JUNE 12-17, 2023
Berks County, Pennsylvania
30 artists from six states have been selected by juror Nancy Tankersley for the 8th annual competition:

Plein Air West Reading 2023 drew a record crowd to the June 16 awards presentation and public opening of the exhibit the following day at Art on the Avenue.
 
Thirty artists from six states participated in week-long fine art competition to capture the beauty and character of Berks County. The $6700 in awards that juror Nancy Tankersley presented was the highest purse in the event’s eight-year history.
 

THE WINNERS

THE WEEK

The talents got the spotlight, but the thanks go to the generous supporters who make it possible.

PRIME SPONSORS
Jerry & Carolyn Holleran
Merrill Lynch, The Swift Group
MJ Reider Environmental Testing Laboratory

First Place, Best Berks County: $1000
Sponsored by the Berks Art Alliance

First Place, Best West Reading: $1000
Sponsored by the West Reading Community Revitalization Foundation

Second Place: $700
Third Place: $400
Honorable Mentions (2): $200
People Choice Award: $100

Sponsor-themed Awards
Berks History Center Award: $500
Best painting of one of 5 designated historical sites
 
Garden Arty Award: $500
Best painting of garden with water feature, sponsored by Linda & Jim Elliott
 
Mansions, Monuments & Centre Park: $500
Sponsored by Shelby Davis Hutchison & Sherry Davis

Berks Farmways: $500
 Best painting of Berks County farmlands or the farming life (Anonymous donor)

Berks Waterways: $500
Best water-themed painting of the Schuylkill Watershed.
Sponsored by the Schuylkill River Greenways Association

QUICK DRAW!
Everyone in the community is invited to join PAWR's juried artists for a 2-hour painting competition and exhibition at Reading Public Museum Park. $500 in awards in Adult & Student categories, sponsored by Lisa Tiger/Century 21 Gold.

Artists Choice & People's Choice Awards
$100 Gift Cards donated by Blick Art Materials

ARTIST GUIDE

PAINTERS GUIDE TO BERKS

EVENT JUROR: NANCY TANKERSLEY
Nancy Tankersley began her career as a portraitist but entered the gallery scene with figurative paintings of people at work and at leisure. The working watermen of the Chesapeake Bay provide a perfect of blend of humans at work in a gorgeous landscape, and have provided the artist with rich subject matter for the past decade. Incorporating non-traditional tools, supports and technologies for her paintings she remains faithful to her impressionistic style. Active in the current plein air movement, and a founder of Plein Air Easton, she travels worldwide participating in competitions, judging and teaching. Most recently, she was the Featured Artist at the 49th Annual Waterfowl Exhibit and Festival. In 2016 and 2017 she was invited to exhibit at the prestigious Masters Exhibition at the Salmagundi Club in NYC. As a Signature Member of the American Society of Marine Artists, this year her work was included in the first international online exhibit of Marine Artists. Recent awards include Best Painting by a Maryland Artist at Plein Air Easton 2021, Award for Excellence at the American Impressionist Society Annual Exhibit in 2018, Best of Show at the Lighthouse Plein Air Festival 2017 and the Dickinson Award for Best Painting by a Signature Member of the American Impressionist Society 2016 and 2022 Annual National Juried Exhibitions.

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