East Lansing City Hall on Aug. 29, 2015. Courtney Kendler/The State News
—A new event is coming to downtown East Lansing for MSU's homecoming weekend this year. The event will take place the weekend of October 3 and is being called Paint the Aves. It will allow student groups and downtown businesses to come together to paint the windows of downtown East Lansing businesses.
The event is free and each student group will be paired up with a business and provided with tempera paint, paper towels, window cleaner, sponge paint applicators and paint trays.
The window paintings will be judged by a five-member committee consisting of representatives from the City of East Lansing and MSU. The winning business and MSU student group team will be announced on Friday, October 2, 2015 just prior to the MSU Homecoming Parade.
There will be a $300 prize in downtown East Lansing gift cards to the first place group, $150 in downtown gift cards to the second place group and $100 in downtown gift cards to the third place group. All student participants will receive a coupon sheet providing deals to downtown businesses, which is valued at $20.
Student teams can paint their window anytime between Monday, Sept. 28 at 8 a.m. and Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 5 p.m. The window paintings will be judged the evening of Tuesday, Sept 29. The paintings will remain on the windows until Sunday, Oct 4.
“We are really proud to be the home of MSU," assistant to the city manager Megan Clark said.
"It’s important that the students know they are members of the community, that they are East Lansing residents, we value them being here and that the city appreciates the energy the students bring."
Clark said the city is always looking for new ways to engage students and the university as a whole. The hope is that this event brings more student, alumni and families downtown to see the window designs or to be a part of the event, Clark said.
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