Every year around late October, the same question starts landing in inboxes across the Conejo Valley: what are we doing for the holiday party?
The restaurant everyone went to last year. The escape room that half the team already did. The rented back room where people stand in a circle holding drinks, checking the time.
There’s a better answer, and it happens to be one of the oldest ones: put people around a table and make something together.
What a paint & sip party actually is
A paint & sip is a guided painting session. Everyone works on the same painting at the same time, led by an instructor who walks the room, breaks the image into manageable steps, and helps at each easel. You bring the drinks and the snacks. We bring the canvases, the paint, the brushes, the aprons, and the instruction.
Nobody needs experience. That’s the whole design of the format. The people at your party who insist they “can’t draw a stick figure” tend to be the ones holding up their canvas at the end asking someone to take a photo.
Why it works so well for company holiday parties
Most corporate events ask people to either perform or drink. A paint night asks them to do something neither competitive nor passive, and something with a finished object at the end.
A few things that make it land:
It flattens the room. Nobody’s job title helps them mix a color. Your CFO and your newest hire start at the same place, which is exactly what a good team event should do.
It gives quiet people a way in. Not everyone thrives at a loud dinner. Painting side by side creates the kind of low-stakes conversation that actually builds relationships — people talk more freely when their hands are busy.
Everyone leaves with something. A canvas goes home, or up on a cubicle wall, and it keeps working as a memory long after the catering is forgotten.
We’ve hosted teams from companies including Netflix, Fox, Amgen, and MAC. The pattern holds across all of them: the group walks in a little skeptical and leaves louder than they arrived.
Why it works for family parties too
Holiday gatherings pull together a wide age range — grandparents, teenagers, small kids, in-laws who’ve met twice. A painting session is one of the few activities that genuinely works for all of them at once.
It’s also a solution to the awkward middle of a family party, that stretch between arriving and eating where everyone is standing around. Two hours of painting fills that space with something to talk about, and every family member goes home with a piece of the day.
This works for birthdays, anniversaries, bat and bar mitzvah celebrations, bridal showers, reunions, and end-of-year get-togethers.
What makes our paint & sip different
Here’s an honest distinction worth understanding before you book anywhere.
Most paint & sip nights are run as entertainment. The instructor is at the front of the room, the image is traced onto the canvas ahead of time, and the goal is to get everyone to a finished product before the last pour.
We’re an art school. The Raminfard School of Arts is a classical atelier — we teach oil painting, drawing, and the Old Masters tradition to students who are building serious skills. Our instructors are working artists and teachers.
That changes what a party feels like in a few concrete ways:
- The instruction is real. When someone at your event asks why their color turned muddy, they get an actual answer they’ll remember.
- We circulate. Nobody sits stuck and frustrated for twenty minutes while the instructor talks at the front of the room.
- We teach the way we teach everyone: what’s working, and what’s not working yet. No one gets told their painting is bad. No one gets empty praise either.
- The studio is a real studio — easels, good light, and the smell of paint, not a party room with drop cloths.
The result is that people paint better than they expected to. And painting better than you expected is a surprisingly good feeling to give a room full of guests.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need any painting experience? No. These sessions are built for complete beginners, and most guests have never held a brush. The instructor takes the group step by step.
Can we bring alcohol? Yes, but we are unable to provide it for you.
Can children join a family party? Yes.
How long does the paint need to dry? Acrylic is dry to the touch by the end of the session, so guests can carry their canvas home the same night.
Can you match the painting to our company or our event? Often, yes — a seasonal subject, a local landscape, or something tied to your branding. Ask when you book.
Book your holiday party
Tell us your date, your headcount, and whether it’s a team or a family, and we’ll take it from there.
Raminfard School of Arts is a classical fine art studio in Agoura Hills offering group classes, private instruction, workshops, summer camps, and private paint parties for corporate and family events across the Conejo Valley.
