Grove City's Gardens at Gantz Farm hosts Central Ohio Plein Air arts gathering

The Gardens at Gantz Farm is one of the crown jewels of Grove City's collection of parks.

The three gardens in Gantz Park offer a bucolic setting tailor-made for a subject of a landscape painting.

More than a dozen members of Central Ohio Plein Air partnered with Gardens at Gantz Farm volunteers June 25 for an afternoon of art in the park.

COPA artists were stationed throughout the park, at 2255 Home Road, during the afternoon and early evening hours, creating works of art from start to finish in the "open air."

"En plein air" is a French expression that means "in the open air," said Justin Collamore, an Upper Arlington artist who was among the COPA members spending the day at his easel in the park.

"It's all about working on your painting in the outdoors in the natural setting," he said.

The goal of plein-air painting is to capture the natural light, color and movement as it exists in the moment, Collamore said.

"You're working as fast as you can," he said. "The painting you come up with will be different if you start painting at 1 p.m. than it would be if you started at 9 a.m. because the light, the shadows, the cloud cover is all going to be different."

Plein-air art is perfect "if you love being outdoors and enjoy nature," Collamore said.

COPA members hold painting events at outdoor locations throughout central Ohio on most Saturdays.

The goal is to share their love of art and the outdoors with the community, said COPA member Rod Hayslip, who lives in Delaware County.

"Hopefully, we're encouraging others to follow their interest in art and get involved in creating their own artwork," he said.

Hayslip said he creates a lot of his paintings in a studio but enjoys the change of pace that painting outdoors brings.

"It varies your regimen and the techniques you use painting in plein air impacts the work you do in the studio," he said.

Westerville artist Don Reither said he likes the spontaneity of plein-air painting.

"Sometimes when you're in the studio, you're spending too much time working over every aspect of the painting," he said. "You keep trying to improve the painting when sometimes maybe it would have been best to just leave it alone."

Open-air painting isn't "quite as  intense" as working in the studio, Reither said. "It's less 'uptight.'"

Upcoming COPA Saturday events will include sessions July 9 at Batelle Darby Creek Metro Park, 1775 Darby Creek Drive, Galloway; July 16, Blendon Woods Metro Park, 4265 E. Dublin-Granville Road, Columbus; and July 23 at Smeck Park, 7395 Basil Road, Baltimore.

About 150 artists from Delaware, Franklin, Licking, Madison and Union counties are part of COPA, Hayslip said.

"There is a lot of camaraderie, which is another benefit from being involved in plein air," Collamore said.

The artists critique each other's work, sharing their ideas and perspectives, he said.

"You're able to get your work looked at with a fresh set of eyes," Hayslip said. "It really helps all of us improve our technique and our work."

Gantz Park was a picture-perfect setting for a COPA Saturday session, Collamore said.

"One of the things you're looking for is a place that has a lot of different subjects that are worthy of capturing in a painting," he said. "That's what the Gardens at Gantz offer. You aren't getting a lot of the same paintings. Everyone can pick a feature in the park that captures their attention."

The July 25 event is to include garden tours offered by Gardens at Gantz Farm volunteers and a live music performance by the Long Street Quartet, a group of high school jazz musicians.

"We've been interested in doing an art-related event at the Gardens for a while now," said Gardens at Gantz Farm volunteer board president Mary McMunn. "It fits in with the overall mission we to offer the Gardens as a recreational and educational resource for the community."

The group is looking to create the art happening as an annual event to honor Alice Sweeley, longtime Gardens at Gantz Farm volunteer who died earlier this year, McMunn said.

"This type of event was something Alice really wanted to see happen, especially as something that could benefit the children in our community," McMunn said.

More information about COPA, including an updated calendar of events, is available at pleinair-art.com.

More information about the Gardens at Gantz Farm is available at tinyurl.com/yeyr763x.

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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Grove City's Gardens at Gantz Farm hosts Central Ohio Plein Air gathering