Moms can drink and paint with their children at the Mimosas & Masterpieces Brunch Saturday and Sunday.
At this Wild at Art Moms’ Weekend event, participants will get wine, mimosas or non-alcoholic drinks, as well as snacks, painting supplies and instruction, said Mark Maclaughlin, the operator and owner of Wild at Art. During the event, participants will paint a 16 by 20 inch canvas by either following a template and Maclaughlin’s step-by-step instructions or unleashing their creativity.
“What I normally choose for [the template] is something that can be customized, so we can make them golden and silver for Vandals,” Maclaughlin said.
The brunch will go from 10 a.m. to around noon Saturday April 22 and Sunday April 23 at Wild at Art in Moscow. The events are capped at around 50 people, and the Sunday event is sold out. As of Monday afternoon the Saturday event still had room. Tickets costs $35, and can be purchased at the Wild at Art studio, online or over phone.
He said events like these also give participants the opportunity to socialize.
Wild at Art will also host a Wine and Canvas Night from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday for Moms’ Weekend, which is sold out.
“We used to do mainly pottery before we got the idea of doing these wines and canvases three years ago,” Maclaughlin said.
Differing from the pottery, which has to be left to fire, mothers and children can take their canvases home when they finish paintings, he said.
Maclaughlin said April is one the busiest months of a year for the Wild at Art because they participate in both WSU and UI Moms’ Weekends. He said each event usually takes three to four hours to prepare, including shopping and setting up.
The Wild at Art has been running for around a decade as a community business, and Maclaughlin said he has owned it for the last five years, since he and his husband Jeffrey Dodge, the current UI Law School Associate Dean of Students, moved to the area. He said he enjoys running the studio in Moscow because of the numerous UI and WSU students, community members and fresh faces.
When they first moved here, Maclaughlin was a teacher as well, at WSU. In order to afford one of their children’s daycare, Maclaughlin and Dodge decided to take over Wild at Art. Maclaughlin said they had always dreamed of owning a business where they could bring their kids to work.
In the love of their children and art, they create events to increase the participants’ interests and instruct their skills, he said. Many of these events are targeted toward families specifically, such as the Kids Canvas & Cocoa Day, Mommy and Me Canvas Day and, in a way, the Mimosas & Masterpieces Brunch.
This year, Wild at Art worked with the University of Idaho to put the brunch together, Maclaughlin said. He said in the past, Wild at Art worked alone to host the event.
Maclaughlin said he is looking forward to collaborating with the UI’s next Moms’ Weekend.
Jinrong Lei can be reached at [email protected]