What Is Plein Air? And Why You Need to Spend the Day With Us This Saturday
More than 70 artists. One garden. A few hours to create something inspired by the living world around them.
This Saturday, September 26, Conservation Garden Park will become an open-air studio as more than 70 artists spread throughout the garden for the first Cycle of Life Plein Air Festival.
Some will bring paint. Others will bring pencils, pastels, mixed media, or even materials for sculpture. You'll find experienced artists working alongside people trying plein air for the first time.
And you don't have to make art at all to be part of it.
The festival is free and open to everyone from 10:00 AM–4:00 PM, and we're inviting you to pack a lunch, bring the family, explore the garden, meet the artists, make some art of your own, and spend the day with us.
First, What Is Plein Air?
En plein air is a French phrase meaning "in the open air."
In art, it describes the practice of creating outside, directly from the environment in front of you.
That distinction is part of what makes plein air so interesting.
An artist working from a photograph can return to the same image tomorrow. An artist working outdoors has to pay attention to a world that doesn't hold still.
The sun moves. Shadows change. Clouds roll through. A breeze catches the plants. Birds and pollinators come and go. People wander into the scene. Colors can look completely different an hour later.
The artist isn't simply reproducing a landscape. They're observing a particular place at a particular moment and deciding what about that experience belongs in their work.
That's what you'll get to watch happen Saturday.
Why Hold a Plein Air Festival at a Conservation Garden?
The connection between art and conservation was one of the reasons we wanted to create this festival in the first place.
Conservation often begins with something very simple: noticing.
So does art.
Slow down in Conservation Garden Park and there is an extraordinary amount happening around you. Water moves through the landscape. Plants grow, flower, produce seeds, decay, and return. Pollinators move from plant to plant. Habitats support insects, birds, and other wildlife. Seasons and weather continually reshape what we see.
Those processes inspired the festival's Cycle of Life theme.
Rather than simply telling people about the natural environment, we wanted to invite artists to spend time observing it and interpreting what they discover.
A tiny pollinator on a flower might become someone's subject. Another artist might be drawn to water, roots, changing leaves, habitat, or the relationship between cultivated landscapes and the environment around them.
Put 70 artists in the same garden, and you may get 70 completely different ways of seeing it.
You Don't Have to Be an Artist to Come
In fact, a big part of this festival was designed specifically for visitors.
When you arrive, grab a map and start exploring. Artists will be creating throughout Conservation Garden Park, so part of the experience is simply wandering the paths and discovering them.
Stop for a few minutes and watch someone work. Ask about their medium. See what part of the garden caught their attention.
Then keep exploring and come back later.
The blank surface you saw at 10:00 AM could look completely different by 2:00 PM.
With more than 70 artists participating, there will be plenty to discover.
And You Get to Vote
We're not asking visitors to stand quietly on the sidelines.
You'll actually help choose one of the festival's awards.
Spectators will receive 15 voting tokens to distribute among the artists whose work catches their attention. Give several to one artist or spread them around as you explore.
Those votes will determine the festival's People's Choice Award.
Our judges will also be exploring the garden throughout the day, looking at artists' connection to place, interpretation of the Cycle of Life theme, water awareness, local plants and habitat, and artistic design and craft.
At 2:30 PM, the newly created artwork comes together for judging and display. Awards begin at 3:30 PM.
Bring the Kids. They Get to Create, Too.
We want kids to experience the connection between creativity and the environment rather than simply hear adults talk about it.
Our kids' area will have volunteers and art supplies ready for young visitors to contribute to a collaborative river inspired by the Cycle of Life.
They can also sit down at an easel and try plein air creation for themselves. We'll even have ribbons for kids who give it a try.
Families can also pick up Scavenger Hunt Bingo and explore the garden looking for plants, wildlife, artwork, and other discoveries.
No art experience required. No admission fee. Just come ready to explore.
Pack a Lunch and Stay Awhile
This isn't an event where you need to arrive at exactly 10:00, walk through a row of booths, and leave 30 minutes later.
In fact, we'd rather you didn't.
Pack a lunch. Bring a friend. Bring the kids. Find a place to sit and enjoy the garden.
Watch artists begin their work in the morning. Explore Conservation Garden Park. Visit our activities and community partners. Vote for your favorites. Then see everything come together for the afternoon display and awards.
The festival is about the process of creating just as much as the finished artwork.
One Day. One Garden. However You See It.
This is our first Cycle of Life Plein Air Festival, and that's part of what makes Saturday exciting.
We're bringing together people who care about art, water, plants, conservation, creativity, families, and community and giving everyone permission to experience the same place a little differently.
Come make something.
Come watch someone else make something.
Let your kids get paint on their hands. Hunt through the garden. Talk to an artist. Notice a plant you've walked past three times. Cast your votes. Stay for the awards.
Mostly, just spend the day with us.
Cycle of Life Plein Air Festival
Saturday, September 26, 2026 | 10:00 AM–4:00 PM
Conservation Garden Park
8275 S 1300 W, West Jordan, UT 84088
Free admission | Free artist registration
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