Time Again to ‘Paint The Town’

SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA – From Spring Grove to Spring Valley, communities across southeast Minnesota are sporting colorful murals, brighter historic buildings and so much more thanks to the annual Paint the Town Grants program.

Sponsored by the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF), this community development grant program provides hundreds of gallons of free paint and coating products each year to communities with a population under 10,000.

Recipients include nonprofit organizations and government units with ideas to dress up their communities with murals, welcome signs, historic structure or public art projects, or to refresh public spaces in preparation for significant community milestone celebrations. These projects can bolster economic development goals by raising a community’s profile as a tourism destination.

“Art not only brightens a community, but encourages collaboration,” said Tim Penny, SMIF president and CEO. “People come together to pick up a brush, complete a united vision and share in the pride of their community.”

According to SMIF’s announcement, each grant provides up to 100 gallons of paint “with the goal of fostering inclusion through volunteer engagement, promotion of creativity, celebration of local pride and to enhance the beauty and interest of a space.”

Last year, SMIF awarded 256 gallons of paint to small towns. Since 1997, nearly 11,000 gallons of paint have been distributed to 324 projects in southern Minnesota through various programs. The Paint the Town Grant program was officially launched in 2015.

SMIF’s Paint the Town program is just one of several possibilities for community grant seekers this year that support community vitality projects, accessible literature for young children, early care and education services, local economic opportunities and more across SMIF’s 20-county region. 

“These grants are more than dollars, they are the building blocks for long-term vitality,” Penny said in announcing this year’s programs. 

“I am always astounded by the impact grant awardees make in their communities. It is through hard work and access to resources that our region can reach new heights in early learning, economic development and community vitality. I can’t wait to see how people will utilize our grants this year.” 

Several Root River Valley communities have benefited from the Paint the Town Grant program in recent years. (Photos by John Gaddo and Nancy North)