Art of Merlot

So much fun! We started my sister’s bachelorette party with a painting, and had a great time. We ended up with the whole studio to ourselves which was great. The entire experience from start to finish was painless, even when trying to plan from out of town. I love that you can bring in your own wine and we got to choose the music playing!

Had a lot of fun! Instructor had everything ready when we got there and walked us thorough the painting wonderfully. We’re already planning to go back.

Perfect date night! I went here with my girlfriend last night for the first time and it was a ton of fun and very relaxing. Our instructor, Vicki, was super helpful so you don’t need to be Pablo Picasso to finish your painting. The class lasted 2 hours so it’s well worth your money to do something different!

What a fun concept! I had never done anything like this before. So glad I finally got to try. It’s a perfect idea for date night, girls night, or just something fun to do to get out of the house. Classes are $ 35 for two hours or I believe $ 60 for three hours (our instructor mentioned something about bringing in a photo of your pet to be painted at the three hour class?! I must look more in to this). But they offer a discount if you sign up for a future class while attending the current class.
I am by no means an artist and was a little anxious that my painting would end up looking like a 6 year old was let loose with the big kids, but the instructor walks you through the process step by step, while still encouraging individuality.
The best part is that it’s BYOB. They can provide you with glasses, wine key, refrigerator etc. Also they sell wine on premises in case you forget or run out ;)
p. s. Sign up in advance via PayPal through the Art of Merlot website.

I had my bithday party there last night and we all had a really great time but we literally brought the party. I talked to Audra a couple weeks ago about having my birthday party there and since they had nothing scheduled for that day, she said it would be 32.50 per person and let me choose the picture I wanted but I chose a 3 hour class picture because the 2 hour class pictures in the gallery weren’t anything I would want to paint. They were very accommodating in that respect. I’d been there before and we paid 25 bucks each for our party of 4 and now I was quoted 32.50 for my party of 24! I thought at the very least, they could’ve given me mine for free but that was never offered. She did lower the price to 30 dollars but that just seemed like a lot for 3 dabs of paint and some canvas. Plus, there was nothing on the calendar for that day and I didnt make it a private event so whoever wanted to sign up could. There were 4 other people there, other than my party. We brought all our own food and booze, there were wine openers and glasses available for our use. The artist was very nice and personable and her helper was efficient and kind. Audra asked me a few times to have people register online but there’s no way to register and pay cash when you get there. They should make that a feature because most of my party didn’t have a PayPal acct and didn’t feel comfortable putting their credit card online. She seemed irritated that my friends wouldn’t register even though I emailed her and called her with a head count and she never returned my call or emailed me back. If she was there, she never intoduced herself to me and overall, I didnt really like dealing with her. Everyone had a really great time, though and my party was a great success. I feel like maybe they should get somebody with better social skills to book the parties. I mean, we brought in a pretty decent night for a place that had no other bookings for that night. You’d think I wouldve gotten a thank you or a call back or a return email., maybe.

Went recently with a couple of friends as we wanted to try something different from Brush Bar. There are lots of staffers around to help if you have questions. The layout of the room is a little odd as they had to have 2 people doing the instruction of the same painting. Additionally, it seemed to take a long time between directions. Maybe because at BB they play fun music and the vibe is just a bit different. Additionally at BB you get your first drink included while at Art of Merlot it’s not. I liked Art of Merlot but for me, BB is just a bit more fun.