Park Place Mall swapped shopping bags for brush strokes Saturday as more than 40 artists gathered for Tucsons first Plein Air Festival, hosted by the Southern Arizona Arts and Culture Alliance.

The event introduced mallgoers to the French-inspired tradition of en plein air, or painting outdoors, a practice made famous by Impressionist painters such as Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Artists set up along the mall promenade to work live, often fielding questions from curious passersby.

Theyre painting from life, said Eliza Plumlee, program coordinator for SAACA. Theyre looking at the subject matter and theyre trying to recreate it with paint on canvas.

The method is both inspiring and demanding, Plumlee said. Its kind of a rigorous practice, she added. You are often subjected to t

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