For the past four years, the body of work produced by Plein Air–Easton! Competition artists has captured the sense of place and cultural richness that is central to Talbot County’s identity. This work is also quickly becoming an important record of changing landscapes. Many of the paintings that have been produced during the event could not be painted today, as each year scenes and landscapes change or disappear as part of this evolving community.

In 2008, with the help of the Bay Hundred Foundation, Plein Air–Easton! added a new award category to the competition. Recognizing that representational art has a distinct ability to depict the complex nature of change, interpret context, and explain the relevance of places and ideas, the “Vanishing Landscape” prize was added as a major award in the competition. It is intended to preserve unique scenes and heritages, and encourage the celebration of responsible change and conservation of the area’s natural beauty.

Event organizers carefully researched and compiled a list of six sites, which was available to competing artists. The list offers not only diverse visual selections, but sheds light on fascinating historical aspects of the properties. Many artists chose these places as subject matter for competition paintings, including several award winners.

Annapolis artist Tim Bell, who has competed in the event every year since its inception five years ago, won the Vanishing Landscapes Award with “Skipjack Kathryn,” which depicts a skipjack at the Knapp Narrows working waterfront on Tilghman Island. No stranger to Tilghman scenes and lifestyle, Bell is a former waterman who has been painting here for many years.

Declining fisheries have irrevocably altered these types of communities, which lie on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay and depend on Bay bounty for their survival. The consequence of this change has cultural impacts as the self reliant waterman becomes increasingly rare and the second homeowner takes his place. It also is reflected in physical change along the working waterfront. While in many places along the Bay, the built environment transformed years ago, Knapps Narrows still functions largely as home port to commercial watermen, although signs of a changing industry are evident. Whether it be the idle Maynard Lowery boat shed in which some of the best examples of workboats, bay fishing boats and cat boats were designed and built, or the many traditional boats that no longer serve enough purpose to maintained, the sense that these times are witness to the last glimpse of Knapps Narrows proud past is starkly evident.

Greg LaRock, from Newport Beach CA, won the 2008 Grand Prize with Plansoen Shadows, another scene from the Vanishing Landscapes register. The painting depicts Plansoen Farm (also known as Mulberry Hill), a scenic landmark that was once part of the great silk speculation that swept Talbot County in the 1830s. In a get-rich frenzy, all over Talbot County invasive Chinese Mulberry trees were planted faster than silkworms could keep pace. At Mulberry Hill—a high spot in the watershed between the Tred Avon and Choptank rivers—a cocoonery was set up to propagate silkworm stocks and feed the industry. The silk bubble burst shortly thereafter leaving many locals in debt. A later innovator, Louis Plansoen, inventor of naugahyde, operated several dairy farms in Talbot County, including this one. The mansard roofed farmhouse is a rare survivor of a popular style in Easton architecture after the arrival of rails. The picturesque outbuildings on this slope of ground formed a scenic landmark loved by generations of Route 50 travelers from all over the state. Unfortunately, the construction of Rt. 50 also divided the farm and made its agricultural use less sustainable. In 1986, the farm was annexed by the Town of Easton as commercial land. As Smart Growth principles drive the land’s changing use, the structures on the property no longer make sense in their current setting, and the current owners have been working to find new homes for the buildings. Several of the agricultural buildings will be relocated and repurposed at the Richardson Maritime Museum in Cambridge. This past April, the Plansoen farmhouse did indeed “vanish” as it was relocated to the outskirts of town in hopes of future restoration.

Other sites on the 2008 Vanishing Landscapes registry included an early 20th century building formerly used as a railroad loading dock, a narrow late 19th century residential street with distinct Victorian era architecture and very large sycamore trees that are declinging due to a combination of age, disease and disturbance from infrastructures improvement, family cemeteries, and the view from Easton Point, which shows a departure from the land’s historic uses, while also representing how the community is effectively managing change.

The 2009 Plein Air–Easton! Vanishing Landscapes listing promises to be just as compelling, as it adds an important dimension to this event, which has become the East Coast’s premier plein air festival.

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