The Great American Paint In launches first traveling exhibition

OLEAN, N.Y. (October 23, 2020) — As people around the world isolated during the pandemic, The Great American Paint In brought hope and beauty in the form of works of art people could view online, right from home. Now, as the world is slowly and safely reopening, The Great American Paint In is following suit.

The project will debut its traveling exhibition starting Oct. 24, 2020, at the Tri-County Arts Council in Olean, New York.

The exhibition features several local ties. While artists from across the country were invited to depict their pandemic experience in the virtual, juried show, Buffalo artist Raymond Bonilla was chosen to represent the project in the first traveling exhibition. His piece, “Lefferts and 95^th Ave”, reflects the New York neighborhood he grew up in, something he went back to often in his mind during the pandemic.

But The Great American Paint In’s New York connections don’t stop there. Founder Bill Weinaug grew up in Allegany and is longtime friends with artist Mikel Wintermantel, the executive co-director of the Tri-County Arts Council.  

Weinaug, who owns Gallery CERO, an art gallery under development at his riverside property north of Orlando, Florida, started the project as a way to document this unique moment in history. Artists could submit any work, they just had to tell their unique pandemic story. Works are available for viewing and purchase on the project’s website, www.thegreatpaint-in.com. 

The exhibition features those works via a digital slideshow and map, in addition to Bonilla’s physical work. 

“It was amazing to me to see these works digitally and to read their stories,” Weinaug said. “To now see our project on gallery walls is mind-blowing and humbling. I believe people will look back on this collection for years to come as a peek at what living during this time was really like.”

The Great American Paint In is planning several traveling exhibitions throughout the country with Bonilla’s work and others. Galleries and museums interested in booking the exhibition should reach out to [email protected].

The exhibition will be on display at the Tri-County Arts Council through the end of the year.

For more information, visit www.thegreatpaint-in.com.

About The Great American Paint In

The vision of The Great American Paint In is to allow America’s great artists to share their experience during the 2020 world pandemic through their work to inspire other artists, collectors and the community. The project will collect works of art on its website, www.thegreatpaint-in.com, to create a marketplace for the pieces. The project will also create an upscale book to document this moment in history. The Great American Paint In is a project of art collectors Bill and Mary Weinaug. The two own a riverside oasis, Wekiva Island, and a soon to open art gallery there, Gallery CERO. Each year they also sponsor and run a “en plein air” event called the Wekiva PaintOut. This special project, therefore, is referred to as “paint in”, which is an event where artists paint within a space or in an enclosed environment during a period of time for the purpose of completing paintings of their life from their life. For more information, visit www.thegreatpaint-in.com, or follow the project on social media on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Media contact

Will Wellons

Wellons Communications

407-462-2718

[email protected]