How a Virtual Paint Night Works

Sometimes, all your team members need is an escape from the chaos of the workweek. One of the most popular ways to do that is with a virtual paint night (sometimes called paint nite). These are interactive experiences that put your team members’ creative skills to the test and allow them to relax with the people they collaborate with every day.

Here’s why you should consider hosting a virtual paint night for your coworkers.

What is a virtual paint night?

A paint night is a virtual experience that encourages your team to channel their inner artist for a day. Usually, everyone will be painting the same scene together. The virtual event comes with instructions or is led by a host who takes everyone through each step to help them create their own masterpiece. At the end of the experience, everyone will be able to share their creations, perhaps vote on who did the best, and get a keepsake they get to hold on to for years to come.

Who knows, there may even be a true artist among you, and you don’t even know it.

What you’ll need

Once you decide a virtual paint night is an event you want to have, you can prepare your team members to expect a package of tools and supplies delivered to their door.

Most virtual paint nights will supply everyone with everything they need to be successful. The kits will have paintbrushes, a canvas, and paint — sometimes, a bottle of wine will even be included so everyone can truly let their guards down.

Depending on the experience, team members may need to have a few household items at the ready. For example, the Sunset and Sangria virtual paint night requires participants to bring the following:

• Paper towels.
• Two plastic cups or containers with water to clean their brushes.
• A paper or plastic plate for the paints.
• A glass for the sangria, of course!

What to expect

Most paint party experiences take 60 minutes. It’s worth telling your team to show up at least five minutes early to avoid any delays so the group can hit the ground running once the host arrives.

You can choose to incorporate a paint night after an all-hands meeting, surprise your team during the week, or make it a happy hour activity with wine and cheese — whatever works best for everyone’s schedules. You can also kick off the activity with icebreakers to get the creative juices flowing.

At the end of the event, you can have a contest for the best painting or simply have everyone post a photo of their finished product on your work Slack channel.

How to align a paint night with your workplace goals

Team building

A virtual paint night brings everyone together, even if they all work from home. It’s an exciting experience that will foster connections between coworkers and encourage them to learn more about the people they work with. Plus, this type of experience provides everyone with an opportunity to collaborate on something together that’s not work-related.

You can choose to plan paint nights for smaller groups to personalize the experience or host a companywide paint night where everyone is involved. No matter how many people are involved, chances are, you’ll interact with someone on a personalized basis who you might not have otherwise had the opportunity to.

Creativity boost

At some point, everyone gets stuck in a creative rut. Not only that, but burnout can lead to unhappy employees. That’s why it’s good to encourage your team members to do something creative, no matter what line of work you’re in. It helps give their creativity a boost and inspires them to do more during the workday.

If you have a big project coming up and need everyone to be on their A-game, consider planning a Virtual Paint Party during which professional artists will guide you step-by-step through the entire process and set your team members up for creative success.

Appreciation event

Did you have a great quarter and are looking for a fun way to celebrate? You can’t go wrong with a Paint & Sip experience. This experience gets everyone involved — even those who don’t drink.

If you think a virtual paint night is what you’ve been looking for, you’ve come to the right place. At Elevent, we have a range of paint party experiences that fit your team members’ needs and interests. All you need to do is come ready to paint (and maybe have a drink or two!).

Start by looking through our list of virtual paint nights to find one that works for you and your team, then we'll handle the rest.

Originally published at May 6 2022, 11:03:55 AM. Updated on May 4 2024.