We paid $55 per child to participate in the Easter event. In past Easter experiences, the children dyed real eggs, got to paint and put glitter and other materials on the eggs, and the experience was much more immersive/experiential. This year, each child received 9 cheap plastic eggs that the kids colored with Crayola marker (no painting or dyeing). For a speciality children's art center, the experience was completely devoid of creativity and artistry and the value was not commensurate with the cost per child. The quality of the activity is something you would expect at an outdoor fair where things are either free or, at most, a few bucks. My 6 and 8 year old love art and when I asked whether they wanted to go back to The Paintbrush, both unequivocally said "no thank you." That should tell you something about the experience. We would not participate or recommend the Easter or specialty events to other families with children. The response when we reached out to The Paintbrush with our concerns is appended. They blame the high price of eggs and not wanting to ask for parent participation to dye the eggs as their reasoning for using cheap plastic eggs. For $55 a child, the cost seems more than ample for real eggs and hiring some extra help to run a special event. read more

The Paintbrush - Plastic eggs for $55 (per child) Easter art event. - Art Schools Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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My daughter was on spring camp last week so we went to this paint brush studio. On Mondays and Tuesdays, the cost is $10 for independent art media paint for about 2 hours. Cost for classes are separate. I feel this establishment on Mondays and Tuesdays solely caters to kids under 6 years old; art craft of that day was making a mosaic, using the ice cream lids as the base and "plastic toppings" with glue to stick on. Also, man made toilet rolls shaped as bunnies to be used as stamps. Paper on easels to paint. Owner was present supervising the kids and encouraged lunch breaks; Parents or caregivers were allowed to bring a bagged lunch with no peanuts additives. Theres limited residential parking and plenty of meters in the neighborhood. read more

The Paintbrush - Art Schools Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We had our daughter's 5th birthday party here and it was fantastic. We have never taken a class here but would look into it now that we've had such a great experience. The staff at the party were patient and kind with a group 15 kids ranging from 3 to 5 year olds. The kids had a fantastic time and I was shocked at how attentive they were during the background discussion of Jackson Pollock. They loved the painting and everyone splashed paint and made beautiful pictures, but somehow it never got crazy. All the parents were impressed with the take home paintings at the end of the day. Even though they mentioned frequently how small the space was, our 15 kids and 8ish parents didn't ever feel crowded (though there weren't enough seats for all adults to sit). Parents never stepped in to help, the instructors had everything covered. Email responses to questions were prompt, even after they got our deposit. They will do everything (including additional favors, cake, drinks and snacks), which we didn't do but was a great option to have. read more

This was not a good experience. My wife brought our kids there and it was a disaster? The instructor dropped paint on one of my kids artworks and then would not give him another canvas...but it was not his mistake...insanity ensued? I had to come and get him? Also, the place is oddly stingy with supplies? My wife reported that they would not give her any paint or implements...just ignored her? They paid for 5 people. They would only give out small drips of paint and she had to ask multiple times for a pencil. They kept talking about recycling or conservation or something, but that's no excuse! She left with a painting that was only half painted because they simply would not give her paint? Unreal. read more

My daughter did art summer camp for 1 week. She learned about a few famous artists and each day the did different projects using different materials. I highly recommend. read more

My son has taken classes here and absolutely loves it! The Paintbrush allows kids to learn more about the artist while listenening to the music the artist would have been listening to at the time. Very cool concept. Where else can your child learn about art and music history as well as make a project in a 45 minute class weekly? We have not come across a more complete art program! My son's favorite project was the Jackson Pollack inspired painting. We haven't done it yet but, they have summer camps and also, day camps open on school holidays. The Paintbrush is a refreshing change from other art programs we've tried, this is an intimate setting, small class sizes and Mindy (the teacher) focuses on each child's learning styles. Gotta love it when your kid teaches you something new about an artist! read more

The Paintbrush - Art Schools Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

To the owner, who waited over two years to respond to my review, yes art can be messy and fun. But that does not excuse absurdly poor and rude service. The lack of guidance by your employees to help kids do the project correctly, their lack of assistance in getting the kids cleaned up, and the audacity to yell at a group of adults is unacceptable. The policy that parents should not stay is far from okay, with your knowledge and clear support of how "messy" these kids will get. And in terms of fun... these are kids. They dont want to do something fun for 10 minutes that is going to require 20 plus minutes of a hard, and even painful at times, clean up (scraping inch think layers of paint off your foot hurts). So your argument of whether they had fun, kinda falls apart. Oh and when customers have legitimate concerns about your service, the proper thing to do is apologize, promise to do better, say you'll take their thoughts into consideration, find a way to make it up to them, or any combination of those. Not try to defend your poor business practices. read more

Just thought I would take a moment to say that today my 6 year old somehow fondly remembered taking a class at the Paintbrush when she was at most 3 years old. She informed me that she wants to take art classes here again. I think that's a win and says a lot about the quality of programming here. read more

This place is awesome! My kids do weekly private lessons as well as other fun events and workshops. They LOVE coming here and all the teachers are great with the kids. The owner is super sweet. read more

My kids grew up with The Paintbrush and always asked to go for drop-in art. Our nanny loved it as well and always mentioned how great the staff was. Our kids were never bored and they even made a couple of friends over the time that they went most frequently. There's always something different for the kids to do, and the cost was very reasonable. A very pleasant experience overall. read more

My 2 year old and 9 year old just finished a 5 week class at the Paintbrush. Both had a great time and enjoyed all of the projects. Not only did they complete one or two really cool projects each week, but they also learned about a new artist each week. Their teacher, Ms. Kate, was very knowledgeable about all of the artists that were covered and really seemed interested in teaching the children new techniques each week. Ms. Kate is great with kids and so laid back, I really liked her style. The owner was also very helpful in scheduling my classes as well as accommodating me by allowing both of my children to participate in the same class despite the age difference. My kids loved it and I loved that they were able to have fun painting without making a mess at our house!! read more

The Paintbrush - Art Schools Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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My daughter has taken classes and workshops and has attended some parties at The Paintbrush on and off for 3 years. She always had fun and brings home great finished products. My favorites are the Monet calendar and the Van Gogh Starry Nights picture. Mindy is great with the kids and the entire facility is very concerned with the health and safety of the children which is always a concern when dropping off a little one. For a creative inspired children's art program, I recommend checking their schedule for upcoming classes. read more

Long story, I thought the owner was dishonest to me in many ways, misleading information on what the kids will do in the class, withholding info about the particular class we were to attend which would have made me not enrol my LO, etc. plus the teacher fidgeted her legs the whole time which was distracting to the kids. It seems the owner is not personally involved in the classes but more about collecting the fees. On top of it, although I mentioned by phone that I may want to try another class to see if that's a better fit, I got an email asking if I want to register, the wrong date was mentioned in the email so I corrected it to the date I originally referred to and she immediately took it as confirmation and charged for the class with the cc from a previous transaction without asking authorization from me. I only found out when I got a message saying we didn't attend. I even talked to her the same day of class what they're doing that day and she had not clue and I was not allowed to talk to the teacher to ask and she only wanted to take my cc which apparently was already previously charged. So if I already registered, why is she looking for another payment? I will never recommend this place to any of our friends or anyone. read more

This is a great place to have a birthday party. The kids had so much fun and there was seriously no work for me. As soon as we arrived the staff took everything off my hands and allowed me to enjoy the party with my daughter. They led the activities, helped the kids clean their hands when necessary, served the food, everything. Melanie was super accommodating in creating awesome goodie bags that fit with our party theme and overall I couldn't have been happier with how things went. Thanks for a great party! read more

Pretty lame. Kind teachers, not much to the program for little art explorers. All stuff you can do at home easily. Only did drawings with crayons, tracing, and painting with one color. How is this in any way learning new things about art or "An intro to art, art skills and art tools for the littlest ARTists" as they put it. How many of you have one or two-year-olds that have never used a crayon or a colored pencil before? Not much point in paying for this. The paint part was cool, but very brief, and come on, one color? Definitely for younger kids. But if that's the case, don't market it for up to 23 months. read more

My daughter really enjoyed their drop in art times over the summer, so when I found out they did birthday parties, I was thrilled. Definitely pricey, but on par with what you are going to spend at most places you'd have a 5 year old's party. They really took care of everything and the kids had a blast getting messy and creating their own Jackson pollack inspired canvas. The laid back, quiet atmosphere was perfect for my daughter, who gets overstimulated easily, as was the timeframe- 1.5 hrs was just the right amount of time! read more

Great place for the kids to learn about and create art! The kids enjoyed all the different art supplies and projects, I enjoyed not having the mess at my house! read more

I highly recommend The Paintbrush. Any time there is a day off of school, my kids have one request - can we go to camp at The Paintbrush? We also attend their summer camp and I appreciate the flexibility of going just one day or for the whole week. We also had my daughter's five year old birthday party at The Paintbrush and they made it so much fun for the kids and very easy for me. Everyone got to take home their splatter paint project, which was a huge hit. read more

Cannot say enough great things about Paintbrush. My 5 yr old daughter took classes there for a couple of years and now we always try to fit in at least one day of camp during breaks and the summer. Not only do they make wonderful projects they learn about the art that inspired their projects in a wealth of different media. Very flexible camp options and Art in the Park during the summer is outstanding. My daughter still talks about it and can't wait to go again! Owner and teachers are very knowledgable and nice. Birthday parties are great too. read more

Total waste of my child's time!!!! And the so called teachers stood around doing nothing, as well as the rude owner. Highly avoid!

My two year old nanny kid has done classes here as well drop in art. He always has a blast. He loves all the different projects he gets to try during drop in art. The staff is very friendly. It is definitely a place to check out. read more

Not a big fan. We bought a 5 pack Groupon package to test it out, but when I've been in the class, it doesn't seem like the teacher is interested in creating a fun environment. It seems more like she wants a bunch of 4-6 years olds to sit still, use only certain paints when told and not speak. Doesn't seem like much fun to me. Also, I was really excited about the explanation of artists but its seems like a 5 minute walk through and then painting the rest of the time. It does seem pricey for what I'd consider more of a glorified arts and crafts class. We won't be back or recommending. read more

After a very average experience at their summer camp last year, I decided to try the Paintbrush again this Spring for a six-week drawing class for my daughter. Unfortunately, that was a mistake. The teacher seemed nice enough, but given that the class was named and advertised as a drawing class, they did very little actual drawing. I'm all for learning the fundamentals, but either because of poor time management or lack of planning on the teacher's part, my daughter did not bring home one piece of paper in which she actually drew something based on the teacher's instruction. Very disappointing, especially at $25/hour. We will not be returning to the Paintbrush again. read more

My son is currently taking art classes here...they are passionate and have a great way with kids. Ms. Mindy and Ms. Liz do a fabulous job of keeping the kids occupied and developing & nurturing their interest in arts. Each of their classes have different things to learn and interesting creative arts to do! They go a long way in planning the appropriate material for the kids for each class and make every parent feel at ease! I would definitely recommend paintbrush if you want your kids to develop passion for art. read more

My son has taken art classes here and absolutely loves it. When we have taken the classes, they have been anywhere from 5-10 kids. Mindy, the teacher, is sweet, fun, and creative with her art project ideas (some of them are totally funky)! I love the way they have the classes set up..the children do a mini "art history lesson" about the artist while listening to music from the artist's era and home country at the beginning of class. Then the children do a very fun/creative art project. Job well done! read more

We bought a 5-class pass for The Paintbrush and intended to sign up for "Little Art Explorers" but that was not being offered so we ended up signing up for "Tiny Artists" instead. The space is really cute and cozy, there were plenty of little kids for my child to interact with, the teacher seemed very knowledgeable about art and various mediums, and we brought home some really cute artwork. BUT the teacher seemed a little clueless about the kids' actual developmental level. It is really a CLASS where they are expected to sit still, move from station to station, listen quietly, follow instructions, and not spill or eat various art materials ranging from water to paint to glue. This is a challenge for ANY toddler, and the teacher did not seem to know that or be ok with it. I think it would be nice if they added a song about colors or something that the kids could sing as they're getting started or saying goodbye-- that is after all a really basic way that kids this age learn. I also think it would be cool if they focused on teaching about colors, shapes, and maybe textures, not just particular artists-- most kids this age do not know what "red" is let alone what a "warm" color is. And they were sometimes asked to paint stuff that doesn't really capture their interest (like still lifes of flowers). Overall, I think it was a positive experience, but we probably won't come back until our child is at least in preschool or kindergarten so we can really reap the benefits. read more

My daughter took the President Day Art bootcamp today and made an awesome picture for us to hang up! She loved the class and wants to take more classes!! This is huge for my very picky girl who doesn't like new things! Can't wait to sign her up for more classes this summer!!! read more

Love The Paintbrush. It's a wonderful place for kids to make art (and a mess that I don't have to clean up) while they learn something. We've also been to birthday parties at The Paintbrush and everyone had a great time--and the kids come home with their own work of art...the perfect goody bag. I love how they offer drop-in art days, where kids can be free to create on their own. It's a great laid back atmosphere that's just fun. read more

I have a grandson who loves art in all forms. I was excited to find this business and have him attend the Summer Art Camp. While he was happy to just be involved, I was disappointed. The classes weren't as well rounded or involved as I expected. I thought there would be art education, along with related projects. That was not my experience. It really felt like an expensive arts and crafts class. I don't think it was worth the cost. read more

The Paintbrush is wonderful! My 5yo daughter has learned tons in the last couple of years. She loves to go to the Art Institute because she can identify all sorts of artists and their words. (it gets interesting reactions from other adults standing near her) She adores Miss Mindy and can't wait to go to art class. We occasionally do a camp day during the summer, which puts her over the moon. I would definitely suggest arranging for a trial class to see for yourself. read more

A fabulous option for my kiddo during winter break. We have also participated in regular weekend art classes and Kids' Night Out. The artwork my kid creates is fun and inspired. I love that the kids learn about the artist first and than create their work. Awesome fun and educational! read more