Assistant Editor Jerry Lindsey submitted earlier event photos.
After a three-year hiatus, Paint the Town, Morrison, IL’s family festival for the visual arts, will return on Saturday, September 17, 2022. In 2019, Paint the Town’s 25th anniversary, the event experienced its first rain-out. The event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021, in the interest of pandemic safety.
This year, Paint the Town’s founding organization, Childrens Art Preservation Association (CAPA), is making up for those lost years. They will “rewind the clock” to celebrate the event’s 25 anniversary one more time. Morrison’s downtown will again be transformed into an outdoor canvas of five-foot squares, ready to receive the creative expressions of children, families, friends, and artists of all ages. Music and great food will provide the backdrop for a fun day of painting on the street!
Paint the Town 25th Anniversary Rewind will offer 1750 squares for painting throughout Morrison’s downtown. For a pre-registration fee of $20 (or $25 after 11:00 a.m., on Saturday, September 17), participants can register to paint a masterpiece, alone or with a friend.
Participants receive an assigned 5-by-5 foot square on the street and an event bag. It contains all the supplies needed to paint: a primary color water-based tempera paint set plus black and white; one narrow brush for lining and one wide brush for filling; chalk for sketching; cups, stirrers and instructions for mixing colors; a logo t-shirt (a new logo is developed each year); giveaway goodies from sponsors. Local and regional sponsors help keep the register lower.
Friends can register to paint together or put together a group of adjacent squares. CAPA requests that multiple participants register together to reserve adjacent squares. For ease of picking up painting supplies, squares purchased for multiple names must be picked up under one designated purchaser’s name.
Online pre-registration is now open at http://www.paintthetownmorrison.com. Check the website for more event details, including pictures from past Paint the Towns and Sponsor information.
CAPA always welcomes volunteers to assist with Paint the Town, both before, and on the day of, the event. The three-year hiatus has created an urgent need for more volunteers. If you can give an hour or two of your time to help, please text or phone Angela Reamer at 815-499-8128 or by email, angela.reamer@gmail.com. You can also volunteer via the Paint the Town website.