The latest trend in team-building and fundraising events: paint-and-sip gatherings, in which participants—provided with canvas, easel, paints and brushes—shed their business- world identities (wine helps) and are guided through the experience of creating a painting based on a still life, a photograph, a landscape or other theme.
Paint-and-sip studios have blossomed throughout the county in recent years, with one of the most innovative taking root in the North Lake Tahoe city of Truckee. Stacey Stahl brought the concept to town in 2014 after a friend “dragged” her to a paint-and-sip event in Reno. “Even though I didn’t want to go, I had a great time, got some creative juices flowing and thought this would be a great business to bring to Lake Tahoe,” Stahl says.
Stahl’s Painted Vine studio offers on-site classes for up to 30 participants. Off-site sessions are scheduled weekly at the West Shore Café & Inn, a boutique property in Homewood; while monthly sessions open to the public are staged at the Ritz-Carlton Lake Tahoe and corporate groups are booked separately. Four local artists are employed as group leaders. Team-building and fundraising events are a growing niche; recent clients include automobile executives, tech groups and resort sales managers. A fundraiser for the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe adopted the “paint-yourpet” session for the event.
The Painted Vine provides wine and beer for sale to groups meeting at the Truckee location, with participants welcome to bring their own appetizers or have food catered. Base cost for the two-hour sessions is $40 per person in the studio, $50 per person at off-site locations.
