Darice Machel McGuire will teach a free Youth Outdoor Paint Out workshop for 60 Maui students.

LAHAINA – When 24 top-tier landscape artists hit West Maui Feb.16-24 for the Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational, Maui Arts League offers more than art shows. Two oil painting clinics limited to 12 participants each give beginner to advanced local artists a level of instruction often limited to Mainland art schools. Preceding the kick-off paint out at Lahaina Harbor, artist Suzy Baker from Texas will teach, demo and coach artists on color, among other topics.

“All artists study color theory, but in my workshop, they learn how to apply that knowledge to the canvas,” said Baker.

A Feb. 24-27 workshop will be led by artist Josh Clare. “Capturing the big sky and sweeping seascape perspectives in Maui is difficult. Students will learn my sure-fire method for accurately composing large vista paintings,” said Clare.

Workshop tuition is $400 plus tax. Attendees provide their own materials. Maui Arts League offers free tuition for the first two high school art students who apply online.

On Sunday, Feb. 17, Lahaina Poster Contest winner Darice Machel McGuire will teach a free Youth Outdoor Paint Out workshop for 60 Maui students in grades 3-12, with prizes in three divisions and paintings exhibited at the Pioneer Inn. Honu and Frida’s restaurants sponsor this event.

McGuire said, “Planning ahead and mastery are core training for children. Art teaches them to plan their paintings and own the outcomes of their work. Art also requires practice to accurately create what we see in nature or in our heads, and a child’s progress is his reward. Best of all, the ratios and symmetry of nature children learn through art are the basis all mathematics. Art is a lot more than pretty pictures.” Parents may register their budding artists online at CelebrateArtOnMaui.org.

Monday evening, Feb. 18, from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Pioneer Inn, Jean Stern, renowned museum curator and associate director of the Irvine Museum Collection and Institute of California Art at UC Irvine, will present a free college-level art lecture for the public. “Painting Everyday Life: The historical development of genre painting” also features a silent auction of mini paintings by each of the Maui Plein Air 2019 artists, showcasing their styles and genres.

Three “Paint Out” events, where all 24 award-winning artists paint one location of West Maui, allowing spectators to see many styles and stages of painting, from sketching the scene to laying in the last highlights – all in under four hours! These free, family-friendly events are hosted by Pioneer Inn (Lahaina Harbor) Montage Kapalua Bay and the Royal Lahaina Resort (Kaanapali Beach).

Public art education continues Feb. 23-24 at the Award Exhibition and Art Sale, with two public panel discussions. Saturday afternoon, professional artists will tell how they pursued fine art and developed to a level where they could “give up their day jobs.” On Sunday, a panel of Maui residents and art experts will discuss Maui Arts League’s mission to build a fine arts museum in Lahaina.

Lois Reiswig, the nonprofit’s president, said, “We recently announced two cash scholarships – a program for graduating high school seniors pursuing higher education in fine arts. The generosity and commitment of our sponsors, donors and collectors allow us to pursue our community art education goals and to begin building reserves for the museum. In our commercial art Mecca of Lahaina, a museum brings art into the lives of all our residents. We will be serving the whole community and generations of artists, art lovers and children to come.”

For full event details, visit CelebrateArtonMaui.org. Passes to collectors parties and tickets for the “Art to Heart” Awards Gala are available online for purchase.