Plein Air Litchfield, the painting festival that heads into its third year this coming September 12 to 19, will have a distinguished Judge of Awards.
Stephanie Haboush Plunkett is the Chief Curator of the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass., and a leading authority on Norman Rockwell and the broader field of American illustration. https://www.nrm.org/
She has curated numerous significant exhibitions that explore the cultural impact of visual storytelling, including:
• Enduring Ideals: Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms
• Inventing America: Rockwell and Warhol
• The Unknown Hopper: Edward Hopper as Illustrator
• Imprinted: Illustrating Race
In addition to her curatorial duties, she leads the Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies, which is the first national research institute dedicated to the study of illustration art.
Before joining the Norman Rockwell Museum, she held professional positions at the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, and the Heckscher Museum of Art.
She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York and is also an author and editor, with recent publications including “Drawing Lessons from the Famous Artists School” and “Norman Rockwell: Drawings, 1911 to 1973.”
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Applications are currently open for artists hoping to be chosen to participate in this year’s Plein Air Litchfield, with a submission deadline of 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1. https://showsubmit.com/show/at-plein-air-litchfield-2026
Plein Air Litchfield began as a 1-day event in 2024 and grew to a 6-day festival in 2025, featuring 34 artists who spent a week painting in and around Litchfield while competing for awards and $8,500 in prize money.
To learn more about Plein Air Litchfield, see the website, https://www.pleinairlitchfield.com
Below left, “Bantam’s Burning Bush” by John Eiseman, winner of the Best Wild Spaces award in the 2025 Plein Air Litchfield. and right, “Midnight at Historical Center,” a 2025 Honorable Mention award winner.
