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Paint Mixer’s canvas stretches into the greater community

The Paint Mixer owner Jill Johnson partnered with Whole Foods to bring monthly painting sessions to the market’s Silver Mine Tap Room.(Tanzi Propst/Park Record)
Tanzi Propst |

When Jill Johnson purchased the Paint Mixer 13 months ago, she wanted to extend its brushstrokes further into the community.

“I’m an art therapist and do things with the National Ability Center and Art Access,” Johnson told The Park Record. “So I wanted to make art and creativity more accessible to people.”

The Paint Mixer, located at 738 Main St., which hosts painting sessions off site at the Humane Society and Primary Children’s Hospital in the Salt Lake Valley, recently began presenting community painting sessions at the new Whole Foods Market location, 6598 Landmark Drive, near the Tanger Outlets.



The sessions, which are held from 6-7 p.m. the first Thursday of the month, take place in Whole Foods’ Silver Mine Tap Room, said Debbie Labelle, metro marketing team leader of Whole Foods Utah.

“We have what we call the Van Gogh Mobile Studio, where we can go anywhere and create a Paint Mixer studio…” Jill Johnson,Paint Mixer owner

“We’re very excited about our Paint Mixer event,” Labelle said. “We hold it in the Tap Room because it’s easier to set up and people can hear the instructor better.”



The sessions originally were going to be held weekly, but logistics of set up and take down determined they be held once a month, Johnson said.

“In December, however, we’re going to have two sessions: one on Dec. 7 and the other on Dec. 21,” she said. “The one on Dec. 21 will be a kid-friendly Christmas gifting event.”

The cost for the sessions between $20 and $25, and that includes all the materials needed to paint.

“We have what we call the Van Gogh Mobile Studio, where we can go anywhere and create a Paint Mixer studio,” Johnson said. “We bring everything — the canvases, paints, aprons, brushes.

“We open the sessions up to 20 people, and may open it up to more during the summer,” she said.

Labelle said the sessions have been successful.

“We’ve had great attendance and usually get couples on their date night, where they can paint together and enjoy food from the market,” she said.

The Paint Mixer also schedules the instructors.

“We have an artist and a host, which is me, at the sessions,” Johnson said.

Attendees will usually paint a household item, including growlers, wine glasses and coasters, she said.

“For the Dec. 7 event, we’ll do what we call Sip and Swirl, where we will take clear ornaments and swirl paint on them,” Johnson said. “On. Dec. 21, we’ll go back to painting on canvases.”

The canvases will measure 12 inches by 12 inches.

“It’s fun for people to see what we do and what they can do,” Johnson said. “I like seeing how surprised people are when they participate in a session. I’ve had so many people tell me that they aren’t an artist, but then are amazed at what they can paint with us.”

The Paint Mixer and Whole Foods Market collaboration sprouted with Johnson’s husband Matt Brown.

“He’s a great salesman,” Johnson said. “When Whole Foods was about to open, he went in an met Debbie and introduced her to me.”

Labelle and Johnson discussed different projects.

“The Paint Mixer does a lot of team-building sessions where groups will come in and paint pieces, and Debbie and I talked about doing that with Whole Foods employees,” Johnson said. “Then she told me she wanted to something in the Tap Room, and that was a huge draw for me, because I wanted the Paint Mixer to be more accessible to our community.”

“Yes, people can come to the Paint Mixer to do a session, but if they want something short and quick, they can join us at Whole Foods for an hour,” Johnson said. “Those sessions are like a little teaser to the longer sessions at the Paint Mixer, and they cost less.”

“This has been a great experience for both Whole Foods and Paint Mixer,” Labelle said. “We have seen some new faces in the store enjoying our space.”

In addition to the monthly painting sessions, Whole Foods offer live music every Friday night and will start up a trivia night later this month.

“We are looking forward to create more community events in our Tap Room in the future,” Labelle said.

For information about Whole Foods, visit http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/parkcity

For information about the Paint Mixer sessions in the Silver Mine Tap Room or to register, visit http://www.thepainmixer.com.

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