Open-air painting can be one of the most challenging, and beautiful, forms of the art. And later this month you'll have the opportunity to watch painters in action as they work to capture the fall at Rocky Mountain National Park.

The Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters, in partnership with Rocky Mountain National Park and the Rocky Mountain Conservancy, will hold a series of events to celebrate the national park’s centennial anniversary and commemorate the important role that artists played in the park’s early years.

The special paint-out event, art show and sale will take place September 17-28 in the park. The RMPAP event series is part of the RMNP year-long centennial celebration from Sept. 3, 2014, to Sept. 5, 2015.

The "plein air paint out" brings 24 nationally-recognized professional artists from around the country to Rocky Mountain. Participating artists will paint for one week in the park and the Estes Park area beginning September 17. 

The works created during the week will be put on display at the park's Fall River Visitor Center at noon on Thursday, September 25. A Gala Reception will be held at 6 p.m. that evening. The art show will run through Sunday, September 28 at 3 p.m. The paintings will be judged by the Awards Judge Derek Fortini, Manager and Curator of Exhibits at the Estes Park Museum.

At the turn of the century, artists were instrumental in creating passionate interest for our national parks. Their exhibits of the majestic peaks and sublime vistas that became RMNP were strong persuasion for its founding and preservation.

 "Artists such as Charles Partridge Adams and Richard Tallant were prolific in capturing the landscape of Rocky Mountain National Park with their paints,” explains Fortini, “which in turn promoted the park throughout the nation via their numerous art patrons."

A Quick Draw, where artists have a limited time to create a new painting, will be held at Moraine Park Discovery Center in the national park at 9 a.m. on Saturday, September 27. The public can watch event artists create paintings from start to finish, and may interact with the artists as they work. At 11 a.m., artists will frame their new paintings and put them on display at the Moraine Park Discovery Center for a one-hour “off-the-easel” fixed-price sale from 11 a.m. to noon.

Arts in the Parks Programs will be held on Thursday, September 25, Friday, September 26, and Sunday, September 28, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.at the Fall River Visitor Center. The public is invited to join a park ranger to discover how artists have used paintings, photos, and prose to capture nature’s beauty and inspire the creation of our national parks. Following the 30-minute ranger talk, an RMPAP event artist will offer a painting demonstration.

On Friday, September 26 from 9 a.m. to noon, RMPAP will host the Historic Stanley Hotel Paint Out. Event artists will gather at the historic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park to perform a group plein air painting demonstration.

All event activities are free and open to the public. A complete and detailed schedule of events can be found at this site.

The plein air events benefit the Rocky Mountain Conservancy, which will receive 39 percent of the proceeds from the sale of works at the show. Each painting sold during the RMPAP events will include a RMNP Centennial Commemorative Certificate signed by park Superintendent Vaughn Baker, recognizing each painting as a piece of the national park’s centennial history. The commemorative paintings will only be available from noon on Thursday, September 25, through Sunday, September, 28 at 3 p.m. Buyers will be able to take their paintings with them at time of purchase.