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Plein Air Magic in Cashiers

Watch 20 artists capture the ever‑changing beauty of the Blue Ridge as the Cashiers Plein Air Festival returns July 13–18 to The Village Green.

Issue: June 2026

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Warm, sun-drenched summer had settled in outside. The fragrance of jasmine and gardenia mingled into a refreshing sweetness that would feel perfectly at home in Guerlain’s Aqua Allegoria collection. The sun played hide-and-seek, slipping behind slowly drifting clouds only to emerge again moments later.

Nature’s constant shifting leaves no room for boredom. The same landscape is never quite the same. A gentle gust of wind – and the trees transform; a hawk gliding overhead – and the entire scene rearranges itself. Different light, different color contrast, a different sky and suddenly, an entirely new impression.

The French masters of the late nineteenth century forever cemented the value of plein air painting in the public consciousness. After all, it allows the artist not merely to depict an object, but to capture a moment.

That tradition of painting outdoors and translating nature’s emotion onto canvas has taken root in Cashiers as well. Every two years, The Village Green hosts the Cashiers Plein Air Festival – a celebration that brings together nationally and internationally acclaimed artists to create mountain landscapes in the open air.

From July 13-18, 20 talented artists will preserve the fleeting beauty of a Cashiers summer on their canvases. Throughout the week, the festival will also welcome the public to a series of artist demonstrations held outdoors on the Commons Stage, the Groovin’ on The Green stage, at Lewis Hall. The demonstrations will feature Lila McAlpin on Monday from 11:00 A.M. to noon, Steve Puttrich on Wednesday from 11:00 A.M. to noon, Michelle Held on Thursday from 11:00 A.M. to noon, Greg Barnes on Thursday from 2:00 to 3:00 P.M., and Sarah Sneeden on Friday from 11:00 A.M. to noon.

For viewers, there will be the rare pleasure of experiencing these fresh-off-the-easel works at Lewis Hall at The Village Green. A beloved fragment of summer, captured on canvas, will be available to purchase and keep – as a reminder of a mesmerizing moment that will never repeat itself in quite the same way again.

Admission to the Cashiers Plein Air Festival Gallery will be free and open to the public July 16-18 from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. at Lewis Hall, 160 Frank Allen Road, where all remaining events will take place inside Lewis Hall.

The week’s celebrations will include a private benefactor preview reception on Wednesday, July 15, from 5:30 to 8:00 P.M. The public can also enjoy the Artists’ Quick Paint on The Green on Saturday, July 18, from 11:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M., followed that evening by the Artist Award Ceremony from 5:00 to 8:00 P.M.

All proceeds will support The Village Green, the nonprofit organization that preserves and stewards the public green space known as “The Heart of Cashiers,” while continuing to provide free events and cultural programming for residents and visitors throughout the year.