CLICK HERE to view entire article!
Jodi Rakoski, studio owner, said she fell in love with the area since attending the Pennsylvania College of Technology.
“My background is in restaurant management, but I love the city of Williamsport,”she said. “You get all the activities of the big city, but you get the nice community, the small town feel.”
She said Williamsport is a great community to work with, so when she decided they wanted to open a branch of the Wine and Design themselves, she knew she wanted it in Williamsport.
“I fell in love with the atmosphere of Wine and Design, the relaxation and how much fun it was,” she said. “Plus, the fact that at the end of the evening you can take home a painting you’re really proud of, especially if you have no art background.”
She said she thought it was a different concept.
“We thought, ‘Hey, that’s really neat.’ There’s not anything in the Williamsport area like it,” she said.
Wine and Design offers patrons a place to come and learn how to paint either in groups or solo.
“Basically, we provide a studio space for you to have a two-hour party. It’s a two-hour painting party where we’re going to help you step by step through the instructions,” she said. “We start to finish a painting in two-hours. At the studio, you’re allowed to bring your own beverages, so it’s kind of fun to bring your own bottle of wine, split with a couple of friends … You can bring snacks into the studio, if you’d like.”
Instructors help guide the patrons through the process. There are currently six instructors on staff with an artistic background to help people through the process. Many canvasses come with a stencil outline to help those who are beginners.
“I’d say 80 percent of our clients have never painted or only ever painted in grade school,” Rakoski said. “It’s another outlet. It’s a place to come, relax and rejuvenate. You can focus on painting, on doing something new.”
She said the paintings themselves are chosen so that the average person can leave with a nice piece of artwork.
“They come in super nervous that they can’t accomplish this, but throughout the two-hours … They see it’s working, and at the end, they’re really proud of themselves,” she said. “It’s a neat process to see people go through.”
It is not just for adults, either. They offer activities like Art Buzz Kids for family friendly painting and craft classes for children of all ages. Wine and Design on wheels is a program that offers to bring the supplies, set up and art instruction to locations rather than having it at the art studio itself.
In the Do It Yourself division, Wine and Design also offers painting on other mediums rather than canvas to turn things like barn stars, wood palettes, door hangers, wreaths, glasses and more into works of art.
Their schedule offers theme nights to guests to do partner paintings like Date Night or Mom and Me nights, where partners can work together on two individual paintings that have shared themes or attributes to make them appear like one painting side-by-side.
Other fun theme nights include Paint Your Pet night, where patrons can submit a photo of their pet, receive a stencil of their pet on a canvas and learn how to paint their pet themselves.
To see the calendar of events coming up, visit www.wineanddesign.com/calendars/williamsport for upcoming theme nights.
For more information about how to attend, email [email protected] or call call 570-846-0993.
