A single place can hold countless stories, depending on who is looking. This October, Tops ArtFest 2026 invites student and professional artists to discover and express those stories through “Perspective Play,” its 2026 Plein-Air Painting Competition.
Plein-air painting, the practice of creating artwork outdoors while engaging directly with the surrounding environment, encourages artists to look beyond what is immediately visible. Through “Perspective Play,” participants are challenged to explore the relationship between observation, imagination, and interpretation, transforming the familiar landscape of TOPS into individual expressions of creativity.
Artists are invited to step outside the studio, engage with their surroundings, and translate their unique perspectives onto canvas or paper. The competition welcomes a range of styles, from realism to figurative abstraction, provided that identifiable figurative or representational elements are present.
“Perspective Play” challenges student and professional artists to interpret the landscape of TOPS through their own creative lens
The competition will take place at The Circle, TOPS, on October 23, 2026, with registration from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Participants may continue painting onsite until the following morning, subject to competition guidelines. Completed artworks must be submitted at Hostel Honeycomb during the designated submission periods on October 23 and 24. (Toots Tolentino)
