Splash Studio – A Painting Bar

Awesome way to enjoy a night out without having to go to the bar. I’m not a painter, but they guide you through the steps to create something legit.

a m a z i n g. I can’t even begin to express my gratitude for this establishment! The staff is INCREDIBLE.
My cousin was proposed to at splash, and they could not have been anymore helpful, supportive, and informative as they were!
Our group signed up for the glow in the dark paint night. I called ahead of time to set up the surprise proposal and had envisioned the perfect engagement. Little did I know, what I envisioned versus how the glow night actually works were going to slightly differ. Tess, the manager was SO helpful! She basically «re-​painted» what I had imagined and helped create the moment! She let all of her staff in the surprise, and set us up front row! Tess suggested I have my cousin’s, now fiancé, come in ahead of time and pre-​make a separate canvas that he would later use to propose!
We had a blast and it couldn’t have been any more perfect!

Did a recent work event here with 13 co-​workers. We had a private space and our own bartenders and artist. The two bartenders were always making sure our glasses were full, even during the painting time.
The artist did a great job leading us through our fall foliage painting. I’ve done this type of event 4 times now: 2 corporate events and 2 events with friends. Everyone in our party had a nice time and had a halfway decent painting to take home. The artist also took several photos of us with a nice camera. My boss may be delinquent in sharing these with the team, but I am sure they turned out fine.
I have been to a competitor paint bar out in the west suburbs and we were just in a gigantic room with a lot of other random people and had no guidance on the painting. That event was a disaster. This was exactly what a corporate paint bar event should be. Thanks for the good time!

Painting, drinking, music, and great customer service. Can’t beat it.

We had a great time. Painted pumpkins and canvases while enjoying a beer! Really cheap fun day. Helpful and enthusiastic staff.

My significant other and I reserved a session Friday evening and left feeling quite disappointed.
We were seated along the wall facing away from the instructor and couldn’t see the painting that we had paid and reserved to paint. We brought this to the attention to one of the staff and were told the instructor would come around showing his painting. This never happened and wouldn’t of helped regardless. I did notice they had some duplicate painting hung but for our position we couldn’t see any of them. The only way would of been to stand up and squeeze past our fellow painters and head towards the bar to get a glimpse.
I really like the concept of splash and was looking forward to visiting but I can’t say I will go back. I wish they would make sure every seat had a clear view of the painting people pay and sign up for.
The seating was very crowded and you may risk being assigned an awful spot where you can’t see the painting at all

Love this place! I’ve been here quite a few times to paint with the instructor and on my own.
It’s located in the third ward so I can feel safe leaving here at night for the most part. They have a small outside area with a few tables which is nice, but the tables are pretty small making it hard to fit your easel, canvas, paint, drinks, etc…
The rest of the bar is pretty spacious unless you’re sitting at the bar. If you can, don’t sit at the bar. You’ll have limited space and you’re facing away from the instructor.
Drinks are tasty (and can be strong!) and one of the nights I was here they had a glow in the dark shots scavenger hunt which was fun and some of them were free! They also had a glow paint night which was unique and fun.
The music is loud but that’s one of my favorite things about this bar. I could hear the instructor just fine. They could slow down a bit with the steps but I am also a perfectionist and take longer than most with my painting!
There is also a calendar online that shows you which paintings they are doing each night, but I prefer to do my own paintings :)
I would recommend!

Cool place. I like that its open pretty late it makes for something interesting to do at night. Would be super awesome if it stayed open until midnight. I chose to get a small canvas and just paint what was in my head i feel like that was a good choice. While looking around some of the pictures were really impressive i wasn’t a huge fan of one person trying to teach a class of 30+ people.
The drinks were reasonably priced and the atmosphere was cool. Completely decorated by what looked like paintings made by the teachers. Good music. And friendly staff.

I have mixed feelings about Splash. My family of five went there on a Saturday night for my dad’s birthday. I had never been there before and, aside from the fact that I knew it was a painting par, didn’t know what to expect.
I’ll start about listing what I didn’t like. We were in the back room, facing away from the instructor. It seems like it would be better to have all the easels facing the instructor, rather than some facing and some not. The music was too loud in between instructions, so our party of five had a difficult time hearing each other in the interim. The «bartenders» at the back bar didn’t seem to know much about mixing drinks, and we had to walk them through basic cocktails. We also had very little room to set our drinks and appetizers. Additionally, we could barely hear our instructor.
What I did like was the fact that we could order drinks at all, and that they had a few appetizers — think chex mix, dark chocolate with popcorn, etc. — that we could snack on without getting our hands dirty. It was nice that we could get more paint if we needed it, too — that they didn’t limit the amount of paint we could use.
Honestly, I think I’d have had a totally different experience if we had just purchased canvases and painted our own designs. We did have fun as a group, it just isn’t somewhere that I’m in love with or would go out of my way to go to again.

This place was so much fun.
Me and my wife who is not very artsy suggest it.
And she had so much fun.
They have books to get ideas from.
We enjoyed painting while sipping on some pink moscado and eating a pretzel.
The employees there were very nice and attentive.
The only thing I would change would be to add a wider variety of small bites such as cheese sampler, olives, salami etc.
Other than that this place rocked!

My first time coming here was the other night during the «Valentine Love Fest» extravaganza, and I must say it was very fun and completely worth every penny!
My boyfriend and I did a joint painting where each of us has their own canvas which creates 1 larger canvas.
We arrived about 15 minutes late due to all of the construction on the freeway and even though the painting was already underway by the time we got there, the staff made us feel very welcome and once we got seated at our «station» the artist came over to give us the rundown on where everyone else was so far.
The session is 3 hours long, but definitely does not feel like it! It went by very fast because you’re having a great time the whole 3 hours. The (affordable) drinks were flowing, the music very fun, and the overall atmosphere was great.
I will definitely be going again! I haven’t painted anything on a canvas since I was in high school, but even so, the instructor makes it very easy to follow along and the flowing drinks means you’ll loosen up and not care too much if your painting is perfect or not.
Our paintings are now hanging up in our dining room and I’m sure it will make a great conversation piece. I plan on bringing my sisters and parents here next!

So we went here for my girlfriends birthday– admittedly, I thought I was going to hate it. But 3 beers later and a lot of painting in, and in having a pretty great time. An artist takes you and a group, step by step, through creation of a painting. We went off the beaten path a bit but they were totally encouraging. And the drinks are reasonable. Overall, a great time.

My last review was from the perspective of visiting Splash on a date night for one of the general paint nights — since then, I’ve returned to Splash for a private party. It was wonderful. Seriously, this crew is great.
For private groups, you have to make a reservation for at least 15 people or a minimum of $ 420 ($ 28/​person), with a $ 100 deposit that goes toward the total bill. That cost includes the canvas, paint supplies, instruction of a painting that you choose from their gallery, and the room for 3 hours. You can also pay an extra fee for a custom-​designed painting, if you’d like. Our crew was right around 15 people. We were greeted with a welcome sign at the door and directed to a private space that felt cozy for our group but could’ve easily held at least twice as many people if needed. You can cater in your own food — Splash partners with nearby Swig on some menu items, which is a nice option; in this case, we opted to bring in a Qdoba taco bar (which is awwwwwwesommmeee). You have to use Splash’s bar — and it’s a great bar, so that’s not a bad thing. They were really accommodating to setting up payment options — whether we wanted to create one tab, have individual payments, or purchase limited drink tickets for guests. The bar offers bottled beer, wine, cocktails, and soda. Drinks averaged around $ 5−7/each. Splash is also a no-​tip bar — so there are no surprise gratuity charges or expected contributions at the end of the night.
I was going to highlight my favorite parts — but, genuinely, everything was just great. The staff here is super friendly, it was so easy to work with the reservations process, and our group had a great time. All in all, a total win. I’d recommend Splash for a casual visit or a formal party — either way, this is a great spot in Milwaukee and worth a visit.

I had the opportunity to join a good friend/​fellow Unilocaler, as well as a few other Unilocalers, at Splash recently. What a fun experience! I had been anxious to try a painting bar, and I was not disappointed.
Splash is located in the Third Ward area of Milwaukee, which is home to lots of cool shops and restaurants. The inside is very spacious with a contemporary vibe. The staff is very welcoming and friendly. For some fun at the bar areas (they have 2 of them), they have 8 Bit Nintendo that you can play.
The featured painting of the night was the Agave. The end result of mine looked more like a cactus than the Agave plant. But that’s okay. I will still find a place in my house to hang up my creation :-) The artist was very nice and patient with us and offered helpful tips for adding some «pop» to our paintings.
The cost per session is $ 28, with the exception of Friday and Saturday after 2pm. Those sessions are $ 33. The sessions last approximately 3 hours. The painting of the day varies. You can go to Spash’s website and check out what the featured painting that you can attempt to paint will be. You also have the option to create your own masterpiece and not follow along with what the instructor is demonstrating.
Another cool option that they have are the mini paintings. You can paint a 6“x6″ canvas for $ 10 or an 11“x14″ canvas for $ 20. I definitely want to go back to Splash in the near future.

I have been wanting to go to a painting bar for the longest time now. It just seemed like such a fun idea. After all, what’s better than painting and drinking? So I was super glad when I convinced my bff that we should make a stop here for her bachelorette party.
I’m not too familiar with the area, but it seems like a cool part of town for a place like this. The studio was well lit and very open. They had a class going on, but if you don’t want to do that, you can «drop in» which is what we did. For $ 10, we got a small canvas to paint. Something like 4×4. That may seem small, but if you’re not very creative, you really don’t need a bigger space to struggle with. We ordered some drinks and then walked around to get some inspiration.
One of the staff gave us the tip of how to go about painting, which was appreciated. I did a basic tree in the field painting but I was happy with how it turned out. Right at closing time, the staff was a little pushy in getting everyone out of there. This only surprised me because they have a separate bar area, so you think they would give you a little leeway in terms of leaving. Regardless, I had a great time.

I think I’ve found a new monthly hobby…
Alcohol and paint. The two go together like whiskey and coke. Because whiskey goes with everything.
for $ 33 dollars, you get about three hours in a studio with a group of people and an instructor, who will walk you through how to mimic their painting. The experience didn’t feel forced, and the staff was helpful if I needed advice or even just a new paintbrush.
I never felt rushed, and the whole night was fun and relaxing, even if my owl did end up looking like it had a beard instead of a tuft.
The drinks were reasonably priced, with two whiskey cokes and a mimosa running about $ 17 dollars. It should also be noted that this is a tip free establishment, INCLUDING the drink/​bar service. I didn’t think too much about it, but after paying my tab for the bar and session, it turns out that the difference between the tips I’d normally pay out over a night out on a Friday evened out with the somewhat high price of the studio session… Not bad!
Going for a date, or with a group of friends, this would be a great activity, although the seating was a bit tight… I found myself constantly having to shift my brush water/​drink around to be able to work, and make sure that I wasn’t putting them in elbowroom of my neighbor.
I’ll definitely be coming back, especially since you leave with what you paint, so you get a souvenir too!

Date of most recent visit: 6÷13÷14
S plash Studio bridges several lifestyles and cultural interests.
P aint. Drink wine. Drink beer. Play old school Nintendo games. All of the above.
L ast time I was there, my wife and I painted Hank the Dog.
A ll the staff are attentive, friendly, and courteous.
S igning up on their website for the instructor led painting was quick and easy.
H ave an urge to freestyle? Go for it — there are two sizes of blank canvases.
S pace is no longer an issue with their recent expansion.
T ipping is not necessary, which makes things more convenient.
U nderstanding the history of fancy or classical art is not a prerequisite.
D ang — the mini pumpkin paintings that I did last fall were really fun too.
I saw families spanning 3 generations, couples, and two bachelorette parties.
O ur two experiences have been decidedly entertaining and social.
S ometimes parking can be at a premium, but public lots/​garages are available.
Categorically…
Location: 5 out of 5
Splash is approximately a 5 minute walk from where we live in the 3^rd Ward, so convenience is key. There are angled street spots available on Broadway, and there are several public lots and garages. the GRE and #15 bus run parallel to Broadway as well.
Customer Service: 4 out of 5
Each of the ladies and gentlemen that work at Splash are pleasant. They’re friendly, they smile, and even when the bar staff busy dishing out drinks, they don’t act like they’re too hoity toity to talk to you or help out. Many thanks especially go out to the people that help out when customers enter — checking them in, directing to them to where the aprons are, and explaining the relatively easy to understand chalkboard for the set paintings. These are the same folks that help clean up the mess when all is said and done. This will factor in later, but while the prices might seem slightly inflated for what you’re getting, remember that in conjunction with the no tipping policy and the behind the scenes people, this operation operates very well and has made conscious efforts to retain excellent employees.
Drink menu: 3.5 out of 5
90% of beer drinkers will be satiated here. Macro brews like Miller, macro brews that pretend to be craft like Blue Moon, and true local/​regional craft beers are available. I can’t speak to the selection of wine as I’m not a wine drinker, but I would be wary before ordering any of the mixed drinks out of curiosity. In other words, it’s not a bad idea to stick with what you know (classic mixed drinks) because some of their themed drinks are a bit on the cloyingly sweet side and optically look like the cup of water after you rinse off your brushes.
Instruction: 5 out of 5
For not having any type of artistic background, I found our instructor’s style to be easy to follow and succinct. Additionally by design, he was quite patient with everyone in the class and gave sufficient time for some people to «catch up» while others got more rounds of drinks. The nice part about this place is that it’s similar to Planet Fitness’ motto of «no judgement zone.» We sat on the Hank the Dog painting session on June 13, and the variations in final products was neat to see.
Cleanliness/​Décor/​Setup: 4 out of 5
Bright and well-​lit space, and the expansion which allows for more free-​painting tables was a good move. The only critique I would have of the setup for the instructor led paintings is that due to the angle of some of seats, some patrons might have to constantly turn around to see what the instructor is doing, and others may be flush with the podium where the instructor is standing, which can make it difficult to follow along. To alleviate some of these potential problems, there’s a secondary staff member who paints the exact same thing in one of the corners, which I think did help.
Value: 4 out of 5
Drink prices are reasonable, considering that there is not a need to tip. Think 3 — 6 bucks for a beer depending on your likes. Mixed drinks to my knowledge ranged from 7 to 10 bucks. The instructor led painting sessions are around 35 bucks a person, and the free-​paint canvases are either 10 bucks for a smallish square one (5 or 6 inches maybe?), or 20 bucks for a canvas that’s roughly the size of a legal pad.
Overall: 4 out of 5
Strong 4 star experience (actually 4.25 stars), and a solidly fun time. They take plenty of pictures during the sessions, and post them to their fb page later on.

I wanted to looooove this place, and I didn’t expect to be a little bored by it. The staff is great, the no tipping policy at the bar is refreshing, as are the drinks (I’m assuming, I opted just for a glass of water).
I’m not a talented artist, or a particularly talented person, but it shouldn’t have taken 3 hours to paint the Hoan bridge, which was the image we were to recreate last night. I have done this type of thing before, and previously have felt rushed. I know there must be a balance between allotting 3 minutes to do a background and 20 minutes to do a small set of trees.
My $ 28 painting came out decently, in my opinion and it was nice catching up with a friend, but it felt so slow paced that I ended up not following directions when it came to the main part — the bridge. I just looked at the examples and started doing what I thought needed to be done. After I was nearly finished with my bridge, the instructor started telling the class how to make the color to start the bridge.
Maybe some paintings are more involved and may require more time, but by the end of this session, I was ready to get the heck outta there.
Still, it’s pretty hard to be upset when painting such pretty things in such pretty colors.

Loved. It.
Hands down, this was the most fun I’ve had in months.
Couple tips, check out their calender before going and make reservations. You can see what paintings they are doing for the entire month and then reserve your seat from there. I chose a painting called «Monty». Its a hill that is actually a cute monster with a house perched on top.
The class took 3 hours. Originally I thought that was way too long and that it would drag. And then I got there and realized time was flying by because we were having so much fun! It really is for people of all skill levels. The couple next to us ended up with blobs and still had a great time and made something visually interesting to look at!
I went with my friend and between the two of us we ordered 5 drinks, so the total for the day came to about 85 bucks. Considering we each had 3 hours of pure fun plus drinks and a canvas to take home? I consider that a bargain.
I really enjoyed myself so much that I want to make this a monthly outing!
If you don’t sign up for a class, you can also just stop in and paint whatever you’d like. They really seem to be very accommodating!
And guys, don’t be scared! There are a lot of women there, but I think you’d really enjoy it to, plus you’ll get points from your lady!

You know those tv shows & movies that show people in the big city all dressed up on a Friday or Saturday night ready to check out some new hot spot? Now, I’ve been (and love being!) an urban dweller for many many (many) moons but its just occasionally I feel like I’m really about to have that type of experience. Walking into splash studio on a bustling Saturday night had the feel that a really fun unique evening was about to be had.
First off: if you want to do one of the classes (which we did) go online and reserve early. The weekend nights esp. seem to fill up quick but day sessions are also offered. $ 33 on Fri and Sat or $ 28 on weekdays gets you ur canvas, apron, paints, brushes and seat in the class.
Class: a teacher (w/​microphone) walks you through the process. I think the last time I painted was 7^th grade art class but it went pretty smoothly. Staff (all very helpful & super friendly) walked around to assist. Although ppl’s skill levels differed, of the est. 100 students in class, walking through I saw very few that wouldn’t be suitable to hang on your apartment wall. The beauty of the class is that although everyone is copying the same painting, each person adds their own unique touches.
Music: soooo fun! Dance-​y pop/​club top 40ish hits played — quietly when the teacher was talking and loudly when she stopped.
Bar: I guess its no tip (so the $ 1.50 I left on the bar was lost to the cosmos.) Its a full bar and a small bacardi coconut & diet was $ 5.50 which I thought was reasonable.
Also incidently, I kept thinking that I would somehow (completely by accident) mistake my paint brush water for my drink. Partway thru the bar said they had a ‘dirty paint water’ shot so they must hear that a lot.
Fun fun times. If you are looking for a new activity come here & leave happy. Even if you don’t have reservations, for $ 10 or $ 20 you can get a small canvas and paint and try your hand at any number of subjects available to copy.