Paint Lab

What Paint Lab does

PAINT:LAB (legal name Paint Lab) is a privately held, walk-in art studio founded on March 21, 2009 and operating from a single location at 1453 14th Street, Suite G, Santa Monica, California. The studio provides workspace, materials (canvas, easels, paints, brushes), instruction, and cleanup to individuals and groups, with a published price list spanning $17 toddler walk-in sessions to $79 specialty adult classes, plus semester packages, weekly summer camps, and event pricing. The studio markets directly to consumers across three primary personas — children ages 2-12 (after-school workshops, summer camps, birthday parties), teens (rotating drawing, clay, and acrylic programs, including an 8-day Sculpt & Study collaboration with Kulak Ceramic), and adults (guided fundamentals courses in drawing, watercolor, oil/acrylic, and pet portraits, plus social events like Brushes & Bites and Brushes & Brunch). Private event and mobile/off-site services target corporate, bridal/baby shower, birthday, and team-building bookings with capacity for up to 35 painters and a 20+ person meeting room.

Revenue is generated primarily through one-time license transactions (per-session open studio access, per-class guided workshops, per-person private events, gift cards, and merchandise) with a subscription-style layer emerging through monthly after-school packages and a forthcoming monthly membership program offering unlimited painting access. Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer via the paintlab.net website (with an integrated event calendar), an email newsletter, and organic social channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn), supplemented by referrals. The company's stated longer-term ambition, per its own history page, is to extend the PAINT:LAB concept to "many other neighborhoods, spanning across the country," but the studio currently remains a single-location operator with 11-50 employees, no disclosed funding, no parent company, and no identified institutional ownership.

Technically, PAINT:LAB is a low-digital-footprint experiential business: a WordPress-based site with Iubenda-managed privacy/cookie policies and a Square-powered checkout for donations and gift cards, no proprietary software or mobile app, and no APIs or SDKs. The "technology" is fundamentally the physical studio facility, the curated curriculum across multiple mediums, the in-house professional artist staff, and the operational capability to deliver instructor-led and self-directed painting experiences both on-site and via the mobile events channel.

Name

Paint Lab

Legal name

Paint Lab

Website

https://paintlab.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

PAINT:LAB is a privately held, single-location walk-in art studio in Santa Monica that provides painting workspace, materials, and instruction across guided classes, open studio sessions, summer camps, and private events for kids, teens, adults, and corporate groups.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Monica

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Open Studio Sessions: Pay-per-visit studio access with materials provided. Adults $23/day, Kids $17/day, Toddlers $17/day. Additional fees for oil paints starting at $3.
2. Guided Classes and Workshops: Structured instructor-led classes in various mediums including drawing, watercolor, acrylic/oil painting, pet portraits. Single sessions $40-$79, multi-week courses available.
3. Private Events and Parties: Birthday parties, fundraisers, bachelorette parties, baby showers, team-building events. Pricing $20-$70 per person depending on activity. Minimum 6 painters required.
4. Gift Cards and Merchandise: Gift cards available for classes or walk-in sessions. Art supplies sold for at-home use.
5. Summer Camps and After-School Programs: Kids and teen art camps during school breaks and after-school workshops. Semester packages and monthly subscriptions available.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

PAINT:LAB is a walk-in art studio in Santa Monica that provides workspace, paints, brushes, easels, and instruction for painting and art creation. Customers can drop in during open studio hours for self-directed painting or register for guided classes and workshops in drawing, watercolor, acrylic, oil painting, and specialty formats. The studio also hosts private events, birthday parties, summer camps, and team-building activities.

Product overview

Paint Lab is a walk-in art studio offering a comprehensive portfolio of in-person art experiences for all ages and skill levels. The core offerings include structured classes and workshops (Kids, Teens, Adults), open studio sessions, private events/parties, and specialty events like Brushes & Bites. The program is anchored by recurring courses such as Fundamentals of Drawing, Oil Painting, and Watercolor. Supplementary offerings include summer camps, gift cards, and upcoming monthly memberships. The studio operates on a walk-in and pre-registration model, providing materials, instruction, and studio space for painting, drawing, and sculptural activities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Kids Classes & Workshops Daily after-school and weekend art classes for children ages 5-12, featuring rotating themes including Featured Artist, Animals & Adventure, Mixed Media, Drawing & More, and Fantasy Friday acrylic exploration.
• Teen Classes & Workshops After-school workshops for teens featuring rotating follow-along drawing, clay, and acrylic painting sessions, plus a Sculpt & Study collaboration with Kulak Ceramic.
• Adult Classes & Workshops Weekly art classes for adults including Fundamentals of Drawing, Acrylic/Oil Painting, Watercolor, and Pet Portrait workshops, offered at various times throughout the week.
• Open Studio Painting Walk-in painting sessions where customers can paint with family, friends, or on their own during regular studio hours with all materials provided.
• Private Events & Parties Studio rental for private events including birthday parties, fundraisers, receptions, bachelorette parties, baby showers, bridal showers, and team-building events for all ages.
• Brushes & Bites / Brushes & Brunch 3-hour step-by-step guided painting events that include all materials and complimentary refreshments (wine, mimosas, coffee/tea, snacks). Voted #1 in Los Angeles Magazine.
• Summer Art Camps Full-day and half-day art camps for kids ages 6-12 during summer break, featuring multiple sessions with daily themes and a monthly student exhibition.
• Fundamentals Courses Six-week rolling course programs covering Fundamentals of Watercolor Painting, Fundamentals of Oil Painting, and Drawing Fundamentals with progressive skill building.
• Gift Cards Gift cards available for purchase for upcoming classes, events, or walk-in painting during regular business hours for both kids and adults.
• Commission Requests Custom commission projects available with rates and turnaround time varying per project.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Kulak CeramicminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative 8-day Sculpt & Study program where teens alternate between Kulak Ceramic for clay sculpting and Paint:lab for drawing and perspective lessons. Students learn slab rolling, hand-building, technical drawing, and glazing techniques across both studios.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Pinot's Palette: National paint-and-sip franchise with a similar mix of open studio, guided classes, private parties, and corporate events. Competes on essentially the same customer occasion and price points as PAINT:LAB.
• Board & Brush Creative Studio: Wood-sign painting workshop franchise with guided classes and private events. Operates the same hands-on creative-workshop model as PAINT:LAB with similar adult social and private-party revenue streams.
• Kidcreate Studio: Children's art education franchise offering classes, camps, and parties for kids. Closest direct comparison to PAINT:LAB's kids workshops, summer camps, and birthday party offerings.
• Color Me Mine: Paint-your-own-pottery studio franchise with walk-in sessions, classes, and private parties. Same walk-in creative-entertainment model as PAINT:LAB, though focused on ceramics rather than canvas.
• Painting with a Twist: Largest paint-and-sip franchise in the U.S. with hundreds of locations offering guided painting classes paired with beverages. Closest direct analog to PAINT:LAB's adult guided-painting and private-event model.
• Bottle & Bottega: Paint-and-sip studio offering guided painting sessions with wine, plus private events and team-building. Highly comparable to PAINT:LAB's Brushes & Bites experience.
• Muse Paintbar: Paint-and-sip studio chain with bar service, classes, and private events in multiple U.S. cities. Directly comparable in business model and target customer (adults seeking a social creative experience).

Emerging players

• Abrakadoodle: Mobile kids' art education provider that brings classes to schools, daycares, and events. Comparable to PAINT:LAB's mobile events and kids programs, but focused on off-site delivery and a younger age range.

Broad incumbents

• Asel Art Supply: Long-running Dallas-based art supply retailer that also offers in-store classes and workshops. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the art education/retail space, though it sells supplies as its primary business.

Regional players

• ARThouse: Regional art studio offering classes, camps, and parties for kids and adults in select U.S. markets. Similar studio-format and programming mix to PAINT:LAB, though operating in different geographies.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/paintlab.net
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/paint-lab
• Instagraminstagram.com/paint_lab/?hl=en
• Xx.com/PAINTLAB

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Paint Lab