Whet Your Palette

It’s a 3 for me, but the rest in my party of three says it’s a 5 for them, so I averaged it to a 4.
The three of us came here for a small birthday celebration. I bought a Groupon for two for their Evening Calendar Class and then purchased a separate one for me for $ 20 (11×14 canvas). The booking process was simple and painless. We were pleasantly surprised at the pretty setting of this big house in the heart of Anchorage. I had no idea Anchorage was such an exclusive getaway from busy Shelbyville Road! After you turn onto Evergreen, it is like a different world, filled with stately homes hidden behind big trees. The setting of this painting class business is a very nice departure from the average strip mall versions. It also seems to be one of the only family/​kids friendly painting business in the area. They offer kids classes, parties and camps. They also cater to the homeschoolers.
The painting part is about the same as the other painting place I have experienced. A very patient instructor provides and demonstrates fool proof instructions. While we do paint the same subject, but they encourage individual results. The process pretty much guarantees everyone will complete something they can be proud of. However, the process is not designed to challenge one’s artistic skills. The paints are about as economical as they come. There will not be tubes of Cadmium Yellow or Alizarin Crimson. The brushes are so bad, I will definitely bring my own for the next visit. So, be patient, this is a class for enjoyment and entertainment.
One note… see how you feel about this;
on their webpage, there is this fine print at the bottom that states: «As a Christian business, it is our policy to not aid in the painting of other religious symbols. God Bless.»

Whet Your Palette hosted my BNI Networking group for an event on a week night. We were a pretty rambunctious group, but our wonderful leader, Jennifer, was able to guide us and we produced wall-​worthy art. Such a fun location and so many great choices for painting. A definite must try!

*** I am updating my review as I have spoken with the owner. She was very apologetic and even offered a do-​over of our party at no charge. She said she’d been having some «management issues.» Hopefully this will the beginning of some positive changes for this little business.
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This is an email I have sent to this business after my 8 year old daughter’s birthday party. I will revisit my review if an answer or explanation is given by the owner/​staff.
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Hi there,
We had my daughter’s birthday party there yesterday. And while she and her friends had a good time, as a Mom and paying customer I have some suggestions…
My biggest displeasure is that I was under the impression that we would be in the room to the left when you enter the building. With the two parties we have attended, this is where we were. It is bright, cheerful and somewhat spacious, with a separate table to place the cake and presents. Upon arriving, we were told at last minute there was a decision to move us upstairs because there was a larger party. I understand the logistics of this, but the room we were placed in was dark and very cramped. There were several lamps I tried to turn on, but there were no light bulbs. There was no where to put the cake or presents. When it came time for presents and cake, my husband actually suggested we move to the room adjacent to our room. So we carried all of our party supplies in there. At least they had room to actually sit and eat, after we managed to move chairs from the other room to accommodate our number of guests. I have no idea what they would have done had they needed us to stay in our original room. With that being said, I would not have booked the party with Whet Your Palette if that was the room presented to us upon booking the party.
There were no paper towels in the restroom, nor was there a trashcan.
Our young instructor, was very sweet and tried her best I believe, however I’m not sure she was quite well equipped to manage a party of 11 eight year olds. Aprons were given, but not shown how to adjust for small bodies. I’m assuming since we were a last minute move decision, our little party guests had to wait 25 minutes while paint was dispersed to their individual palettes. This is a long time to wait for wiggly children. There will be spills and messes. There were no paper towels on hand for such happenings. She had to keep running somewhere to keep getting just a few which would run out instantly. Same with paint, she had to keep leaving to get more paint. She spent a good amount of time giving more paint to palettes, where maybe a second person to help her would have been helpful. With a very quiet disposition it seemed difficult for her to make the girls understand what they were supposed to do next. With 10 minutes left of the party and still quite a ways to go on their paintings, the girls were sitting waiting for their next instruction while Lilly was painting her canvas. I finally had to ask if they could go on to the next step as parents were gathering in the hallway. Some had to leave with unfinished paintings. Time management was a bit of a problem.
My mother and I cleaned up the room with cake and presents, after having to ask if there was a garbage bag I could have. I was given a clothing bag you put over a purchased dress? We also were the ones who tied aprons, cleaned arms, wiped up spilled water, and served cake. I feel like I worked more at the party than getting to enjoy seeing daughter paint.
At other party places, such as Louisville Gymnastics and SkyZone, for a lower cost, we had several (3 – 4) young teenager helpers that actually ran the party and acted like they were also having fun and enjoyed being there. Our poor teenage instructor was outnumbered and didn’t seem happy to be there.
This is the most expensive place we’ve had a party yet and for that expense I wish I had left feeling that I as a parent, and a paying customer, had a wonderful experience as well. Sadly, I did not.

I’m surprised to see only a couple of reviews here, and also suprised by how negative they are! I came here with a small group, and we all really enjoyed our time (later I’ll add a photo of the masterwork I created…).
We came with a few bottles of wine on a Saturday evening, during their happy hour when canvases are 50% off (not sure it would be a great deal otherwise). While it was very busy and a little chaotic at first (minus one star for this), we finally were able to purchase our canvases and get situated. I know little-​to-​nothing about painting, but from my naïve perspective I thought the paints to be of reasonable quality (and variety), the brushes to be in good shape, and the (mostly volunteer) staff to be very polite and helpful.
All in all a good experience, and I look forward to returning.

I’m afraid I’m going to have to warn visitors about the lack of integrity and professionalism by the staff of this paint place. A couple of tips: call ahead of time and only schedule online after calling. The calendar on the website is inaccurate. They may or may not have a class for you and your friends the night you wish to party. And party, you may or may not depending on what teacher you get. If there was an equivalent to a paint and wine event consultant as there is for salon’s such as Tabatha’s Solon Takeover, I would advise the owner to hire one.
I had hoped to experience a relaxing and entertaining evening painting, perhaps learning paint techniques by the well-​renowned owner and artist. However, I left feeling more stressed than when I came in, disappointed, and though I didn’t BYOB, I felt I needed a drink afterwards. Upon entering, I was confused as to which room to enter until I saw a haphazardly place sign hanging above a cluttered desk that really didn’t indicate a place to sign in. In fact, the entire place was disorganized and unkept, including the bathroom where a dozen dirty cups with paint sat on the counter. I waited around for 15 minutes before I was even given any directions about which room to go in, and this was 15 after the class should have started.
Once I was dismissively pointed to a room, I found the teacher (not the owner) angrily shuffling chairs around the art table. I quietly stepped out again and waited until the storm had passed. During the class, I felt like a kindergarten kid in a classroom with a teacher who had been traumatized by the public school system. Old, dirty brushes were passed around, minimal instruction, or regard for the image we were drawing was given. At one point the teacher asked us what in fact the image was as she couldn’t recognize it from the example. She left the room multiple times to gossip with her colleague, at one point for a solid 10 minutes as we continued to wait for the next step, which was only her back to us as she focused on her own painting. To sum it up, there was no celebration, no entertainment, no guidance, nothing that I was really proud to take home even if my friend said my painting was good. After all, why would I want to advertise on the wall of my living room a bad night out with the gals due to overall feeling of walking on egg shells in a dysfunctional home.
My integrity and experience as a professional and Louisville independent business lover can not allow me to not write a review and lead visitors to a place in which they expect an event to build good memories but actually results in feeling put out and a waste of time and money. Also, after questioning why only one review has been written on Unilocal,I explored their Facebook page to find out why. They are extremely rude, take no responsibility to adhere to fixing a problem or compensation, but take full advantage to cowardly blast their anger away behind the safe distance of a computer screen. Their behavior is borderline bullying even accusing an innocent customer of being a competitor!