A great place to take creative classes, even as an adult! Hidden right behind westbrook mall, it's…read morepretty easy to get to from anywhere in the SW. I took a 9 week "pottery basics" class learning to throw on a pottery wheel. Jane was an awesome instructor, offering a lot of hands on advice. Great place to go to let out any creative energy, or just to get out of the house. Nine 2.5 hour classes for just over $200 including materials and clay firing/glazing, its a pretty good deal! Plus, I now have a selection of awkward coffee mugs as souvenirs! They also offer a lot of other classes, such as improve, drama, painting, and open studio. Cute facility with great staff.

This is a hidden gem. Run by the city of Calgary, the vibe is chill. A great variety of children's…read moreart programs - we have enjoyed all of them whether it has been drawing, pottery or hip hop dance. I like the exposure - it may be harder to do advanced levels but what a great place to start. Love the culture and love for the arts!

For our date night, we decided to try out the " Eat, Drink, Listen to music and paint in black…read morelight " night. We absolutely loved it! The Raw Canvas is a place that offers a free, non-judgmental environment where even people, who don't consider themselves artists or creative, can create something by themselves and be proud of their work. It was such a relaxing experience and a fun date night. We definitely recommend to try it out with your date, friends or whoever you want to spend a fun night with! If you want to read more about our experience and watch a video head to https://www.schnitzelandpoutine.ca/single-post/2017/07/31/date-night-paint-night-at-raw-canvas

From the owner: We offer curated and fun team building games and challenges, paint nights, birthdays, wine…read moretastings, blacklight paint nights, painting your pet portraits, birthdays, corporate events, sip and paint events in the park, mobile events, and the most unforgettable holiday parties.

What a fun night out! Located just off McLeod tr by cactus club is vin gogh! Register on their…read morewebsite prior to coming in. Their calendar online shows which painting you will paint that night. We went early for a glass of wine and they had really nice appies! Charcuterie board, flat bread were perfect. We went as a double date and I think our husbands liked it more than we did! A few other couples and a great place for a girls night! I think my mom would love this, I want to take her! Once you get seated, the instructor guides you through the painting step by step, but allows you to add your personal touch to it. Honestly it was a blast and I'm not an artist whatsoever. I liked that they played good tunes while you painted. We had so much fun tonite we definitely will go back for another date night!

From the owner: We are Calgary's Newest Way to have Fun! The exquisite combo of Paint and Wine…read more Here's 'how it works' - customers are provided with a canvas, easel, paint, brushes and apron and a glass of wine (or beer, coffee, tea if wine is not your thing; it's most definitely ours). An artist provides step-by-step guidance and in just two hours, you will complete a 16″ x 20″ painting with your very own hands. All you have to do is decide where to hang it.

I had been coming here for years and it has been getting worse and worse, if there was a 0 star…read morerating for my last 3 experience that would be the grade. The staff is arrogant and unprofessional. Their processes & policies are ridiculous and require a knowledge of international systems that they expect a customer to have. Their clay matts were dirty so other people scraps got into our clay. The demo showed only half of the project that we were told we wouldn't have time to finish anyway. Stay away from the Inglewood location

So excited to review one of my favourite creative spots in Calgary…read more 4cats studio offers painting, pottery, polymer clay sculpting, and other arts classes for adults, family, and children. We have done a polymer clay class and a ice cream bowl(pottery)class. Both were super enjoyable and their staff were amazing. I found that the small classes they offer are very informative, fun-filled, and affordable. They do 2 for 1 class deals which are such a good price for what you learn and you get to take home the product you make. When I was last there, which was when I did the pottery bowl class with my husband - I was pregnant and I was seriously excited for my baby to come out as soon as possible so she can start growing up and participating in these art classes. That's how much we liked being there! If you are in a rush, but want to do some art stuff at home, you can pop in and grab some of their polymer clay kits which are super cute and easy to make. I definitely recommend 4cats to everyone who is looking for some creative outlet, but dont want to spend a ton of money for in depth art classes.

I took my grade two and three students on a field trip to the Leighton Art Centre and they loved…read moreit! It's quite out of town so when going you have to incorporate that into you time and make it a full day. We arrived and automatically went into the cabin where we would be doing our art. Our tour guide was Emma and she gave each of the students a notebook to keep and take home which they loved. She asked them to look around the room but they had to stay seated and draw an object or thing they could see from their seats. Then after they did it once they had to flip to the next page and find another object in the room and draw it and she gave them a time limit the first time of 5 minutes and only 3 minutes the second time to show how it gets harder. Some students were asking for erasers and she explained that they don't have erasers because they believe that artists don't make mistakes. Then they students started their clay projects making a landscape and they had lots of fun doing this. Then we had lunch in that same room after students cleaned up and then they had play time outside in the snow which the leader explained the boundaries they had to stay in and that all nature things including snow stay on the ground. Then we did a nature walk and then the students got to go through the Leighton house which they really enjoyed especially the room with the parrot and all the trees! Thank you Leighton Art Centre !

My friend's soon to be mother-in-law organized a bridal shower here. I've never been to…read moreMillarville....not gonna lie....didn't even know it even existed. It's a short drive south of Calgary. I used google maps to get me to the Leighton Art Centre. The drive there is beautiful. Lush rolling green hills and beautiful forests. I swear I was transported to an English countryside! If you like scenery, a summer drive in this area is highly recommended. Our art lesson was held in an original little school house, now an historical landmark, built in the 1950s. After our art lesson (which I determined I do not have a talent for lol) our instructor led us on a short nature walk up to the the Leighton House Museum. A beautiful home originally designed by Alfred Crocker Leighton that features much of the home's original furniture and the Leighton's personal belongings. The home also showcases AC Leighton's original artwork as well is now home to many local artists' work where they are displayed and for sale. The house is beautifully situated over looking a breathtaking view. The Leightons were dedicated to art and the art community, and I can see why artists come there to paint, there is so much inspiration all around you. Definitely worth the drive out there for the views alone, but the museum and learning a little bit of local history is a nice bonus too.

If I could rate this store a -5 stars I would. UNORGANISED and to top it off just plain RUDE RUDE…read moreRUDE. I presently work with an organization that does cultural events for youth in the city. One of my roles is to highlight youth in capacities of the arts and so therefore I am to oversee a huge art show at the Eau Claire market. Our organization is fairly high profile, we partner with the Glenbow Museum, the Public library and the Calgary Transit just to name a few. Our website gets 16,000 hits yearly. I needed around 30 art eisels and wanted to commission a carpenter to build them for me but I cancelled that contract when i found out that I could rent them at Swinton's for 6 dollars an eisel a day. Great deal So I called and booked 30 of them, and even called back two weeks later to confirm. The girl reassured me everything was fine twice,so I was calm about this event.. well .... until.... just a couple of weeks ago when I get a call from another staff member from the store and am told that someone had double booked me. Basically the eisels were not available and they had no idea who had taken my call and who had booked me when it was plain to see in thier calender that the eisels were already spoken for. I said how can a person reassure me twice about a date and a number on two totally different separate occasions and how can you not know which employee did this? A mystery still to this day and the irony is they dont have many employees. Go figure? This employee was very nice and was apologetic and he said he had at least 15 left and that the owner would be willing to cover the difference if I ordered from another store and kindly gave me two contacts. These contacts didn't pan so I told this employee that I would want what he had left and he suggested coming in to see other eisels they had that may compensate for the other ones. So I did today. The owner was not there but the co-owner his wife Donna was and she had no idea what I was talking about and yet again according to her calender I was not booked once again for the 15 eisels for that day. Again not only had they double booked me with the first request they had now overlooked me for the 15. I thought its okay people make mistakes but Donna's tone was so rude and bascially if she didnt know about it then obviously it didnt happen. We finally got her husband on the phone and low and behold he confirmed the negotiation but he was not advised by the second employee about the 15 eisels. At this point I am incredibly upset and I now only have weeks for my upcoming exposition. Donna says to me well "I have 15 do you want them or not?" in the most aggressive tone. I was so taken aback at her snappy tone so I then said, "listen your employees have made the mistake of double booking me and again I see I was overlooked yet a third time. I am irritated with all this , are you not going to help me your client? I also add I dont appreciate your tone right now and you are being incredibly rude". This does not even phase her with more zest she beligerantly carries on and answers " I have 15 take it or leave it" I am so in shock at the whole situation and this response and have never been treated so rudelyby a business ... but yet I say yes I will take them because the kids in the show need them and ask if she could please email me the two other options once again so that I can perhaps retry to find the other 15. It is now 7 hours after this request and I have heard nothing from her. Suprise suprise.... Tomorrow I will cancel the whole order simply out of principal. The staff obviously doesnt communicate to thier employers the follow ups, nor do they admit when they have made mistakes. The owner was trying to remedy this situation but his wife certainly needs to take a customer service seminar and perhaps deal with the public less. I still cant believe that this woman who is the owner of her store would treat a client in this way, doesnt she want business? Shouldn't she make ammends for the mistakes of her staff in a professional way? It still blows me away. I have reviewed over 700 businesses in this city and I have never been treated in such an ill mannered way. My board was not at all impressed with this store and we will never do business with them again plus she really picked the wrong person to lay her power trip on, the arts community certainly is going to hear about this...and needless to say so will the yelp community. So a big minus 5 stars for this woman and her non personal customer style and service. This yelper's favorite art supply store still stands, Mona Lisa's art supplies; educated staff, superb service and very nice owners... and why shouldn't you have friendly experiences and service... THIS is the norm.

Came here using Groupon's art sampler vouchers. I took both acrylic and oil sampler classes. Both…read morewere with Sue the instructor. Sue is GREAT! 5* for Sue! She's great at explaining and teaching, and is so patient! I had an awesome time at both sampler classes, and learned a lot and would recommend these classes to anyone. Are you bored at home with nothing to do? Go take a class!! Normally offered for $40 for 3 hrs and believe me... 3 hrs is definitely needed cuz they start by going over the basics and let you play around, then the real painting begins and you paint something that you end up taking home!! Being a beginner it's definitely a slower process haha. I'm not too familiar with art supplies, etc... but the store seems very big and pretty well stocked (but I really know nothing about supplies so can't really review much on that).

We love Pinnovate! They have an incredible arts program for kids that my daughter absolutely…read moreloves. The instructors are phenomenal with the kids and they learn so many different skills and techniques. Highly recommend!

I absolutely love Pinnovate and love that it is in the deep SE Calgary and not downtown as it…read moresometimes is and that it is so close to my house. Back in the spring I did a painting class here where they gave us a piece of plywood board and a stencil that said spring has sprung and we got to paint it and decorate it with anything- it was great! Then just recently Pinnovate celebrated their first birthday party. At their birthday their was complimentary goodies from cobs bakery, complimentary ice cream or gelato from Fiasco gelato, pizza from coco brooks and coffee from rosso coffee roasters. They also were making balloon animals. We could visit and tour the store and paint complimentary cards with water colors. It was great!