Three music venues and food courts provide the perfect accompaniment to the painting. Entertainment spans the day from noon into the evening with music chosen to support the visual arts activities. Both professional and amateur musicians perform and a wide variety of music styles and rhythms are featured to encourage an appreciation for the diversity of the arts. In addition, street performers ensure that no matter where the painters are, they are within eye and earshot of music, a magician, balloon artist or other entertainers. When the painting is finished the music continues under the stars and provides the backdrop for dancing and strolling the street to admire the artwork.
For one Saturday each September, Morrison’s downtown is transformed into an outdoor canvas for hundreds of amateur artists of all ages who gather to “Paint the Town.” The Children’s Art Preservation Association created this unique family art event as a way for the community to participate in the arts together, as families and individuals. The focus of the event is the painting of five-foot squares on and around Morrison’s Main Street. The number of squares painted has grown steadily since the event’s debut in 1994, when 250 squares were painted, to more than 1,600 squares by more than 2,000 children, families and individuals during Paint the Town. Annually, more than 6,000 attend the event to enjoy the painting, variety of entertainment, and great food.
