BATH — Friday, plein air painters are invited to paint the historic town of Bath and the public is invited to watch them work.

Bath Community Library is hosting the event, in which plein air painters will gather at the library for a meet and greet, then scatter throughout town to find their subject of the day. En plein air is a French term that means “in the open air” and refers to artists who paint on site as opposed to from a photograph or from the imagination.

The program is the first of its kind for the new library, located in the Old Bath High School building.

“I was trying to do different things for the library, trying to think outside the box,” said Phoebe Wahab, Bath Community Library programming director, adding that the library is a central point to many of Bath’s historic and notable properties — St. Thomas Church, Palmer-Marsh House, Van Der Veer House and Bonner Point.

For plein air painter Art Tyndall, the point of painting outside, at the scene, is about the color and perspective that can’t be achieved by painting from a photograph.

“Photos are phenomenal when it’s sunsets and early sunrises and really dramatic change. But when you get into small changes—it’s just fun to do. I love to go out on site and mix the colors and try to paint (a subject). Sometimes it works out well. Sometimes it doesn’t,” Tyndall laughed. “It’s more about the artistic interpretation of it.”

For plein air painter Nancy Scoble, there’s a challenge involved.

“The main thing is that we’re outside. What you do that day is what you get. You don’t tweak it (later). Its what you do right then and there,” Scoble said.

Scoble, Tyndall and others painters will meet up Friday at 2:30 p.m. at the Bath library and go out to paint the town until about 5 p.m., Tyndall said.

Observers are welcome.

Bath Community Library is located at 102 S. Harding St. For more information, call 252-923-6371.