The week-long 2018 Plein Air Grand Marais painting festival kicks off Friday, Sept., 7. An annual mecca for painters across Minnesota, this year touts lectures, exhibits and additional workshops open to anyone, not only competing artists. This year, over 70 painters are competing for honors in quick paint, best in show and other categories, submitting a number of works from their week spent painting on the North Shore. Duluth painter and founder of the Great Lakes Fine Art Academy, Jeffery T.