Bring The Painting Experience to a location near you!

We're often asked to offer workshops in new cities, states, and countries. We love to check out new venues and find new places to paint; it's not unusual for us to teach in several new cities each year. But growth happens only with your help. If you're interested in bringing The Painting Experience to your home turf, here's what we'll need from you. We hope you'll find the hosting process both easy and fun . . .

Your job as host. As a host, your job is to find a great space for the workshop and help us promote it. You are not financially responsible for filling the workshop, but its success depends on your ability to network locally. The Painting Experience will announce the event to its full mailing list and post it on The Painting Experience website and Facebook page -- but word-of-mouth is always the best way to interest others and build excitement about the event. Following are details on the type of facility we need and additional suggestions on promoting workshops.

Location. The space must be private, quiet and undisturbed by foot traffic. Good sites for painting workshops include dance and yoga studios, community arts centers, schools, community colleges, church meeting rooms and theater rehearsal spaces. When approaching a potential site, it is often helpful to note that we are a non-profit corporation.

The room. This size of the room depends on the number of participants in the workshop (See the studio setup examples). If Stewart and a co-facilitator will lead the workshop, the ideal room will accommodate 20-30 painters (1000 -1200 square feet or larger). If the group will be smaller (15-20 painters), the room can be 600-900 square feet. Painting is done on cardboard tripods constructed in the middle of the room, or on the walls (covered with cardboard to protect them from paint). It’s best to have adequate free wall space so that each person can have 3-4 feet of elbow room. The room should have an open floor plan and be carpet-free if possible.

Lighting. We need either track lighting bright enough to illuminate all painting spaces, or a way to attach clip-on lights that we provide. We can work with most ceilings if they are not too high. Electrical outlets must be available.

Other Amenities. Access to water and bathrooms is essential. A utility sink is great, but we can work with bathroom or kitchen sinks. A residential facility, if available, can make it feasible for people coming from out of town. It's also helpful to have an additional meeting room or a studio size adequate to hold group discussions, especially if we are working with a larger group. Kitchen facilities are a plus, too.

Setting up. We require a full day in advance of the workshop to set up the studio and a half-day (or an evening) to take it down. For a weekend, that means all day Friday-Sunday. We transform the space into a painting studio using cardboard to cover the walls with a special tape that does not damage the surface. We bring our own cardboard easels, lighting (as needed), and all materials. We use paints, paper, and brushes only. The paints are high-quality, non-toxic, water-based liquid tempera that do not leave any stain or residue.

Hours. We offer weekend or longer workshops. The weekend workshop schedule is 6:30-9:30 PM Friday, 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM Saturday and 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Sunday. With setup and takedown time included, that becomes Friday 10:00 AM -10:00 PM, Saturday 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM, Sunday 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM. Contact us for information about scheduling longer workshops.

Promotion and public relations. The most reliable PR is word of mouth – networking by you and others in the area who have done the work before or read the book. Here are a few ways to promote a workshop:

• Place articles in local publications (alternative or mainstream), including display ads or calendar listings paid for by The Painting Experience.

• Schedule local radio interviews with Stewart. (He can conduct these long distance.)

• Distribute the flier and DVD that we will make available to you.

• Provide us with local email lists for potentially interested groups -- therapists, nurses, educators, artists, yoga and spiritual groups. Contact these groups to see whether they can announce the workshop in a newsletter, on a website, or through other means of contacting members. The Painting Experience provides CE credits for MFT, LCSW and RN.

• Announce the event to your personal and professional contacts. Use social networking services like Facebook and Twitter to promote the workshop.

You as the local contact person are the most helpful link to potential workshop participants. After you have made initial contacts, we will follow through in whatever ways are appropriate.

Registration. We handle registration through our office -- by check or shopping cart on our website.

Still interested? If you're ready to take the next step, contact us. We look forward to hearing from you! 

Thank you for your interest in hosting The Painting Experience.