At the Historic Armory, 3710 Mitchell St. in Kensington, Maryland
Open to the public. Admission is free.
Registration will open in July 2020.

One of the biggest and most popular original community art events in the DC region, our Paint the Town Labor Day Show is an annual celebration of local artists. The free, three-day event includes a judged art show of hundreds of pieces of artwork made by local artists, an awards ceremony and reception that's open to the public, three days of live art demonstrations, plein air painting competitions for adults and children, and a special student invitational art contest.

2019 Show Recap

• See the list of 2019 winners
• Read about our 2019 Bertha Clum prize winner, Paula Zeller
  
• See our 2019 artist demos
• Download the 2019 prospectus
  

Plein Air Competition

As you walk around Kensington on the Saturday of the show weekend, you'll likely see dozens of artists painting and drawing. Those are participants of our annual Paint the Town Plein Air Competition. From 7 am-3 pm, adults and children complete paintings with a Kensington theme and submit them for prizes awarded by our show judge.

The annual competition is open to all adults and children in the community. The cost is free for children under 18 and for current MAA members; adults pay $10 per person. Your paper or canvas must be stamped by an MAA official at the Kensington Armory the morning of the competition, before you start working.

Would you like to participate?  Check back this summer to sign up!

Thank you to Our Donors

We thank the Town of Kensington, a long-time MAA supporter, for providing the historic Armory building for this show and sponsors the the Bertha Klum Award, given to the first-place artist in the Kensington category. MAA is also grateful to the following businesses, foundations and individuals for donating in support of 2019 Paint the Town: