The Summer Etude festival of painting action took place on 24 July. The State Russian Museum placed at the disposal of local artists a pearl of landscape architecture v the Summer Garden.
More than a hundred contemporary artists took part in the art contest, developing their own images of the Summer Garden. Guided by their tutors, students from the Academy of Arts and the School of Art and Industry (former Vera Mukhina Academy) showed their skills and talent for plein-air painting.
The participants included freelance artists, members of the Union of Artists and representatives of such informal associations as the Mitki group. Each artist expressed his or her own understanding of the Summer Garden, in urbanscapes and such nominations as Ladies in the Summer Garden and Summer Still-Life.