friendly people, picturesque town square and surrounding natural beauty, including bucolic farms, verdant rolling hills, Dale Hollow Lake and historic Standing Stone State Park. Driving times to Livingston from nearby larger cities are as follows:

·      Nashville, TN: 1 hour and 30 minutes

·      Chattanooga, TN: 2 hours

·      Knoxville, TN: 1 hour and 45 minutes

·      Lexington, KY: 3 hours

·      Louisville, KY: 3 hours

·      Bowling Green, KY: 2 hours

·      Huntsville, AL: 3 hours

·      Atlanta, GA: 3 hours and 45 minutes

·      Asheville, NC: 3 hours and 45 minutes

Paint Livingston is presented by the Overton County Arts Council (OCAC). Founded in 2024, the OCAC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Our mission is to cultivate and promote the visual arts for all residents and visitors of Overton County, TN. We are especially focused on improving art education and art awareness for K-12 students in the county. We offer events, classes and exhibitions focused on the visual arts, and more. To learn more about OCAC, visit us online at OvertonCountyArts.org.

2025 Paint Livingston Judge: Pamela B. Padgett

Pamela Padgett is an accomplished artist whose work has been juried into both the Oil Painters of America (OPA) and the American Impressionist Society (AIS) national exhibitions. She has Signature status in the American Impressionist Society. Memberships include Plein Air Painters of the Southeast and The Chestnut Group.

She has won several regional and national awards for her work. Pamela works with a painterly approach to traditional themes including landscape, still life and figures. Her paintings are represented in collections across the country.

Pam was born in Charleston, West Virginia and now resides in Franklin, Tennessee. She lives in Williamson County, which is a strong artist community that includes painters, musicians, and songwriters. Her studio is at OnTrack Studios, a beautiful teaching and creative space on two landscaped acres in the countryside and is the studio home to five other very talented painters. Pam conducts workshops at OnTrack Studios and out of town. Learn more and see her work at www.pampadgett.com.

Education: The Art Institute of Pittsburg, PA with a degree in visual arts.

Extended Education — Studied with national/internationally recognized artists including Michael Shane Neal, Dawn Whitelaw, Ken Auster, Peggy Kroll Roberts, Matt Smith, Don Stone, Scott Christensen, Carolyn Anderson, and many others.

Philosophy: “Simply, I love to paint! I believe painting from life is a key to understanding the subtle changes of value in light and shadow play. Painter friends are the most generous people I know. I feel incredibly fortunate to have made this journey of finding my voice as an artist. Teaching is also an important factor in my development as a painter. I enjoy helping others find their way through painting.”

Housing:

If you are an artist interested in being hosted by a Livingston-area resident during the competition, we will work hard to match you with one of our generous host families. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to make host family accommodations for all artists who request it, but we will do so to the best of our ability.

If you would like for us to try to find a host family for you, please email us at info@overtoncountyarts.org shortly after submitting your application. We will get additional information from you and try to find a suitable host. Upon matching an artist and an accommodation, we will provide the artist the contact information for the person providing the accommodations for the artist to coordinate with directly. 

In addition, some limited discounted Airbnb accommodations may be available to participating artists on a first-come, first served basis. Discounts TBD and will be specific to each property. Standing Stone State Park, just twenty minutes from downtown Livingston, may have cabins available to rent. Learn more at tnstateparks.com/parks/standing-stone. There may also be some cabins, RV sites and campsites available at Deep Valley Campground in nearby Allons, TN, also just twenty minutes from downtown. Learn more at deepvalleycampground.com. Waterwheel RV Camp is in Livingston as well. Learn more at waterwheelrvcamp.com.

In addition to all the lodging available in Overton County, there are good hotels and many more AirBnB properties in nearby Cookeville, TN, too. For more information about and assistance with lodging, contact us at info@overtoncountyarts.org.

Food & Beverage:

Artists are invited to eat and drink at all OCAC sponsored receptions and dinners for free, provided that RSVPs are made by Tuesday, September 16. OCAC will provide a free lunch to all artists on Saturday, October 4, immediately following the Quick Paint competition at the Joe L. Evins Community Center. Other efforts will be made to ensure that all artists are provided with coffee, water and snacks throughout the event.

Event Schedule:

Wednesday, Oct 1:      

12-4:30pm: Artist welcome & check-in at the Livingston-Overton County Chamber of Commerce, located at 222 East Main Street, Livingston, TN 38570.

5:00pm: Artist informational meeting at The Clark House, located at 1010 North Oak Street, Livingston, TN 38570

6:00-8:30pm: Reception and dinner at The Clark House. Meet & greet with OCAC patrons and members. Artists are encouraged to attend and must RSVP by Sept 16.

Thursday, Oct 2:          

7-9am: Coffee, bottled water and to-go snacks available for artists at the Chamber.

All day: Painting throughout Overton County and at Dale Hollow lake.

Friday, Oct 3:  

7-9am: Coffee, bottled water and to-go snacks available for artists at the Chamber

All day: Painting throughout Overton County and at Dale Hollow lake.

1:00-4:00pm:  Turn in one painting for Patron & Member Preview Reception & Art Sale at Bishop Studio, located at 106 East Broad Street, Livingston, TN 38570.

6:30-8:30pm: Patron & Member Preview Reception & Art Sale at Bishop Studio. Meet & greet with OCAC patrons and members. Appetizers and beverages provided. Artists are encouraged to attend and must RSVP by Sept 16.

Saturday, Oct 4:          

7:00-9:00am: Coffee, bottled water and to-go snacks available for artists at the Joe L. Evins Community Center, located at 312 West Broad Street, Livingston, TN 38570.

7:00-9:00am:   Framed main competition art turned in by artists at Community Center. Art hung by event staff. Painting surfaces date stamped for Quick Paint competition.

9:30-11:30am: Quick Paint competition on or near courthouse square.

12-1:30pm: Lunch provided for artists at Joe L. Evins Community Center.

2:00-2:30pm:   Main competition and Quick Draw winners announced at Joe L. Evins Community Center.

1:00-4pm: Public exhibition and art sale for competition paintings and Quick Paint paintings at Joe L. Evins Community Center.

4pm: All sales completed. Artists pick up unsold works. Settlements made within 15 business days.     

For more information, please visit PaintLivingston.com or contact Overton County Arts at info@overtoncountyarts.org

Application Requirements

This year’s competition will be juried. To be considered for our competition, artists must submit an application, a non-refundable $40 application fee, and three paintings for our three-person jury to evaluate.

Applications and artwork must be submitted online at PaintLivingston.com. At this site, you will find a link to our Call for Entries listing on the CallforEntry.org platform. This is the only way to submit applications and artwork for consideration. Artists can set up an account at CallforEntry.org for free. It’s quick and easy. Detailed application instructions and answers to FAQs can be found on this website. If you have additional questions after visiting this site, please email us at info@overtoncountyarts.org.

The key milestones and dates in the participating artist selection process are:

1.     Artist can submit online applications starting on Monday, July 7.

2.     The artist application deadline is 11pm (Central Time) on Monday, August 18.

3.     The jury will start evaluating applications on Tuesday, August 19.

4.     The jury will present evaluation scores to event organizer (OCAC) on Wed, Sept 3.

5.     OCAC will select participating artists and alternates on Saturday, Sept 6.

6.     All artists will be notified of their standing in the competition on Sunday, Sept 7.

7.     Artists must confirm participation by Wednesday, Sept 10.

8.     Final field of artists set and confirmed by OCAC on Friday, September 12.

9.     Participating artists must RSVP for Opening Night Dinner (Wed, 10/1) and Patrons Preview Reception & Sale (Fri, 10/3) by Tuesday, September 16. (These events are free for participating artists. RSVPs are required for planning purposes.)

Eligibility Criteria

The competition is open to all professional, semi-professional and amateur plein air artists who reside in the United States. 

We hope and expect to have several participating artists from the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee. To help maintain the local flavor of our event,  OCAC will add one “proximity point” to the overall evaluation score for artists who reside in any of the following counties in the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee: Cannon, Clay, Cumberland, DeKalb, Fentress, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Smith, Van Buren, Warren, and White.

All six artists who won or placed in last year’s contest have already been invited to participate again this year. All other artists who wish to participate must go through the online application and jury process.

The competition is open to all plein air artists based in the U.S. We expect to have both experienced, working artists who have participated in other plein air competitions as well as amateur artists who have not yet done so.

Paintings in acrylic, oil, watercolor, pastel, and gouache will be accepted. We expect to have approximately 30 participating artists this year. Painting surfaces will be date stamped at the beginning of the overall competition and for the separate Quick Paint event on Saturday morning to ensure compliance with competition rules.

Name badge / lanyard should be worn by all participating artists while painting and during festival events.

Artists will be free to paint in any area in Overton County and any Dale Hollow Lake location that is accessible and open to the public. Artists are expected to use good judgement, respect private property and obtain landowner permission when painting on private property. Last year, popular locations included the historic courthouse square in downtown Livingston, nearby neighborhoods, The Clark House restaurant and event center, Standing Stone State Park, and Dale Hollow Lake, all within a 30-minute drive of downtown. Organizers will be happy to suggest painting locations upon request. Inclement weather plans will ensure that the event proceeds regardless of the weather.

Artwork will be limited to any size up to 20” x 20” and must be created in the field during the event. There is no minimum required size. Each participating artist must submit at least one painting and no more than three paintings for the competition and exhibition on Saturday, Oct 4. OCAC reserves the right to decline artworks that do not fall within the defined scope of this competition or are deemed inappropriate. Entries that do not adhere to all guidelines will not be judged. 

Participating artists will be required to submit one painting on Friday afternoon, Oct 3, between 1-4pm, for the Patron’s & Members Reception & Preview Sale to be held Friday evening, Oct 3 at Bishop Studio located at 106 East Broad Street, Livingston, TN 38570. (This submitted painting will be counted as one of the maximum number of three paintings that can be submitted for the Paint Livingston main competition.) At this event, artists will meet and mingle with OCAC patrons and members and have the opportunity to sell their work. All work exhibited Friday evening at Bishop Studio will be moved by event staff Saturday morning to the main exhibition and sale venue, which is the Joe L. Evins Community Center located at 312 West Broad Street, Livingston, TN 38570.

The deadline to turn in remaining competition paintings, framed and ready to hang for the Saturday afternoon exhibition, is 9am Saturday, Oct 5 at the exhibition venue downtown, which is the Joe L. Evins Community Center located at 312 West Broad Street, Livingston, TN 38570. Artists provide their own museum quality frames and must be prepared for wet paint installation. Artwork must be delivered for exhibition Sat morning up until 9am with proper labels, tags, etc. provided by OCAC during the artist check-in process at the start of the event. Event staff will be available to answer any questions about all this before the event starts via email at info@overtoncountyarts.org or during the event in person.

All art will be on display to the public and presented for sale from approximately 1:00pm-4pm Saturday, Oct 4.

The OCAC reserves the right to use photographs of all submitted paintings and all participating artists in its own marketing and public relations efforts.

Participating artists are encouraged to attend the Opening Reception & Dinner with OCAC members and patrons on Wednesday, Oct 1 from 5pm-8:30pm, the Friday evening Reception & Dinner with OCAC members and patrons from 6:00pm-8:30pm and the Award Ceremony on Saturday, Oct 5 from 2:00pm-2:30pm at the Joe L. Evins Community Center. Receptions and dinner are complimentary for participating artists; plus ones are welcome at cost. All artists must RSVP for the Oct 1 dinner and the Oct 3 reception for themselves and their plus one (if any) by Tuesday, September 16.

The OCAC will receive 30% of all sales of artwork transacted during the event. Transactions will be handled by OCAC staff and disbursements of funds will be made to all artists as within 15 business days via check or common electronic transaction apps like Square, Venmo, etc. Any unsold paintings in the event exhibition must be picked up Saturday afternoon by 4pm. The OCAC is a 501(c)3, tax-exempt nonprofit corporation. Selling artists and buying customers should check with their own professional advisors to determine if, and how much of, their 30% commission on transactions may be considered tax-deductible contributions to the OCAC.

It is recommended that artists price their work in the range of $350-$1,500. All transactions must be handled by event staff.

Quick Paint Competition:

There will be a separate Quick Paint Competition on Saturday, Oct 4, from 9:30am-11:30am. All artists who are part of the main competition are expected to compete in the Quick Paint competition. The Quick Paint event will be held on or within easy walking distance of the downtown courthouse square.

Together, artists and spectators will be immersed in the creative process during this Quick Paint event. At 11:30am, artists should take their paintings to the Joe L. Evins Community Center located at 312 West Broad Street, Livingston, TN 38570. Event volunteers will help intake, record and display all Quick Paint work. The work will be judged and then offered for sale to the general public. Quick Paint awards will be announced at this location at approximately 2:00pm, along with the awards for the main Paint Livingston competition.