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2021 NC Main Street Champion
Melanie Morrison, Reidsville Downtown Corporation’s President and second-term board member, has a passion for the arts. Recognizing the economic impact art can have on main street districts, she wanted to see it cultivated in downtown Reidsville.
Melanie, along with Reidsville Downtown Corporation members, established Project DREAM (Downtown Reidsville Empowering Art Movement), which brings public art downtown. She spearheaded the first Project DREAM public artwork display, the "Greetings from Reidsville" mural, researching artists, finding painters for wall preparation, and managing the project. Melanie’s efforts and leadership can also be seen in many other downtown public art projects, some of which include “Abstract Alley,” the transformation of a previously empty alleyway by local high school students who painted a colorful pattern on the walkway and the addition of lights; the painting of 35 downtown fire hydrants; the “Lift Me Upwards” wings mural painted on the library wall, Art in Bloom, and Scales on Scales, an initiative where pianos are painted by local artists and placed downtown for anyone to play.
For her tireless work to make downtown come to life through public art, Reidsville is honored to name Melanie Morrison as its NC Main Street Champion.