This article is part of a special series celebrating the 2025 inductees into the Plein Air Easton Hall of Fame. Now in its second year, the Hall of Fame honors individuals, organizations, and patrons whose dedication, creativity, and support have helped shape Plein Air Easton into the nationally recognized event it is today.
Diane DuBois Mullaly was out painting when she got the call. She was standing at her easel at Wade’s Point Inn, in the middle of a plein air painting, when Al Bond phoned to tell her she’d been selected as one of this year’s Hall of Fame honorees.
“I was astonished,” she said. “I knew that my name had been submitted the year before, and I thought, well, maybe someday—but I didn’t expect it this soon.”
It was a full-circle moment. Not just because she’s been juried into Plein Air Easton ten times. Not just because she’s painted the landscapes of the Eastern Shore for more than two decades. But because she’s been part of the event since day one, quietly shaping the experience for artists and audiences alike.
In 2005, Diane was part of a small group of local artists who met at Coffee East, a café in Easton, every Friday morning. One morning, Nancy Tankersley came in to tell them about a new plein air festival being organized by the Avalon Foundation. She was looking for volunteers.
“I really wanted to meet all the artists coming to town,” Diane said. “I just put my name and email address on a piece of paper.” A few days later, she got an email: “Thank you for volunteering to co-chair the Quick Draw.”
Her response: “What’s the Quick Draw?”
She soon found out. Nancy brought Diane and co-chair Cliff Fleener to South Street Art Gallery and showed them a slideshow from a similar event in California. From that model, they were tasked with designing Easton’s own version.
“Cliff was very gregarious and great on the ground. I was quieter and studious,” she said. “So I went home and wrote a full outline—how I thought it should work. A timeline, logistics, and boundaries. I emailed it to Nancy and Al Bond. We went back and forth and refined it. But that basic structure? They’re still using it today.”
Diane also credits Cliff with the three-part sales ticket system that is still in use. “He came up with this really ingenious design and brought the giant roll of tape,” she said. “He marked where the artists would set up, made sure we had an air horn, a tent, water to give away—he figured out all the stuff on the ground so I could paint that day.”
Diane’s path to plein air painting had its own kind of quiet beginning. She’d studied at Tyler School of Art at Temple University but hadn’t worked in oil until she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2002. Something about the light, the landscape, the wide-open spaces—she couldn’t stop thinking about painting them.
“For Christmas, I asked my husband for a set of oil paints,” she said. “And then I didn’t open them. I was terrified. I had painted in oil in college, but it had been so many years. I was just so intimidated by the thought of doing what I wanted to do most.”
Eventually, late one night, she opened the box.
“I read the instructions. I tried painting. And it went much better than I expected.”
She started studying with artists who came through the area—Camille Przewodek and Tim Bell (now Tim Beal). She also worked for Nancy at South Street Art Gallery and joined workshops led by Nancy. Before long, she was entering plein air events. And then she was accepted. Ten times over.
In Easton, where there’s no shortage of art events or galleries, Diane believes Plein Air Easton stands apart because of the energy and immediacy it brings.
“It’s very interactive,” she said. “Because the art is being created on site, it’s kind of like a spectator sport. People can find the artists, talk to them, and see the work in progress. That’s different from other festivals, where the art is already complete and hung in an exhibit.”
For Diane, that connection is everything. She’s had countless people walk up to her while she’s painting, curious and engaged. And just as many who connect emotionally with the finished work.
“What’s really great is when your art touches someone,” she said. “Seeing a familiar scene through the artist’s eyes makes it fresh for them, and they fall in love with it. That is really gratifying.”
She’s also formed lasting friendships with other competition artists—people she never would have met if not for the festival—the kind of friendships that start in a tent, over lunch, or while waiting for a painting to dry in the heat.
But more than anything, she keeps coming back to the atmosphere of generosity.
“There’s a kindness that flows through the event,” she said. “The kindness of the volunteers, the kindness of the Avalon staff, the kindness of the artists to the spectators and each other. It’s the host families. It’s just amazing. It’s a giant act of goodwill.”
For Diane, it’s been deeply personal. From volunteering to painting to mentoring younger artists, she’s been involved in every layer of the experience. Her work helped lay the foundation, and her presence helped nurture the culture.
“I’ve been there since the start,” she said. “And to see how it’s grown, how it’s evolved—but still stayed connected to what it was at the beginning—it means a lot.”
That beginning included spreadsheets and sketches, sales ticket mockups, and air horn checklists. It included stepping into roles without knowing what they’d become, an unopened box of paints, a quiet decision, and a willingness to try.
This summer, Diane DuBois Mullaly joins the Plein Air Easton Hall of Fame. And for those who know what she’s given—on canvas and off—the honor speaks for itself.
