Marissa at the “Angels en la Casa” show at Art Space, Hartford, showing off body painting in 2013. Marissa won the show’s “People’s Choice” category for her contribution and began working with Kaleidoscope shortly after.
Marissa is a professional party entertainer based out of West Hartford, CT who began her career as a theme park face painter during her summers in college. After finishing her B.A. in Art from CCSU, she dove head-first into her love of face painting and completed her Special Effects Makeup certification from La Bella Makeup School in Danbury.
Marissa started at Kaleidoscope in 2013 and is available to entertain at your event for almost any type of party entertainment we offer including:
Marissa also works in the Kaleidoscope office as the Head of Talent and is involved in hiring, training, and managing all of our amazing party artists, as well as with anything else the office might need. (If you’ve had one of our artists at your event, odds are they were trained by Marissa!)
See some of her verified reviews here:
When and why did you start Face and Body Painting?
I started working as a face painter at a theme park as a summer job. I was in art school and I needed extra income for when my on-campus graphic design job paused for the summer. The first time I picked up a face painting brush it filled me with joy–I wanted to do it forever!
What’s your favorite art form (or performance etc) to do here?
I still have huge love for face painting, but I think tarot and mentalism are my favorites now. I have less opportunities to do them (they’re more niche than most services we provide) and I love connecting with people when I do them!
If you could only pick one, would you rather do face painting or balloon twisting forever and why?
Ahhhh that’s hard…. maybe balloon twisting (even if I love face painting more) just because I’ve mastered face painting, and it’s literally endless what I could do and learn with balloons!
What are people’s reactions when you tell them You’re a professional party entertainer?
They’re in disbelief that this is a real job! Most people don’t think arts jobs exist, but they do and I wishes we conveyed that message to the public. The working artists I know aren’t “starving” or “depressed”. We love our work, we have financial goals, and we know how lucky we are to be here. I truly love being a face painter, and I have plenty of other artist friends who have amazing niche jobs.
What is one surprising fact about you?
I don’t paint or draw for fun anymore! People assume that since this is my job, but like everyone else I want to clock out of work and relax at the end of the day. I normally garden, read, or exercise to unwind after work.
What do you think your superpower as an Face Painter or Balloon Twister is?
I love making kids laugh and feel good, including shy ones! I used to be a classroom teacher, so I’m also patient with the not-so-shy ones. (And I think that energy goes even farther than good art!)
What was the most memorable party you ever entertained at?
I have a horrible fear of heights (not falling, just being high) and I was once scheduled for the top of a sky scraper… in a pent house in Boston…. on an open balcony. I still managed to get through the event, but I don’t know how!
What is the biggest factor in determining if a college event will go smoothly or not?
Please tell us where parking is! Please send a map! I love college events but they’re logistically so challenging when we don’t know where anything on your campus is. Explain it to us like we’re blind, our GPS is dead, and we’ve never seen a university campus before in out lives.
What is your favorite activity for summer camp event entertainment and why?
Foam! Our foam cannons are so cool, it really gets the kids energy out and they’re just sooo fun even for counselors. You can make it work easily for your camp schedule too. I wish we’d had them when we were kids!
