Arts Center hosting Tuesday virtual paint party, to benefit downtown Merced restaurants
The Multicultural Art Center is hosting a virtual paint night Tuesday evening as a way to support downtown restaurants and allow people to paint from home.
The MAC is calling the event the “Great Mercedian Paint Night.”
“Before the pandemic, every third Friday of each month we would have a paint night,” MAC director Colton Dennis said.
“We haven’t had one since February so we thought it would be nice to do one again. Instead of doing it on Friday, we figured we could coordinate it with ‘Takeout Tuesday’ and encourage people to get takeout and do the painting with us from home.”
The event is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Here’s how it works. Participants can come pickup the paint and canvas from the MAC, which is located at 645 Main Street, on Tuesday from 2 to 4 p.m. The MAC is donating the paint and canvas to people.
People are then encouraged to order takeout food from a downtown restaurant and log on to the MAC’s YouTube channel https://bit.ly/MACYouTubeCh.. There will also be a link at the MAC’s Facebook page.
Local artist Lisa Gilliland-Viney will guide everyone through the painting step by step from her home.
According to Dennis, the MAC has about 50 canvases to give out. The supplies will be handed out on a first-come, first-serve basis.
“We have all the supplies,” Dennis said. “Paint only lasts for so long so we either use it or lose it.”
Participating restaurants include 510 Bistro, J&R Tacos, Little Oven Pizza, Destino’s and Bella Luna Bistro.
“We haven’t done this in a long time so people are excited about it,” Dennis said. “We’ve had a lot of messages and comments. Hopefully if it’s a success, we’d love to do it again.”
This story was originally published May 18, 2020 at 9:30 AM.
