OGUNQUIT, Maine — Picturesque Perkins Cove has long been popular with summertime artists. Painters from southern New England began setting up their easels and teaching brushwork-and-canvas classes more than 100 years ago, in the late 19th century.
In the 20th century, thousands of artists have flocked to the hamlet during the warmer months, depicting every inch of its rocky shoreline, shingled cottages and well-trod, seaside Marginal Way footpath running into town.
But then, in the first decades of the 21st century, as tourist accommodations grew and parking became more scarce, the outdoor painters thinned out.
By the time the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, they appeared to be gone altogether.
That seemed like a shame to locals Jennifer Lewer and Amy Forbes and they decided to do something about it.
A painting comes together un the brush of artist Ron Quinn of Massachusetts in Ogunquit on Friday. Quinn said he paints in town two or three times a week in the warmer months. Credit: Troy R. Bennett / BDN
The pair, along with the town’s recreation department, organized the first Perkins Cove Plein Air Painting Event three years ago, in 2021. This year’s third annual edition of the art bonanza, scheduled for Sept. 9, is expected to draw 100 artists from all over the East Coast and to be the biggest, one-day outdoor painting event in New England.
“We both grew up around here in the summertime and there used to be artists painting everywhere, all the time,” Lewer said. “But there weren’t really any left anymore and we wanted to get people back — and painting outdoors.”
Neither Lewer nor Forbes is a painter. They just missed seeing the artists.
“The purpose is to just bring back Perkins Cove the way we remember it,” Forbes said.
On the day of the event, a hundred or so artists will fan out all over Perkins Cove and paint between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Then, at 3:30 p.m., awards for best amateur and professional pictures will be handed out and every painting will be for sale.
“And unlike a lot of other events,” Lewer said, “the artists will keep the entire proceeds. This is really a town event.”
Christopher Woodbury’s grandfather, Charles Woodbury, first painted in Perkins Cove in the 1880s. Charles Woodbury was an influential and demanding teacher. His impressionist style of painting was very popular before World War I but less so was less so after it.
Charles Woodbury went on to open the Ogunquit Summer School of Drawing and Painting in 1898, operating it for the next 36 years and enrolling between 60 and 100 painting students in each six-week summer course.
“When Charles first came here, and he looked at the ocean, he walked up and down the coastline,” Christopher Woodbury said. “He was struck by the vastness, the power, and certainly the beauty and the majesty of the ocean — and he stayed with that inspiration all this life. He did hundreds of paintings of the ocean.”
Lucinda Hamilton has only recently started painting in the cove, discovering it during last year’s plein air event.
“And I had no idea there was this much of a legacy and a history of art here,” she said. “It’s a privilege to be able to be here and be part of this.”
On Friday, Hamilton was scouting locations in the cove. With only a few hours to get her painting done on the day of the event, a little advanced planning seemed like a good idea. Her idea, for now, is to paint the boats in the cove, which she knows will be a popular choice.
“Everyone has a different take on it. You could have five people painting the same scene and they’re all going to be completely different, depending on style and medium,” Hamilton said. “I paint in watercolor and a lot of my friends who come here will be painting oil. We will all have different paintings, which is really cool to see.”
Organizers stress that spectators are very welcome to come and watch the artists at work during the event.
“There will be painters painting everywhere,” said Pam Lussier, who, with her husband David, will be demonstrating painting techniques and giving out awards at the event. “They’ll be on every little nook and cranny, and the bridge, and along the Marginal Way. Everywhere you look there’s going to be somebody painting.”
Lewer and Forbes hope their event will keep the artists coming back every summer. After all, the cove still has the same things which inspired Charles Woodbury in the 19th century.
“The sea is still right there,” Christopher Woodbury said, “and the rocks have not changed much at all.”