Romance Blooms at Final Art Walk

Marissa Glover and Anthony Paro at the Oct. 11 Art Walk

Photo: Evelyn Nitzberg

Anthony Paro and Marissa Glover got engaged to marry at the Oct. 11 Art Walk in downtown Sanford.

The Whitefield, ME couple had met on a “make friends” chatting app and had been thinking about getting married for two years, according to Sanford Arts Commission member Evelyn Nitzberg. He wanted to pop the question at an art event and learned about the art walk on the Sanford Arts Commission Facebook page. Paro was familiar with Sanford, having grown up nearby, and decided to enlist local artists in the event. He commissioned them to produce “Hello Kitty” artwork and T-shirts with the message “Will You Marry Me?”

Then the couple drove to Sanford and got stuck in traffic.

“The evening grew chilly as the sun set,” Nitzberg wrote. “Sixteen of us, including Marissa’s parents Mat and Anita, waited patiently, and at last, two hours later than planned, the bride and groom-to-be appeared in the dusk …. We witnessed Anthony on bended knee and a stunned Marissa sobbing in joy, cheers, tears and blowing of horns all around.”

This year, the Arts Commission held eight Art Walks on the second Friday of each month. Featured artists include Pat Adams, Max Adams, Grace and Jasmine Arsenault, Searra Canfield, Stephanie Gagnon, Emma Higgins, Dawn Luis, Bob Mongue, Jan Pomerleau, Georgia Renfroe and Kristin Thornton.

Art Walks will resume in the spring. In the meantime, local artists’ works are hanging around town at Downhill Bagel, Nasson Little Theater, Sanford Water District, Sanford Performing Arts Center, the Economic Growth Council window and Goodall Library. All works are available for purchase. Anyone interested in becoming a Sanford Arts Commission member can apply at City Hall. Membership is not limited to artists.