Buffalo Paint Out at Owensboro Museum of Fine Art

 Buffalo Paint Out at Owensboro Museum of Fine Art

1,500 invitations have been mailed to artists in Kentucky and surrounding states to enter the 12th Annual Buffalo Festival and Paintout, an en plein air event, to be presented September 23 to 25 at the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art.

            The 2020 Festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and will resume this year observing all of the precautions required for public gatherings by government health officials.

            The three day event will be highlighted by an exhibition where more than $3,000 in Merit and Purchase Awards will be presented for winning entries. The annual festival is presented by co-sponsors Swedish Match and Atmos Energy.

            Artists may enter the Buffalo Paintout by completing the registration form found on the museum’s website www.omfa.us or by calling 270-685-3181.  Registration fee is $20 prior to September 15 and $35 after that date.

            The Buffalo theme for the Festival and Paintout was inspired by the two heroic sized bronzes installed in the art museum’s Ryan Sculpture Park on Frederica Street between 9th and 10th Streets 

            The bronzes were commissioned by the museum to create the Bronze Buffalo Trace designed to commemorate the origins of Owensboro.  Present day Frederica Street began as a buffalo trace through which settlers made their way to the banks of the Ohio River to establish the settlement which ultimately became Owensboro.

            The bronze buffalo sculpture “Into the Wind” and “Meadowlands Pair,” were gifts to the museum and the community from Mary Lou Steele and her late husband, Robert Steele, and former Mayor Ron Payne and his wife Denise.  The bronzes were created by the noted American wildlife sculptor T. D. Kelsey of Texas.

            The Owensboro Museum of Fine Art is open Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5:00 p.m. and weekends 1 to 4 p.m.  Admission is free but donations are encouraged of $3.00 for adults for $2.00 for children.

For more information, phone 270-685-3181 or visit the museum's website omfa.us or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.