Newport Art Museum’s (NAM) Wet Paint celebrated its 31st anniversary over the weekend and it was a marvelous celebration of art pieces from the area’s notable artists. It’s also an egalitarian event, with artists of all levels participating in the big fundraiser for the museum. On the one hand, some of New England’s renowned artists will submit a piece—all of which has to fit into a 12×12 format, a great equalizer among the breadth of artists—and also includes some of the area’s amateur participants. The theme is to simply celebrate Rhode Island’s creativity and bidding was enthusiastic across the board.
One of the big draws for me was the inclusion of all ages, with one of the side galleries dedicated to youth art. The young artist submissions were treated just as professionally as the seasoned artists that took over the Ilgenfritz Gallery. Seeing the adult artists fill up the space in the Ilgenfritz, flanked by the background of a large screen that displayed various art works, was an incredible sight. It was like a vibrant mass festival of art.
“It’s really fun,” said Susan Olson, who’s been a volunteer at the museum for 15 years. “It’s really not intimidating, that’s especially what I like. I like that it’s all uniform,” she continued.
“It’s great to see people get interested in it from all walks of life. Sometimes people that are just walking down the street, they’re visiting, they’ve never been here before, they feel they can buy a little bit, and they come in and they start to do it. And it’s really fun to get the kids.”
It was seeing the kids run around to point out their art pieces to proud family members and friends that made the event even more special for me. Each youth artist had a display card next to their piece just like the adult artists. It’s a testament to NAM’s respect for their contribution that made a very positive impression for me.
“My grandmother told me I had two bids,” said Elsie McLaughlin, age 8, proudly, on Saturday.
Another burgeoning artist, Abigail Windsor, age 11, was inspired by the migrating elephants that visited throughout Newport, RI. She also said that Art is her favorite subject in school, which was no surprise considering the level of skill she displayed in her submitted piece.
“I’ve been doing it since I was six,” she added about her painting history. “I like all art. I like pottery as well,” she continued.
“I did the art camp here,” Windsor explained. NAM offers several camps during the summer, as part of its educational options housed in the Jimmy Coleman Center for Creative Studies. “I got to meet a lot of new friends, and I learned a lot of different techniques.”
I attended both the preview party on Friday—which was a welcome bonus from its hiatus during COVID time—and the official Wet Paint auction on Saturday. It was nice to take a leisurely stroll around the submitted pieces on full display the night before the official hustle and bustle on the day of the auction. It was also an opportunity to meet some of the artists and it was free for participating artists (and guest). It was truly a fun, social affair.
The only thing that I heard was not included was a live auction portion, which I understand was a fun component of the preview party in years past.
“One of my favorite moments was actually when we had the live auction because people would get really competitive and that was fun to watch,” said Olson, who also praised the convenience of online bidding. “There’s something different every single year,” she added.
Instead, all bids this year were done via QR and all online. This was very convenient and pretty easy to navigate. I’m not much of an auction goer, but even I could quickly figure this out. And even the kid art submissions got their own QR codes. You could see where an art piece stood with bids as you went throughout the museum galleries, or even left the museum! It was smart, although I still would have enjoyed seeing a live auction.
What also impressed me were the various Plein Air artist events leading up to Wet Paint this year. On NAM’s website, artists had the opportunity to sign up to create their works along with their peers and in Newport Country’s most revered locations such as the Norman Bird Sanctuary and Bellevue House Gardens.
Wet Paint is one of the biggest fundraisers for the museum and significantly contributes to its bottom line. With the latest news that some of the curatorial staff has either been let go or left, let us hope that concerns about the museum’s operations are only temporary and that it finds itself on sure footing once more.
There really is nothing like Wet Paint that brings the art community together for one all-encompassing event. This year’s occasion was an example of how the Newport Art Museum makes a significant contribution to the area’s art community.
“It’s a big part of Newport, and it’s a fun place to see,” Olson added. “And I love the school. The school is fantastic.”
