There’s a new group on Ottawa’s art scene, and what they have to offer combines three great passtimes—drinking, painting and socializing.
Art Uncorked is a new organization founded in December 2013 by Marufa Hoque, Diana Craiovan, and Melvin Pariñas. They form the team responsible for introducing the idea of combining painting, socializing, and wine into a single evening.
Each event involves a two-hour painting lesson lead by Craiovan, in which participants are instructed on how to create their own rendition of a famous work of art. Everyone is encouraged to socialize, and are provided with one glass of wine, as well as paint and other art supplies.
All three of the organizers have lived and worked in the Ottawa area for the last couple years, Hoque having moved from the Toronto area, and Melvin from Vancouver. Initially, they had no intention of creating a business specifically for hosting social painting events.
“It’s not an original idea per se,” Hoque said via email. “[I] wanted to learn to draw and paint and started looking for art classes for beginners. [I] stumbled onto a social painting website that had an event in Toronto. Excited, [I] looked for a similar events happening in Ottawa, but there were none.”
The idea grew from there, spurred on by Hoque and Craiovans’s enthusiasm.
“We love art! Anything related to art, whether that is painting, photography, sketching or any events related to art, we enjoy it all,” she said. “So bringing our own art event to Ottawa was a big deal for us and we were both nervous and excited about it. We wanted to make painting accessible and especially FUN for everyone and wanted to bring a new form of art appreciation.”
The team began promoting their idea and selling tickets in mid-December, bringing in Pariñas as their “tech expert” to design their website. They held their first event on Jan. 30 at Pressed. Entitled “Paris of My Dreams” after the painting, the group was not disappointed.
“We were blown away by everyone’s enthusiasm towards our event. People were very excited and they really helped make this possible for us,” she said.
Art Uncorked is still a very new business and with this in mind, the creators are excited to continue planning future events. Their next event, “Sip N’ Gogh,” is scheduled for late February, and the team said they hope they will continue to provide for both experienced and novice artists.
“In the future, we may recruit local artists (if we can afford them) to come in and instruct, which would be pretty cool,” Hoque said. “Some ideas we’re throwing around are bringing in cool themes with new DJs, new talents etc., but they are still ideas in the making.”
